AirSpace Graduate Residents 2016/17

Now into its fifth year, AirSpace is really happy to announce that our two new residents are Tom Verity and Jack Waddington. Tom and Jack will be starting their 6 months residencies towards the end of August, relocating to Stoke-on-Trent and taking advantage of free studio space, monthly meetings with Gallery Directors and invited artists, regular professional development activity, including seminars and trips and exhibition opportunities at the gallery, including of course, the all-important solo show at the end of their time with us.

Tom and Jack are coming to Stoke at a really exciting time for the city, which is in the midst of its Capital of Culture bid preparations - there's loads going on for them to immerse themselves in and we're really excited at the prospect of working with them and seeing how their working practices develop.

Here, Tom and Jack set out their practices and initial hopes for their residencies.

Tom Verity

My practice has a wide spectrum, exploring the relationships between painting and sculpture through the deconstruction of its traditions. My sculpture and installation reference minimalist sensibilities whilst maintaining an improvised, precarious quality that draws upon an interest on how art is physical experienced. My work is comprised of a mixture of natural, every-day and industrial material inspired by a do-it-yourself aesthetic. I aim to make simple, functional artwork that draws open physical material as well as the history of art.

During my residency at AirSpace Gallery I would like to progress my practice maintaining its core values but pushing myself into new areas. I would like to evolve my work to investigate the built environment, examining the role of architectural structures in art and attempt to redefine and redesign them. I hope to create new spaces where art can be performed and displayed in disused areas of the city bringing the art of the gallery out into Stoke. I would like to fully embrace and examine Stoke-on-Trent as a city, investigating its history and its place in the world of 2016.

Jack Waddington

The self-rewarding fundamentals to creating and the compulsive necessity we adopt are what inform my practice. I engage in emotional geography by playfully materialising an imaginary metropolis, through figurative painting and sculptural construction of utopian terrain in miniature fashion. Like a child seeking security by absorbing themselves within pretend narratives, I aim to adopt my ‘inner child’ and nostalgically suggest this process in a sensitive and vulnerable way. Playtime is a form of development and constructing maps is a process of understanding a place. How we reference ourselves within our work is where my sensitivities lie.

During the residency I intend to shift the focus from the private nature of my practice, and absorb myself within Stoke-on-Trent's differing identities. The polycentric distinctiveness of the area, a city of towns, is a curious quality I wish to analyse. I intend to walk and respond to the people and their localities. The navigations across urban landscapes would be revealed through an array of materials that would investigate the duality between looser and tighter approaches in my works. Exploring geographical portraiture I’ll develop locational inspired small-scale models and immediate against intricate drawings and paintings.

Introducing our new Associate Director - Emilie Atkinson.

With the news that AirSpace Gallery founder and beating heart, Andrew Branscombe was to leavre the organisation after 10 years to take up the major role of co-ordinating the huge technical requirements at nearby Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, we set about trying to fill the huge gap that Andy left.

In truth, it would take two people to fulfil all the roles Andy undertook, but we have made a start, and we didn't have to look too far!

 
Emilie Atkinson finished her Graduate Residency with us in January 2016.  The commitment she showed both to the city, in relocating from London, and to the residency, and the critical quality of and endeavour in her practice, made it a straightforward choice.  We're delighted to welcome Emilie on board, and look forward to working together in this next exciting and challenging phase both for AirSpace and for the contemporary arts in Stoke-on-Trent.

It became apparent to me straight away, when I arrived to start the AirSpace graduate residency in 2015, that Stoke was an exciting place to be as an artist. The projects I saw whilst lingering in the cultural quarter for my interview, tapped into a sensibility that was unfamiliar to me fresh out of art school in London – the Peregrine Watch situated on Piccadilly and the CITY-GROW Planters sat outside of AirSpace showed an incredibly exciting generosity and collaborative spirit so different from the egoistic nature of much of the work I’d experienced at art school. Whilst as the same time, the projects mirrored my own interest in meditating on the everyday and the current socio-political landscape.

Throughout my residency I came across more and more endeavors of this nature within the city (both through spending time at AirSpace, as well as volunteering with the British Ceramics Biannual and Appetite) and I grew more and more certain that having left London, Stoke was the city I wanted to push my practice further in, beyond the graduate residency. Hence, I am inexplicably excited that I have been asked to join the gallery as a director and contribute to its current research.

Following my graduate residency I spent 3 months as artist in residence in Clermont-Ferrand, France, which gave me time to reflect on new directions emerging in my work, as well as many of the French attitudes to the quotidian. I believe this will come to influence new research into local food and market culture that I shall take up whilst working with AirSpace. I also hope to bring my ongoing interest in artist moving image and cinema to the gallery, as I feel that a platform to show such work, as a curated series of events in a cinema setting, would benefit both artists working in film & video as well as local audiences. 

- Emilie Atkinson

AirSpace Gallery research visit #2 - Margate

A-N Go and See - Artist Led Development: Place and Resources

AirSpace Gallery is about to enter its 10th year as an artist led organisation in Stoke-on-Trent, and as a result we are thinking about resilience, and how organisations can connect to the places where they are to ensure a sustainable approach.
With this in mind, each of the 3 AirSpace Directors have been on trips around the country to meet up with organisations and individuals whose projects have been around a while, or who we think are making interesting connections to the places that they are situated in. We have been wonderfully supported by an A-N go and see bursary, allowing us time and financial support to make these visits.
Glen has been to Preston, Andy to Sheffield and I have been to Margate.

Recently I have been thinking about the long term impacts of public art and arts programming; Probably for a while, but brought into sharp focus, when I was invited to speak at the 'In Certain Places' and Ixia (Public Art Think Tank) conference 'The Art of Dwelling: Exploring long term approaches to public art and place.'

This was a really interesting opportunity to hear about projects from across the UK who are all  still going after quite a time, what these projects all had in common was that the people leading on them were absolutely embedded with the place that their organisation was based. The projects were specific, and bespoke to those places, and had a flavour to them which would not be possible anywhere else. The projects are site-responsive, completely engaged with the particularity of the places that they inhabit - and in most cases, really making a difference to participants, and the places they operate. It was a privilege to be invited to speak alongside Deveron Arts, In-Situ, In Certain Places and others, but what stayed with me, was a question about what the organisations are responding to in their prospective places, and whether there was any commonality in approach.

It got me thinking about Stoke, and the particularity of this place: and raised some questions for me about the relationship between a place's resources, and the projects that happen there.

In recent years the projects that we have engaged in at AirSpace have often questioned the role of the artist in society, have engaged with overlooked resources (space, skills, materials) and have, in recent years, had recurring themes around food and green space in cities.

Interestingly, we are not alone in this here, and so, this go and see bursary felt like a great chance to undertake some research into the resources in another place, and the effect that may or may not have on the artists living and working there.
I decided to visit Margate - I am really fascinated by the amazing speed of the development of the arts scene in Margate in the last 5 years. My interest is partly personal (my family are from the area, and I worked, with my sister and brother in the Dreamland Fun Park as a teenager) but also, I am interested in Margate as a place that lost its industry, and where the regeneration and development solution has been mainly culture led. This is very relevant to us in Stoke - the industry is very different, but the solutions may be shared.

Turner Contemporary opened in Margate in 2011, and I was there at the Opening, to document and review the opening for A-N.

Nearly 5 Years on, I wanted to look at the changes in the artist led scene in Margate in those 5 years, and to find out from those working there, what it is like to be in Margate now. I set up meetings with Leigh Clarke, at Crate - as I was interested in talking about the changes in Margate, from the point of view of a space that had been in Margate before Turner, I then spoke to Nick Morley at Resort Studios, a very young space, which has achieved so much in such a short space of time and finally to Dan Thompson, an Independent Artist, who moved with his family to Margate a few years ago.

My first appointment was with artist, printmaker Leigh Clarke - in his studio at Crate.

Crate was started in 1996, by some graduates from Canterbury University - a disused print works, they wanted it to be a space for artists to work, and also a project space, for others to visit.
It always had a theoretical slant to it, originally housing the 'Critical Research Bureau' - and the connections to research continue today.

Soon after Crate opened, Limbo opened up next door, creating a bit of a hub and a great relationship between the spaces - which culminated around 2 years in an almost merger, as the two organisations looked to secure the old Burton building nearby.
When the project fell through, they asked Leigh to be a Director there, to help the organisation's develop in the next few years.

Leigh moved to the area, from London two years ago. It was really interesting to hear from Leigh about his experience - he described his experiences as an artist, with a studio in London, and the gritty reality of Hackney at that time, a trip to the local pub, 'The Gun' was literally the place you visited to get a gun, but a recent visit reveals the stark realities of gentrification - the pub now serve craft beer, The Prada and Burberry factories are now round the corner. Margate today feels like Hackney did 10 or 15 years ago. The fact that artists are completely part of the gentrification was not lost on Leigh - he talked about the strange push pull of the process. Its a process that is replicated in every city - we (artists) move in, the place is gritty, reality on the doorstep - our presence starts to change things, cafes open, the street art improves, the costs to rent space start to go up, other types of business start to take an interest and move in, space becomes a premium, artists can no longer afford the rent, artists start to move out (and anyway the place has changed, so artists aren't that interested any more.)

Leigh talked about the effect that Turner Contemporary has had on Margate, and the amazing rate of change -saying 'It's still cheap in Margate, but you can definitely feel that it isn't going to be like that for long.'

The same week that I was in Margate, I heard from another artist that we, at AirSpace have collaborated with, that he would be moving to Margate imminently, to open a new studio project - it is a story that we are hearing more and  more, as the prices to rent studio in London become completely beyond most artists, the train service to London from Margate, which was greatly improved a few years ago, and now sees you able to be in Kings Cross an hour and a half after setting off, and for just £13 makes the option of living by the sea so much more viable.

This is something that we are really interested in, we don't have the sea in Stoke, but we are one of the U.K.'s greenest cities, the train to Euston takes at best an hour and 23 minutes (unfortunately the price is something that needs work) but with the low cost of living, and London based studio provider Acava opening 43 artists studios a 5 minute walk from Stoke Station, the prospect of being a Stoke based artists looks more interesting than ever.
Crate, as organisation that has been running for 20 years, is very interesting, having been in Margate, before Turner Contemporary, and since. We talked about the way that organisations develop into their buildings in an organic way - and not necessarily in a strategic way which recognises the resources and potential of the building - and that because of this an organisation will need moments of restructuring and rethinking, and that Crate is in a bit of a period of change now, with 2 new directors and an interest in getting back to some of the original emphasis as a research hub.

One of the main questions I had was a direct question around whether Leigh, Nick and Dan could identify what the particular resources might be in Margate, and what impact that might have on the way that artists and art organisations work in Margate.
Leigh felt that Margate, first and foremost has big spaces that are accessible to artists, but also that the place has really interesting pubs and shops - that feel non-commercial and unlike other places, an unspoilt bohemia. He also felt that Turner Contemporary are providing a great support to artists in the Town, and that the networks in Margate work well - people know each other and collaborate across organisations really well. Leigh also described the upsurge in popularity of right wing politics in the area as something which had galvanised the creative community, and brought people together to counter that.

I was interested in whether the resources of the place, may impact on the themes and ways of working of artists in Margate, Leigh talked about the landscape having an impact and featuring in people's work, but that in many cases it is a slow creeping thing, that happens in people's work, and is almost unnoticed at first. It is of course like this for most artists, whether an artists work is directly related to place or not, places do seep in, and impact on
the direction, rhythms, materials and feel of work.

In terms of making work, Leigh talked about how cheap it is to get materials and to get things made, compared to London. He also talked about the Charity Shops as a fantastic resource for him and his work. Leigh turns the abundant wastage of a consumerist society into materials for new works of art, and currently that material is the Celebrity Autobiography.

'The Charity Shops are my Art Shops, the more I wander around Charity shops, the more I am spotting things that appear a lot at one time. In 2009 I exhibited my collection of 500 Batman Forever VHS videos, that I'd collected for 5 years.

At the moment, these autobiographies are everywhere, because nobody really wants them. I would never have been able to get the stuff I make my art from if I was in London. I just got Anne Diamond for a quid.'

My second visit took me up the hill to Cliftonville, to Resort Studios, and a revisit to Nick Morley at Hello Print. I was in Margate in March for one to one Print training with Nick, write up here

Resort and hello Print are already established as an import part of Margate's arts ecology, providing affordable studio space, open access to the print facilities, and recently a jewelry and soon to open dark room are added to the Resort Menu, which includes drawing club, professional development and a series of interesting events throughout the year.

Resort now hosts at least 40 artists, but many more associates, with the print space and events, the energy in the building is positive, productive and friendly - and the space there is obviously already very desirable - there is a selection process at Resort - and they really can attract 'serious' people, as there can be 3 applicants for each studio or desk that becomes available.

There are a number of things which make Resort such an interesting place to work - the physical design and how the building has been broken up, is purposefully thought out to encourage interaction. The 4 directors have very different skill sets, which makes for a well balanced organisation - the pool of skills, contacts and interests across the board keeps things interesting.

We discussed how quickly things are moving in terms of development in Margate - in the six months since my last visit, new galleries have opened on the route from Turner to Resort, and just around the corner on Northdown Road a new clay based open access shop has opened, and is already offering clay workshops.

Nick talked about the pace of change as being the thing which really feeds creativity, but that there is also something (in the background) which is worrying about the speed that things are moving. There is a worry that they are starting to reach a tipping point, that point where Margate becomes cemented as the next big thing - and the gentrification becomes the thing that makes Margate lose its Margateness. It is a responsibility that artists and arts organisations may have, as we know we are part of the process - the thing which is shifting and speeding up the change - and which ultimately means we end up having to move on.

We talked about the need for organisations to think forward - to after the gentrification has happened, to do our best to think sustainably - and try to secure the properties we are in ahead of the curve.

This is such a difficult thing for an arts organisation to do though, our experience at AirSpace has been that we did try to secure a longer lease, but that without spare money hanging around, it is really difficult to future proof the precarious artist led organisation.
What is amazing about Crate, is that they own their building, and this really has to be the holy grail, you can't be shifted on, when the proces rocket, if you are the owner of the building.

Nick and I discussed the resources that Margate has to offer - Nick chose Margate in the first place, for its seaside location as he and his partner were looking to get out of London, but also for the large buildings, and importantly for Nick, no other print provision anywhere near the area. Nick talked about the feeling that in Margate, you really can make a bigger impact,

'If you put on a good event here, everyone knows about it, but in London there is so much competition.'

I think it is more than that too, In Stoke, it has felt for the past 10 years like the lack of infrastructure and other activity has perversely made it somehow easier to do things, not so much red tape, and in a way, because you are often doing things for the first time, it does make a bigger splash.

Resort is a young organisation, and therefore at this stage is rightly focused on getting established and getting organised, and not overtly concerned with engaging the public around them, in my experience anyway, this will come later - but the day to day connections with local residents and neighbour businesses will see the slow and steady, and more natural impact that the presence of Resort will have. We talked about the responsibility of the organisation to its neighbourhood, and what that might mean - which for now is about improving the spaces around the building, being welcoming and open, so that the locals don't feel alienated by the changes taking place - and which may, eventually change the area entirely.

 Dan Thompson - site responsive artwork in Arlington House - etched Parquet Floor.

The final visit in Margate cemented the conversations around gentrification, and the artists role and responsibility. It was great to catch up with artist and writer Dan Thompson. Dan has been working and campaigning for many years, around the use of abandoned high street shops - and on his website his about describes him as being
'... interested in the creation of social capital, in abandoned or underused spaces, and in DIY approaches to art, culture and social action. '

As an independent artist, who very consciously moved to Margate with his family a few years back, I was interested to hear from Nick about the phenomena of culture led gentrification in Margate, and the impact that people like him are having on the town.

Though Dan moved to Margate two years ago, he has been working in Margate variously since 2003, so had a real knowledge of the town and the potential there before moving his family, there was the draw of the sea, but also Turner Contemporary being in the town was important.

We talked about the interesting question around resources, and the impact that this can have on the way that artists live and work. In Margate, like Stoke, Dan identified that space is relatively easy to get hold of, and that it is impressive, characterful space, that makes the project so much more interesting and ripe with creativity.

Recent projects have seen Dan working with a group of other artists to put on a site responsive exhibition in Arlington House, one of the most controversial, and impactful buildings on Margate seafront. Getting hold of amazing spaces like this would be difficult anywhere else. This building is an interesting one, I remember from my youth, Arlington House being regarded as something of a ghetto, by those that didn't live there, and in Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Last Resort' film, it was there that the main character ended up, Arlington House, the ends of the earth.

My Gran's friends had a flat there, and said it was the best place they had ever lived, as Dan pointed out, due to the amazing architecture of the building, every flat has a sea view.
In Stoke too, projects like Art City have seen some amazing spaces made available for artists; our colleagues at Re:Stoke put on an epic production in the closed down Tunstall Swimming Baths, AirSpace led on the Kules Residency in the old Olympus Engineering Works, and the project itself launched from the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery. In Stoke, we are in the moment before the moment that Margate is in, amazing spaces are accessible, at little or no cost - but people are starting to notice - 43 artists studios on the Spode Factory this month will bring a much welcomed influx of creative people, but this, like in Margate may be just the start.

Talking to Dan, Nick and Leigh, they all shared this story of a move to Margate being about getting away from the commercialism of London, or towards the amazing character that Margate has, where space can be accessed, things can be done but that there presence itself could be the thing which makes it all flip the other way.

In Dan's case, in the two years that he has been living there he has seen property prices rocket - purchasing a flat in Arlington House was something that could have been achievable two years ago, but its proximity to the train station, sea views, and the influx of other tower block appreciating creative people have pushed the price above and beyond what most artists could hope to afford.

In Margate they are not at the tipping point yet, but everyone seems to feel it coming.
We don't have a Turner Contemporary in Stoke, or the sea for that matter, and at the moment it feels like a bit of that gentrification might not go amiss - but there are rumblings here that its on its way.

The city is bidding for city of culture 2021, good places to eat have suddenly begun to appear, and the positive press we are getting is really making a difference to how we are viewed from elsewhere.

What it feels we are missing is one big catalyst to really bring it all together - and it does feel that that needs to be artist led.

AirSpace Gallery research visit #1 - In Certain Places, Preston

In Certain Places headquarters, Preston

In 2015, AirSpace Gallery received some funding through A-N (Artist Newsletter)'s Go&See Programme. The funding was timely. We had just come to the end of a 2 year Arts Council-funded programme, and had been awarded new 3 year funding, and we were in the process of commissioning a reflective creative evaluation of our activities in order to best tailor our activities for 2015-2018.

Hand in hand with reflection on activity goes research into how other organisations are effectively (or not) operating in similar areas. During an unfunded period prior to 2013, the new directorate at AirSpace had decided on a subtle change in approach. We had decided to take stock of our organisation, and our position in and relevance to our city - Stoke-on-Trent. We wanted to harness our individual concerns, around themes of sustainability, contemporary existence, human relationship with the land, and the artist's role and their regenerative powers in improving the overall societal condition of a city - and build them in to a high quality contemporary visual arts programme within a Gallery which would be relevant to our surroundings. We were clear - we thought there was little appetite for a "white cube", "London" experience here in Stoke - but there was space for a programme which explored ideas pertinent to this city and cities like it, and the experience(s) of its inhabitants. We wanted to diversify our activity, taking content out of the Gallery in to the Public realm, and using the city as Gallery space, and taking our ideas out to the audience, where they could be viewed and engaged with on the public's terms, rather than sitting back and expecting visitors in to our building, on our terms.

After this initial turn in direction, the three Go&See visits we undertook in December 2015 offered us valuable insight in to how we might ensure our next steps built on this initial activity and embedded this way of working into our next 3 year programme. Visit #1 is outlined here, with #'s 2&3 to follow.

My visit took me to Preston and the enduring Public Realm project In Certain Places.

In Certain Places is a programme of artistic interventions and events, led by curators Elaine Speight and Professor Charles Quick, with the support of associate Rachel Bartholomew, in the School of Art, Design and Fashion at the University of Central Lancashire. Based in the City of Preston, in the North West of England, the project examines how artists can contribute to the form and functions of a place, by exploring new approaches to art, culture and urban development.

Since 2003, In Certain Places has worked with artists and architects to develop temporary interventions in Preston City Centre, hosted artists’ residencies, and organised talks and debates about art practice and place. Collectively, these activities have generated new understandings of the urban environment, enabled new ideas to be tested in the city’s public spaces, and formed collaborations between artists, institutions, communities, businesses and other individuals in Preston and beyond.

The project is financially supported by the University of Central Lancashire, Preston City Council and the Arts Council of England through their Grants for the Arts scheme. - source: ICP website

My 2 day visit to Preston comprised an interview with Elaine Speight and an observer's role in to a new project, taking them outside the City's centre - to its rural, and developmental outskirts.

 - There are several synonymical crossovers between Preston and Stoke-on-Trent.

Both are post-industrial cities, a little dwarfed by larger urban neighbours. Both are small, walkable cities, surrounded by and nestling inside beautiful rural countyside. Both have civic art spaces, universities, historic buildings and are studded with large public spaces. Neither is renowned for being go-tos for contemporary art, and have been described as "cold-spots" by Arts Council England in their funding strategy. These are, on the surface, difficult places to operate and deliver contemporary arts programmes. Producers and artists have to work a little harder to operate in such places, where the public is maybe a little "art-sceptical".


ICP began as an arts collaboration and informal partnership between the Harris Museum and Art Gallery and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), and is now based exclusively at UCLan. Elaine describes ICP as a project rather than an organisation with an autonomy of operation, with no board to report to.  It has no venue, which directly affects its relationship with an audience as there is no "go-to" place for people to attch ICP to in their minds.

I was interested in how ICP works with and develops its audience in a non-gallery, public realm setting - an area increasingly important in AirSpace's programming. 

ICP has a core audience, developed over the years of accumulative activity, mostly regional, from Preston and surrounding areas, made up of artists, graduates of UCLan's MA programme, and members of the public who are interested in art and place and cultural activity happening in the city.

But when asked whether ICP factored the non-core audience in to their project planning, Elaine was clear.

"I think..I suppose, and this is something people have said to me as a criticism, I think, maybe, we're more interested in the artist and the artwork, perhaps, than the audience. (for us) we're interested (primarily) in the project and what that might be."

Me: And so you trust that the artist and the strength of the artwork will automatically generate and attract an audience?

"Yeah. I think our audience is very self-selecting. Our work since we started has always been focused on the city centre, rather than small towns or suburban communities, where lot of different things happen and no one necessarily has ownership of it - people work there, live there - and so our work, (which is about place rather than the individuals within it) has never been targeted at particular types of people, but each project, due to the nature of the work and the nature of the artist, develops its own audience. So for instance, when we made a film with Shezad Dawood, we had loads of people involved in that who were actually in the film, working as extras and crew, but they got involved because they were interested in being in a film. And then with the project that we've just done - The People's Canopy , that involved all sorts of people because it was more of an architectural framework, specifically involving community groups.

Iain Broadley did a piece of work for the Preston Guild called The Black Parade where he developed this whole float and parade as part of the Preston Guild Processions. He was interested in working with people from the Goth sub-culture, something which he identifies with, and so he brought to the project people he already knew from within that subculture and also working with a lot of young people who hang around the city centre. Also, when John Newling did his Preston Market Mystery Project , just because of where it was, that involved the stall holders and the shoppers.

So, I think the audience for a work, and the audience can sometimes be quite tiny, I guess, and sometimes the audience is quite incidental, in that they might experience the work, but not know that it's an artwork, like some of the sound pieces that we've done, is either accidental, or self-selecting, but not the driving force behind a project. "

Working in the Public Realm, as a pose to a Gallery setting would seem to demand a relationship with public authorities. How does In Certain Places view this aspect of their activity?

Elaine affirms the importance of a good working, trusting relationship with the City Council in order to operate effectively in the Public Realm. She recalls, however, a tricky early relationship with the Council in In Certain Place's early years. As well as a complicated internal bureaucratic structure, largely around the city's regeneration policy, they had to overcome some scepticism borne of what seemed to be an inability to visualise the efficacy of Public Realm work that wasn't traditional sculpture. She cited Jeppe Hein's piece - Appearing Rooms, the value and spectacle of which, once eventually installed and operative, became immediately clear to the councillors, who at that stage could "get" the work and buy in to its worth. From there and through subsequent large scale "impact" works such as "Harris Flights", the working relationship has become more tenable - it's easier to negotiate the intricacies involved and an acceptance of a project's value is more readily forthcoming. Elaine noted an important individual relationship with a member of the Council's Planning team - Nigel Roberts who has risen through the Council to a top Job in  Planning and Urban Design - who was consistently supportive of the ICP project.

It's clear from talking to Elaine, that there isn't a specific strategy to target effective working relations with the Council, more, it's an organic trusting relationship built through activity and consistency of activity and proving, through successful delivery of projects that there is minimal risk.

Up until recently, support from the Council has largely been logistical, save for some very small offers of cash support. However, recently, with the advent of Preston's City Deal project (which is a long term, nationally-funded housing and regeneration project), In Certain Places has attracted more substantial financial support from Preston Council - which can only be as a result of embedding itself within the City's cultural fabric over a long time and over the course of a series of projects.


The interest here, beyond the importance of Council involvement and support in the delivery of Public Realm projects, refers directly back to In Certain Place's core way of working. It is about PlaceMaking and right at the heart of that is the artist and the artwork and the notion that

" artists are part of a place as well "

The result, and this is vital, of consistent successful delivery of well-received, high quality art projects carried out with the public, in the Public Realm, which ultimately garners the acceptance and support of authoritative and institutional bodies, is that it affirms, embeds and cements the cultural sector and the position of the artist in a place alongside those more traditionally associated components - business and the public sector.


And so, from here, we started to talk about the particulars of place and ICP's particular way of working. I wondered if In Certain Place's focus was about Place, or was it specifically about Preston? Elaine was keen to stress some important factors in ICP's approach.

 - work with and support local artists, not just because they are local - quality of work should not be secondary, but an understanding that to strive to ensure the involvement of the artist in a place, you have to acknowledge their existence, and work to develop and support them.

"For me, it's not  about place or about Preston, it's about doing things in  a place. It's about being part of a place. Through our activity, and through the projects, we start conversations about Preston, that also have a wider relevance to other places. But, again, it all comes down to the artists that we work with and how they respond to the place."

 - Don't "do art to people" - make sure that you shape your arts project so that it's part of a place and an everyday experience.

"Becky Shaw, in her essay ("Local Art for Local People" in Subplots To a City p155-148) articulates this really well. She says when artwork is just there in a place, and presented to people, without any other context - so without being in an art gallery, or seen within an arts festival, it kind of has to work a lot harder because it's up against this cacophony of a place, of commercial things and everyday routines - and it has to do something within that. At the same time she talks about how this frameless encounter also means that the art isn't "done" to people. People can engage with it, but on their own terms. And they can choose not to, and I think that's fine."

 - A "spectactle" in Public Art isn't necessarily important but it can be useful.

"One of the things we've learned is that because we don't have a regular visibility, not having a venue, not having things happening all the time, sometimes you need a spectacle to benefit thos things that aren't spectacular. We've done really quiet pieces of work like Lisa Wigham's The Waiting Room or Magda Stawarska-Beavan's sound piece The Arcade that maybe have the incidental, accidental audience that we were talking about - and they're really quiet works - but maybe it's helpful for those to have the spectacles like the Canopies we've just done where we went from the University and cycled them up in this big procession up to the Flag Market, and people were coming out of shops to see - and it was a really unusual event. Those events, visually striking, photograph really well and are easy to put out on Social Media which increases the audience. By doing that high profile visual project it maintains the visibility, perhaps, of In Certain Places, which is, hopefully, useful for the artists who are making smaller, quieter pieces."

 - The "Temporary" and "Momentary" in the Public Realm

" I don't think it's necessary for Public Art to be temporary or permanent. You can have permanent pieces of public art which are successful but they work in a different way to the temporary. The temporary is useful for us because we're interested in testing things - in Preston - and if other people want to take those on then that's great. It's about starting a conversation. That's how we see In Certain Places - having a conversation with Preston and bringing people in to that conversation - whether that's artists or members of the Public, or the Council or the University. So in that sense, the artworks are contexts for conversations."

This was a fascinating and wide ranging conversation, with invaluable learning strategies for us at AirSpace Gallery and potentially an evidential model for our city's stakeholders to draw inspiration and trust from . At a time when Stoke-on-Trent is planning a bid to become the UK's next city of culture in 2021, In Certain Places is a proof of the worth of understanding the role, the professional role of the artist in a place. People talk about In Certain Places in terms of being within Preston's DNA or a constituent part of its soil structure. A Part of the place, doing things alongside and with other people, some of who happen to be artists. Their long term approach utilising short sharp projects is a model to be admired and learned from.


The last word, here should go to Elaine's In Certain Places colleague, Charles Quick from his website.

"In Certain Places has successfully raised the level of ambition for Preston's public realm, both within the City Council and the wider community, and has generated a national profile for Preston as an aspirational city. Evidence that the programme has changed attitudes towards the role of art within Preston's redevelopment has become increasingly visible and decision-makers, such as the Council's Planning department, have adopted a holistic and ambitious approach to the inclusion of art within the city's public spaces."

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DAY TWO of the research trip allowed me an insight into ICP's next project - a multi artist exploration of Preston's City Deal initiative - a housing, transport and regeneration scheme looking to transform and modernise the city into the 21st Century. This initial scoping exercise is inviting a group of 6 artists - a mix of local and national - Gavin Renshaw, Rebecca Chesney, Emily Speed, Olivia Keith, Ruth Levene and Ian Nesbitt - to respond to the scheme. It was obviously early days, as the group were toured around specific areas of interest, and given background info by Charles Quick and Elaine Speight, but immediately of interest was the characteristic slow and considered, long-termist approach adopted by In Certain Places. here the artists were being afforded time - at least a year, with the prospect, funding permitting, of longer to research develop and deliver their works.

 

My privilege, here, was to be invited to see this stage, allowing me to follow its progress with an understanding of context, and I'm looking forward to seeing its resolution, and bringing that learning back to our city.

Community Maker - Houses, Shops and Celebrations

The AirSpace Gallery/British Ceramics Biennial 'Community Maker' Project continued with another workshop in our makeshift pop up community space (big tent) and a very special and enjoyable community meal.

The workshop invited people to make themselves as a house - and it was really interesting to see how much detail people went into while making them. It was a lovely activity.

And started to really give people the opportunity to be creative with the clay, above is a lovely example by resident Kerry.

During the Community Maker activities the council were in touch, knowing that we would be meeting the residents of the area, on the Community Green Space, and seeing Community Maker as a good opportunity to gather the residents thoughts on a few things.

They asked us to ask the community about the idea of the council handing over one of the still derelict buildings on Portland Street - the old community shop - to be used as a community asset and to explore the potential interest in the idea of a community run shop and meeting space.
One of the main points about the area is that the lack of a community meeting space really stops a lot of community driven activity from being able to take place. Community Maker has been enabled by AirSpace Gallery's purchase of a large bell tent, but still - this is limited, as only really 10 people at most can fit inside the tent, and it is fine in summer, but not really viable for winter.

Therefore the idea of exploring the community shop and meeting space makes a lot of sense.

Ahead of the event we were given a look around the shop - and although it is a bit of a state, it is certainly possible to see the potential.

We used the special community meal to really focus on this idea, and create space for discussion about a community shop - how it may be run, what could be sold and offered there and who would get involved. I used the tried and tested artist soup kitchen format for the event - spending 30 minutes giving a presentation which presented a variety of community run shops from around the UK, and then we had our discussion over a bowl of tomato and red pepper soup.

The residents gave their thoughts about the idea of a community shop and meeting space, and used 'The Homemaker' magazine as source material for individual collages showing what makes a strong community, here is one by Claire

and at the end of the discussion everyone summed up their thinking with a one line response to give to the council:

- the shop could be a good place for IT classes

- What about the space above the shop being like a spare room, with bedroom for neighbours to use if they have guests staying.

-  people from local area selling stuff they make, also a place to buy oatcakes and coffee plus hosting events for local children

- whatever it is, it needs to be well run and inviting - good coffee and something to eat. somewhere that people know they can go and feel comfortable, meet neighbours. Place to book for parties, and access to space upstairs for the community.

- Somewhere to chill and also somewhere to pick up parcels - if you are out when they get delivered. Perhaps a homework/tutoring club for local children

- day care centre for children

- downstairs a shop somewhere to get fresh bread and cakes etc. and an upstairs space - somewhere to rent out for activities

- English classes

- a convenience store - food always works and also a police presence there too.

- CAB drop in for other stakeholders and service providers locally.

 Since this event, the idea of a community space has been discussed further - and we were able to point out that though an excellent community asset, what the community really needs is a space where groups can meet. This has been taken on board and the council have now offered the larger empty space - the Pub on Portland Street, as a potential community space for a mixture of uses.

We had great feedback from residents about the event, people really enjoyed the special space created by the Artist Soup Kitchen, with one resident commenting on social media afterwards: 'An unusual and enjoyable meeting. I usually feel out of place at these types of things but not so much this evening. Thanks' 

The next stage is to gather some support for the idea, resources and stakeholders. As a result of this I am going to Leeds, to a special training and networking day organised by The Plunkett foundation, an organisation who support communities to set up and run community shops, in order to learn a bit about the process and then return to the community to share the learning and explore the viability of the Pub as a Community Space. 

The final two Community workshops saw us making some lovely bowl and platter moulds from the Spode Factory mould store, which we hope (if they survive the kiln) can be used for future events, and in particular for the Community Feast Day, which will finish our series, at the Spode Factory in October. During these two events participants got stuck in to the most complicated ceramic making we did during the series, using moulds, which my brilliant assistant Alice Thatcher oversaw the use of.

Such a lot was made in these sessions, a number of floral bowls, a six towns platter, and even an allotment! all designed and made by the community, and while making we also gathered ideas and support for the Community Celebration Event, our final event on the green space.

My favourite was the flower bowl, which I am really looking forward to seeing fired.
The final event within the Community was our celebration event, which throughout the events we have been talking to people about, gathering ideas and commitments of help from people, so when the 8th August came along, I was sure the event would be a group effort - which was really one of the aims of the Community Maker, to establish community celebrations and food sharing events for our area, where everyone can contribute.
I could not have wished for more from our event:

For the day we laid out some of the wares made during the project, for people to see, and we also set up an activity for people to create plant labels, with their wishes for the area marked onto them.

We had also had an idea to talk to more people about the shop idea, but it was so busy that there really wasn't time for this.

As well as making their plant tags, residents were also invited to help to sow a flower meadow - each resident was given a strip of the meadow-to-be to sow a wildflower seed mix onto,

In exchange for their labour each resident was also given a sempervivum to take home.

These were provided by Dawn from the landscaping team at the council, who kindly dropped them off during the week - for us to give out.

There were over 100 visitors to the event, and there was plenty of food to go around. One set of residents put on a barbecue, Ken brought his sound system and played some tunes, and Linda and her daughter transformed our Community Maker Tent into a pop up tea room, and provided cream teas for everyone (with cakes baked by lots of members of the community.)

We were also joined by Zoe from the Mitchell Arts Centre, she kindly brought along her fantastic paint bike, and helped us to organise for a face painter to come along on the day too, which was brilliant and really meant there was something for everyone.

The event truly was a Community Celebration.

Our final event will be a Feast Day during the BCB festival - where we will invite residents to the Spode Factory to see what we made, and to talk about the successes of the project in the context of other Community Led projects from around the city - we will use the Artist Soup Kitchen format again, and I really hope some of the residents we have met during the project will be able to make it.

Tickets for the Feast Day can be found here.

Overall, what we have experienced during the project is a community that has had a hard time in the past, but who will get together and bring what they can to make things better. There are, as with all places, those that dissent from the sidelines, and those that do not want to get involved - but I feel strongly that the area is on the up, and that the project we have begun will, in some ways, be there to record the area as it changes for the better.

We have generated a lot of imagery over the weeks, and it will all go to inform the Community Maker design for the Community Ceramic Ware we will eventually make. What has been strange for me, as a practitioner who often works in communities, but never my own, the approach is very different, the investment and the fear too, are all greater. 

Many thanks to all the residents for getting involved, and a special thanks to Alice Thatcher and Kornelia Herms for the amazing support throughout.