14
The Visual Artists’News Sheet
September – October 2014
STUDIO PROFILE
Queen Street Studios exterior
Edenderry Studios,1989, image byPhillip Napier
Encouraging &Enabling
BEN CROTHERS PROFILES long standing belfast studios Queen Street and Flax Art Studios, and fledgling organisations Pollen Studios and Platform Arts Belfast has an undeniably vibrant and varied art scene, well known for organisations such as Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast Exposed and Catalyst Arts. For as long as there have been artists exhibiting in Belfast, there has been a need for spaces in which they can produce work. Glossy new gallery spaces such as the MAC are instrumental in the showcasing of contemporary art, but Belfast’s gallery infrastructure is undeniably supported by the city’s dynamic studio groups, where artists have sufficient time, space, resources and support to develop their individual practices out of the public eye. Whilst Belfast is now home to a range of artists’ studios, which vary in style, scale and success, the purpose of this article is to examine two of its longest standing organisations Queen Street Studios and Flax Art Studios, alongside fledgling studio groups Pollen Studios and Platform Arts, which formed in recent years, but have quickly developed a strong reputation within the city. Queen Street Studios has been operating as a studio provider since 1984. It was based in Queen Street until May 2013, when they relocated to new premises on Bedford Street, just a short walk from the original site. ACNI, ULSTER Garden Villages, Adapt NI and the Foyle Foundation funded the move. Queen Street Studios now comprises 23 studios (artist members include Majella Clancy, Dorothy Hunter, Dougal McKenzie and Zoe Murdoch) and an enviable ground floor gallery space with a high footfall. This prime location has arguably made it Belfast’s most visible and best-known studio, whilst providing improved studio facilities for artists. From its inception, Queen Street Studios has been home to a significant number of painters; this remains the case, although the studio holders have become more diverse as the organisation has evolved. In the late 1980s a group of graduates from the University of Ulster – including Philip Napier, Michael Minnis, Áine Nic Giolla Coda, Sharon Kelly, Paddy McCann, Ruth Graham, Angela Ginn, Mike Hogg and Peter Mutschler – came together out of frustration after failing to find large studio spaces suitable for experimentation and creating large sculptural works and installations. For these artists, the confined studios of Queen Street were simply not an option for the kind of work they wanted to make. In 1989 they formed Flax Art Studios, taking up residence in a former linen mill situated on the Crumlin Road in North Belfast. Rent was inexpensive for the kind of large spaces that these artists needed to truly develop their practices and make new work. As Flax Art Studios gained momentum, the studios began to receive funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council. This allowed the organisation to welcome new studio members and continue to grow by enabling artists to develop their practices and exhibit work, particularly at Golden Thread Gallery, which opened in the same area in 1998. In June 2003, however, a fire devastated the building, completely destroying its contents, including all facilities, archives and artwork.
In 2004, Flax moved into new premises on Corporation Street in Belfast city centre (where it was soon to be neighbours with Golden Thread again after the gallery’s move). Many of the original Flax artists took studios in the new space, along with a number of new members. Still operating from its Corporation Street premises today, an area of 1,320 square metres provides ample room to house an industrial scale workshop, seven large studio spaces, eleven smaller studio spaces, an international residency space, a communal fabrication area and a large mezzanine area which accommodates the office and IT facilities. Flax is home to an impressive range of Belfast’s most established and emerging visual artists, including Alastair MacLennan, Deirdre McKenna, Shiro Masuyama, Helena Hamilton, Lisa Malone and Brian J. Morrison, who work across a wide range of mediums and exhibited both locally and internationally. The permanent studio holders are joined by a recent MFA graduate from the University of Ulster each year, who is provided with a free studio space and mentoring for a period of 12 months, in addition to successful applicants to the studio’s International Residency Programme, which has been running since 1990. Participants have includde internationally renowned artists and curators such as Marjetica Potrc, Delcy Morelos, Inbal Abergil and Manuela Pacella. Flax Art Studios is currently in the midst of its 25th anniversary celebrations. Upcoming events include: an exhibition at Golden Thread Gallery; a programme of talks by studio holders; a symposium on artists’ studios; the launch of a publication and online archive; and a rare opportunity for the public to tour the studios (full details will be launched on the Flax Art Studios website as dates are confirmed). This is an exciting time for the organisation and staff are currently exploring the potential for another relocation in order to accommodate more artists and further strengthen studio provisions within the city. Queen Street Studios and Flax Art Studios are two of Belfast’s longest standing arts organisations, predating galleries such as Catalyst Arts, for which the city is perhaps better known. In an environment where existing galleries and studios struggle to sustain themselves, there seems little scope for the development of new organisations, with funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council already stretched. Nonetheless, Platform Arts and Pollen Studios have both emerged in the last five years, demonstrating creative thinking and new approaches to development and sustainability. Platform Arts, located at the corner of Queen Street and Castle Street in the city centre and currently in its fifth year, has seen rapid growth since it was founded by a group of contemporary artists in 2009. With an impressive roster of 12 studio holders (including Liam Crichton, Michael Hanna, Miguel Martin and Sara Morrison), Platform has also taken on an expansive gallery space, which measures approximately 3000 square feet and, more recently, Unit, a project
space devised for smaller interventions, exhibitions and installations. In a similar vein to Flax Art Studios, Platform has developed annual residency opportunities for graduates from the University of Ulster, in addition to forging relationships with other studio groups, such as their recent artist exchange with Market Studios, Dublin. Notably, Platform prides itself on being self-sufficient and not reliant on external funding. The organisation does not receive any funding from statutory bodies, instead relying on rent paid by studio members to cover running costs and to fund their exhibition programme. With no paid staff (unlike more established studios such as Queen Street and Flax), Platform relies entirely on the dedication of studio members, board members and volunteers to ensure its continuation and development. A rolling board of directors selected from studio members and external candidates manages the organisation. Each director serves on the board for two years, taking responsibility for governance, administration, finance, programming and the general management of the studios and galleries. Similarly, Pollen Studios is also currently self-funded. Located a stone’s throw away from Platform (and in the same building originally occupied by Queen Street Studios), Pollen is one of Belfast’s newest studio groups, founded in 2011 by Amy Brooks, Stuart Calvin and Jayne Cherry. With rent and utilities split between studio members, occasional fees from space hire are invested back into maintenance and programming. The organisation recently made a successful application for charitable status and intends to pursue applications for funding from bodies such as ACNI, which supported the ‘Mediations’ project as part of FIX13. Pollen currently provides studios for seven individuals pursuing a range of interests as artists, researchers and writers. As a young organisation Pollen is, by its own admission, still fairly undefined in terms of organisational structure and remit, but this fluid approach has allowed the organisation to develop organically. Opening its doors on the first Thursday of every month as part of Belfast’s Late Night Art initiative, Pollen showcases the work of its members and guests in a small yet functional exhibition space. The organisation’s current infrastructure does not allow the time or resources to facilitate daily public opening hours, nor does Pollen have a fixed curatorial agenda for its gallery, but these openings, which usually consist of some kind of live element, are instrumental in providing public access, increasing awareness and challenging artists to consider the presentation of their work in a gallery context. It is important to note that out of the four studios being discussed, three of them have developed exhibition spaces in which to showcase the work of their studio holders and others. This blurring of the lines between closed studio and public gallery is a growing trend, with both positive and negative aspects. Whilst exhibitions, talks and events undeniably increase visitor numbers, public awareness and exposure for artists, there is arguably something lost as the artists’ private space is encroached upon. This shift is perhaps indicative of pressures from various funding bodies for such organisations to be multi-faceted in approach, where audience development is a key factor in receiving higher funding allocations. Belfast’s studio groups also aim to achieve a balance between offering artists affordable spaces whilst providing them with a central location from which to work. The Pollen Studios team commented that “having a city centre base has been an invaluable means of establishing a tangible presence”, and Queen Street Studios’ relocation to a larger, more visible location is also noteworthy in this regard. Queen Street Studios, Flax Art Studios, Platform Arts and Pollen Studios all play important roles in encouraging and enabling local artists to continue to work and live in the city, which is vital to Belfast’s arts infrastructure. There are continual pressures for more studio spaces, however – of which the formation of Platform and Pollen are indicative – striving to sustain themselves without public funding. Waiting lists continue to grow whilst studios are pushed to capacity, with spaces often spliced, shared or sublet. Whilst their approaches to resolving these issues may vary, all of these studios (and others of note including Orchid Studios and Array Studios) are united in their commitment to developing and strengthening the visual arts sector in Belfast, providing artists with a productive environment in which to make work and develop their individual practices. Ben Crothers is a Belfast-based curator and writer. www.atticusandalgernon.com