In early 2019, we visited In-Situ, in Pendle, Lancs - an organisation with relevant thematic concerns for AirSpace, but one with a proven ability to engage in real terms with its community and a brand new NPO organisation. I talked with Paul Hartley - an ever present at In-Situ - and new-to-the-organistion - Andy Abbott about their approach and structure.
Some notes from the visit:
In-Situ - Embedding art into everyday life in Pendle
Our vision is for
In-Situ to be a part of everyday life. For our art to be an art of action. For
our art to contribute to society as a whole. For our art to challenge current
thinking about environment people, place and culture.
Team
Paul Hartley –
Organisation and Engagement
Andy Abbott –
Environment Programme
Anna Taylor –
Marketing and Communications
Kerry Morrison –
Lead Artist
Hussnain Hanif –
Engagement
Sophie Skellern –
PhD Evaluation
Background
In-Situ is a not for profit arts organisation started in
2011 by Paul Hartley, Kerry Morrison and William Titley - formed originally in
Accrington, from a shared interest in how artists could work in aid of the
displaced communities resulting from a housing market renewal scheme - and from
a shared frustration about how art was working in communities and in particular
a sense of tokenism and short-termism.
Situated in Pendle - a district made up of 3 towns: Colne,
Nelson and Brierfield - a mix of urban, post-industrial cotton mills and
manufacturing industries - with associated migration from South Asia (mainly
Pakistan) mainly based in Brierfield and Nelson, both of which are
characterised by around 30-40% migrant communities. Surrounded by wealthier
rural areas.
Built from an initial £10,000 seed money investment from a
visionary element of Lancashire County Council which sought to strip some
existing bureaucracy from arts funding in an attempt to get funding direct to
artists. The money allowed for a series of national and international research
visits to inform the existing interest in how artists can contribute to social
solutions rather than merely offering a mirrored response or highlight of
problems. The research visits led to some planning time - based in the back
room of a library in Brierfield, where on a scrap of paper, an initial 5 year
plan was formed to create an organisation which would;
1 - Commit to one place (Pendle)
2 - To try and always think long-term
3 - To always have artists driving projects in leading
roles, rather than local authorities or other stakeholders bringing artists in
as deliverers of their projects.
4 - to build on a historic (1960’s), but maybe lost, view of
the role of artists working with communities - not as community artists, simply
delivering workshops, but exploring the political dimension of the contemporary
artist in how they and art can play an active role in shaping policy.
5 - To keep briefs open and allow the artist to develop them
through their practice
6 - To allow space for each of the 3 artists to maintain and
develop their own collective and individual practices. (Paul > Community
Development Work and space finding for conversational activity, William >
revealing small town sub cultures, eg Northern Soul, Kerry > the urban
environment, brownfield sites and liminal spaces).
From here - Arts Council funding allowed for R&D into
organisational and structural development and In-Situ was set up as a
not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Aided by the coalescence of Libraries,
Museums and the Arts in the local council, their ad hoc space in the library
became more permanent, offered free of charge and became their base for 5 years
and allowed for a follow up 2 year ACE Grants for the Arts bid which crucially
allowed for the specific non-prescriptive development of an embedded, social
practice-led way of working.
The work
- Initial set of 12 artists’ residencies built on
conversation, communication and social practice - affording time to be spent in
place to identify concerns.
- Using the Library as a base - for talks and meetings - but
not for exhibitions.
- Having artists “out and about” was crucial - engaging with
the community on their terms, but being visible as artists.
- Projects grew organically from these residencies, meetings
and conversations with the public.
Audio Clip #1 - https://soundcloud.com/user-375347239/insituclip1
Particular attention has been paid to:
- understanding the organisation’s place within its specific
location, something helped by the organisation’s founders being from the area.
- and in particular the migrant character of the area.
- always paying attention to the central idea of being
embedded in the place
- how to engage with those communities
- building relationships through committed, time-plenty
activity
- maintaining built relationships
- working with particular artists sensitive to those
communities
- building partnerships with organisations who already work
in those communities.
- delivering talks in an open a way as possible, to allow
the community access to the thinking behind the works
- being realistic about how much work can be done, and
ensuring quality of work is maintained
- disseminating word of the local activity to a national
audience
Being central players in the area’s Arts Council Creative
People and Places project, allowed In Situ’s existing activities to be scaled
up, to deliver much bigger set piece activities, reaching a much larger
audience and participant group. This in turn alerted the local Council, private
sector and stakeholders to understand the value of artist activity. Ultimately,
In Situ were gifted their current premises by the Council who understood from
previous activities, that there ought to be a continued presence of artists
within the development of their area.
The decision to apply for NPO status came at this stage -
with increased visibility, a settled place in its community, a confidence in
what the organisation was and what it wanted to do, support from its community
and the local policy makers, and a building.
Capacity building had been done through paid intern schemes
with young, emerging practitioners, working on organisational projects. NPO
status has allowed for this time and energy hungry organisational aspect to be
more effectively balanced and efficiently managed. Previous intern-led activity
such as marketing and communications is now officially undertaken by
specifically skilled members of the organisation.
Does NPO mean the end
to artist led? What is In-Situ’s thinking and how has it changed the
organisation?
Ultimately, following a personnel change, with amongst two
new members - (Andy Abbott - heading the Environment Programme and Anna Taylor
- heading Marketing and Comms) filling the gaps made by the departures from
directorship of William Titley and Kerry Morrison - the key for In-Situ has
been to develop roles for specific themed activities, but then hiring people
who have arts practices - and in this way, maintaining the artists perspective
at the heart of the organisation.
Finding the balance between members of the organisation who
enjoy or are capable of the necessary admin and fund finding, and those who thrive
on the delivery of the artistic output is paramount.
Audio Clip #3 - https://soundcloud.com/user-375347239/insituclip3
It is clear that it has also been
key for the new group running In-Situ that there is an aspiration for there to
be a fluidity between the roles - a hierarchy free structure, and that each
main player in the organisation, in theory, can deliver in each role. However,
it may be that in realistic terms, you have to play to the strengths of each
individual, and allow this to inform your way of working.
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