As part of AirSpace Gallery's period of programme and organisational reflection, research and development, ahead of our intended programme of works 2019-2021, we embarked on a series of research visits to relevant organisations across the country.
In late 2018, I visited Backlit in Nottingham and spoke with Directors Matthew Chesney and Suzanne Golden. Backlit was of particular interest, set up in a very similar way to AirSpace at a similar time, in a city not dissimilar to Stoke, but with marked differences in the city's arts and cultural infrastructure.
Some notes from the visit :
BACKLIT Gallery
An artist-led gallery
and studio space based in Nottingham, hosting an annual programme of events and
exhibitions
Team
MATTHEW CHESNEY - Director
SUZANNE GOLDEN - Deputy Director
HEATHER PERKINS - Marketing Coordinator
GINA MOLLETT - Learning and Community Coordinator
ALICE JACKSON - Catalyst Project Coordinator
JOEY HOLDER - Office Manager and Studio Coordinator
CARYS BOWEN-JONES - Volunteer Coordinator
PETER CHESNEY - Technical Assistant
Background and Ways
of Working
Central to the BACKLIT ethos is
its strong working relationships with regional universities and its
partnerships with other galleries and creative organisations. It is also
committed to supporting projects that promote community and local heritage.
Set up in 2008 by NTU Fine Art graduates, one of whom was
current director, Matthew Chesney, with 2 board members remaining from the
original instigators. Originally housed in a derelict building, they moved to
their present location - a large two storey building just outside the centre of
Nottingham in 2012. The present building is home to 45 resident studio artists
on the first floor with Gallery space on the second floor.
It was clear from talking with Suzanne Golden - Deputy
Director - that the organisation is directly linked to its studio - who form,
and are acknowledged as, a core part of their audience.
Studio artists are a mix of mainly new arts graduates /
emerging artists from the Universities, and artists relocating back to or to
Nottingham, attracted by the city’s affordability and the affordability of the
studio spaces.
Studio spaces are also hired by specific arts groups and
independent businesses.
Backlit’s 3 major exhibitions per year, always include
activity by studio artists - offering professional development for the studio -
a core ethic of the organisation. This might be, for example, a new commission
- working alongside a more established artist. But a crucial way of aligning
the studio ethic with the Gallery ethic.
Studio artist benefits are stated as:
24 hour access
Internet, heating and
electricity (unless excessive usage)
Profile on the website
Access to any member only
opportunities including exhibitions and events
Priority over non-members to
workshops, talks and other critical sessions
Being part of a diverse and
exciting studio community
Opportunities to apply to
BACKLIT Artist events including projects, annual group show and participation
programmes
Access to regular development
opportunities
Access to regular workshops
Access to one-to-ones with
relevant members of staff in person or via Skype
Backlit’s studio provision is augmented by an Associate scheme which
for a small monthly fee offers
Expanding your network with
access to like-minded people in the Nottingham arts scene
Acknowledgment on BACKIT’s
website with a link to your own page
Opportunity to apply to
BACKLIT’s annual group show
Opportunities to show work at
BACKLIT’s makers fair, Open Studios and within the building year-round
Priority access to BACKLIT
events and private views
Invitations to quarterly
BACKLIT Studio meetings
Regular communications that
share Associate and Studio artists’ work, practice and projects
Access to BACKLIT’s Dark Room
and Screen Printing studio
Discount rates to hire out
our project space
Priority notification of
short term studio rental
Direct contact with BACKLIT
staff
2 main audiences were identified - the artists they work
with (including studio) and their local community and associated community
groups. A recent Arts Council grant allowed Backlit to reassess how they can
work with those two specific sets of audience. This process has let to a more
defined way of working - building relationships with specific community groups
- eg Refugee Forum, the Women’s Muslim Community Group, Community Recording
Studio and the Renewal Trust. Building those links allows for an embedded sense
of operations within the organisation’s community.
To enhance their embedded sense of activity, there is a
commitment to being present at as many community events as possible to build
the community network and level of trust and engagement - done largely by Gina
Mollett - Learning and Community Co-ordinator.
Their involvement in the Tate Exchange programme as helped
learning about how to best engage. How to evaluate relationships and connect
properly, and work most effectively in a socially engaged way. How to best work
in this way - how to collect evidence, how to log information, observational
tracking - eg overheard conversations as case study, storytelling,
Key learning included
- that evaluation should start at Day 1 of a project and
shouldn’t be done at the end - it’s an ongoing process allowing for continual
reflection, assessment and change.
To aid understanding of their organisation to new audiences,
projects have included work around the building they’re inhabiting - its
history and how it has and does relate to the community. Work was done, within
the project to find personal attached relationships and shared experiences of
the building - rooting the local community in the past, present and future of
the building.
From this, there was a development of a group of community
ambassadors - The Morley Union - who could advocate for the organisation,
champion its actions, within the area’s activities.
An important element of the organisation is their volunteer
support - from the Backlit website:
Any volunteer at BACKLIT will benefit from networking and industry
experience, but each role has specific skills development to ensure the perfect
match!
Volunteers at BACKLIT can get structured support as well as having an
increased number of opportunities available. So far the volunteers have
experienced several benefits from joining the programme, some of which include:
Networking with local &
national Artists
Developing: Curation,
Communication, Creativity, Cohesion
Mentoring & Friendship
Confidence & Public
Speaking
Relevant Industry Experience
Work Experience & Employment
References
Community Involvement
Free attendance to Events
& Exhibitions
Volunteer activity is formalised, largely through a
symbiotic link with the Universities - who benefit from the relationship - and
understand and value the relationship - as it allows them to offer a work
placement element within their courses. There is also a partnership with the
Job Centre to offer volunteer placements for non- students - increasing the
reach of the organisation. Also worked with NCVS - Nottingham Community
Voluntary Services.
Volunteer activity largely consists of Gallery Assisting and
Invigilating, but also extends to help with building renovation. The
organisation has a specific role attached - Carys Bowen-Jones co-ordinates the
activity. Voluntary activity is unpaid - but at the end of each exhibition, for
instance - the volunteer group is offered the Project Space, free of charge, to
respond to the exhibition in any way they feel.
The organisation benefits from good support from the Local
Council, and specific individual councillor/council officer advocacy -
and also through a supportive relationship with the City’s
main gallery-based arts organisation - Nottingham Contemporary and the other
arts organisations in the City - such as Primary. The Backlit programme
activity often includes complementary activity happening at NC - but
interestingly, NC understand that there are mutual benefits, particularly in
terms of audience development for both organisations.
There is an acknowledged understanding of a sense of a
contemporary arts infrastructure in Nottingham which helps, in a fraternal and
supportive way, the individual organisations to prosper.
However, as Director Matthew Chesney mentioned partner and
sector support from, in particular, the Universities could always be better - a
conversation is still to be had, and an argument to be won, about the
bi-directional benefit of artist-led organisations - in terms of helping with
Graduate retention in the city, their role as part of the cultural
infrastructure and offering possibilities for new arts graduates to build a
career in the arts.
An interesting development in the Nottingham arts ecology,
relevant for AirSpace, is the effect that the growth of Backlit and Primary,
and their move toward NPO has had. There is a sense that new projects and
organisations are continually cropping up - but interestingly, whereas
previously they may have happened independently, new projects are happening
within the walls of these 2 new NPO’s - Trade, 4x4(formerly HUTT) and Tom
Goddard at Primary, and Chaos Magic from within Backlit. As building
development in cities grows, and available building space and resources
dwindle, the ability of existing arts organisations to house and nurture new
activity becomes ever more important in order to keep the overall ecology fresh
and developmental.
*****
Backlit is currently set up as a charitable organisation and
also a recent 1st time Arts Council NPO organisation. Application
for NPO for an artist-led organisation is a daunting prospect, in terms of
having the organisational structure in place, and the ability to cope with and
thrive from its implicit demands - but the move for Backlit seemed an obvious
one to make for the future prospects of their organisation - and also, they
found that, in a right time right place sense, the move made sense. Ultimately,
they believed they had nothing to lose by applying, and in terms of the potential
organisational benefits, the move made sense.
However, there have been and continue to be challenges,
especially for the artist-led - Suzanne talked of “spinning plates” - “ as an
artist you need to be able to multi-task…you put yourself in this type of job
and its HR, finance, curatorial, working with the volunteers… trying to prioritise
and work out what needs to be done when…it’s often quite difficult.”
And for Matthew Chesney,
the NPO experience so far has been fairly straightforward in terms of
programming and in many ways easier than during the days of project-to-project
funding. The difficulties have been issues around Human Resources and getting
systems of organisation and policies in place - “ we’re not HR trained, we’re
not accountants - we’re artists who got into directing and curating, admin and
fund-raising…”
