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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet
VAI ADVOCACY and its members. Temple Bar Gallery + Studios provides 30 individual artists’ studios, of various sizes and monthly rental costs. Each year, over 40 artists avail of the affordable workspaces at TBG+S. There is an annual competitive selection process which awards Membership Studios to mid-career artists for a three-year period. In addition, one-year Associate Membership or Project Studios are offered to artists at an earlier point in their career. On average, the selection committee awards 10 to 12 new studio occupancies each year. For the past four years, TBG+S have offered an annual Graduate Residency to Irish artists providing a 12-month studio at TBG+S with added professional development supports.
July – August 2017
NORTHERN IRELAND Kassam is concerned that affordable studio spaces in Limerick will become increasingly difficult to attain.
BARTER SYSTEM & HOME STUDIOS Contact Studios is an artist-run space on the grounds of St. Joseph’s Mental Hospital, Limerick, which provides affordable workspace for 14 professional visual artists (est. 1997; contactstudios.ie). The premises are provided by the HSE. Paid for through a barter system, artists give recreational art classes at Le Chéile, a local mental health group, which amounts to a total of 520 hours per year. Contact Studios is self-governed by a committee of permanent members and is largely independent of outside funding. Despite having an excellent working relationships with the staff and clients, this CO-OPERATIVE MODELS With some studio-providers using an artist-led arrangement with the HSE will come to an end on model, a lot of the administration is done on a vol- 31 July, reducing the artist workspaces in Limerick untary basis by studio members. Some artists enjoy City by a third. While Contact Studios are actively the ethos and purpose offered by a collective work- pursuing a new partnership, nothing is yet secured. In a similar vein, Leitrim County Council Arts ing model. A4 Sounds opened their first artists’ studio in 2011 in Harold’s Cross, with 10 artists Office and Library Service established Drumshanbo working as a self-funded co-operative. When this Artists’ Studios in 2016. In lieu of rent, the resident building was sold for redevelopment in 2013, the artists of two studios in Market House, Drumshanbo, collective moved to their current city centre loca- are asked to commit the equivalent of one hour per tion in St. Joseph’s Parade. A4 Sounds currently run week over a one-year period, conducting workshops a studio that houses 70 member artists. They would or developing collaborative programmes with local like to open a second studio to increase revenue school, community or library groups. As stated by streams, while keeping memberships fees as low as Leitrim County Council Arts Officer Philip possible, but the shortage of suitable and affordable Delamere, across rural areas, studio providers are properties in Dublin city centre is a major obstacle. mindful of the isolation faced by artists working in home studios, and their need, not only for creative hubs and communal workspaces in towns, but for PRIVATELY-RENTED STUDIOS Co-working is an inexpensive, community-based basic infrastructure such as broadband. Initiatives style of working for freelancers and creative profes- like Creative Frame (creativeframe.eu) were develsionals. One example of a recently-established pri- oped to make rural art practitioners – including vate studio is The Tara Building on Tara Street, recent art college graduates – more visible to one Dublin, which opened in March 2017 (thetarabuild- another, both within the country and beyond. These ing.com). The Tara Building is a privately-funded sentiments are echoed in submissions from Cow business enterprise that receives no additional fund- House Studios, Wexford, who concede that their ing. Studio membership costs €185 per month and remote location makes it difficult to accommodate can be renewed on a month-to-month basis if long-term studio rental, while nonetheless recognisdesired. Members include animators, illustrators, ing the necessity for such facilities within the designers, poets, journalists, screenwriters and cul- region. In conclusion, it is clear that there are still tural programmers. The second-floor open-plan office spaces are occupied by the artist Maser, festi- many unresolved issues in relation to studio provival organisers including Other Voices, a photogra- sion around the country. It has become increasingly phy studio and Apollo Print, who maintain a screen- evident that one size does not fit all. Several new workspaces have been set up with no funding, while printing studio. Short-term leases without proper licencing others operate through barter systems with local agreements are still commonplace and, in some organisations. Patently there is a need for balance cases, artists are accepting studios in desperation. between publicly-subsidised studios and other busiOver the years, artist Ramon Kassam has worked in ness models – from co-ops and collectives to privatethree of Limerick’s main studio facilities. He recent- ly-funded business enterprises – within a healthy ly moved back to Limerick, having found it “increas- arts ecosystem. As a result, the various funding ingly difficult to sustain his practice in Dublin”, and streams need to find ways to reflect and support this despite spaces being more affordable in Limerick, he diversity. Lastly, it seems advantageous for there to experienced a major lack of choice. He is currently be greater dialogue between existing studios regardworking from Wickham Street Studios, on “what ing how they might support one other. One option is intended to be a temporary basis”, but states that would be to consider pooling resources and sharing “given the situation, it’s hard to know”. Wickham administrative costs among several studio providStreet Studios was established in 2009 to fulfil a ers. high demand for affordable artists’ studios (wickJoanne Laws, Features Editor, Visual Artists hamstreetstudios.blogspot.ie). A group of graduates Ireland. rented the first and second floors of the city-centre property, dividing the building into several private, Notes 1. See: Lisa Godson ‘Time to Create Affordable Spaces for Our Artists’, Irish semi-private and open-plan spaces. The studio spac- Times, 9 April 2016; Rebecca O’ Dwyer ‘On Our Collective Wet Dream’, Paper es are rented out individually and there are cur- Visual Art Journal, vol. 7, October 2016; Gerard Byrne ‘Dublin Has an Artistic Crisis on Its Hands: Now Is the Time to Act’, Irish Times, 26 May 2016; Creative rently 15 studio members. Wickham Street Studios Spaces Collective (CSC) Submission to Dublin City Development Plan 2016 – 2022, May 2016; Nathan O’Donnell ‘Dublin’s Disappearing Art Spaces’, We is one of only three main studio-providers in Are Dublin, quarterly magazine. Limerick city centre. The building is leased from a 2. John Holden, Towards a sustainable Visual Arts Eco-System in Limerick, commissioned as a legacy project by the Visual Arts Pillar of Limerick City of private landlord, who can choose to sell the build- Culture 2014, published May 2015. ing at any time or use it for an alternative purpose. 3. Ray Yeates, Report on Artist Space Infrastructure in the City, Dublin City Council, 2015. Citing the imminent closure of Contact Studios,
Studio Provision NI ROB HILKEN LOOKS AT STUDIO PROVISION IN NORTHERN IRELAND.
ONE of the most common queries we get at the VAI Northern Ireland office is from visual artists looking for studio spaces, frequently from recent graduates or artists returning after studying or working abroad. Unfortunately, studio provision for artists in Northern Ireland falls short of demand, with many studios occupying buildings with short-term leases, meaning that sustainability is an ongoing concern. Costing between £25 and £150 per month, studios here are more modestly priced than in other parts of Ireland, commensurate with the NI’s lower income levels and living costs. Many studios occupy commercial buildings that would otherwise be vacant. In order to access rates relief and reduce their own costs, landlords offer buildings to artist-led groups rent-free, thus benefiting from their non-profit or charitable status. This helps to reduce the price of studio rental for artists, but at the cost of having a short-term lease. Belfast currently has 14 official studios and a handful of collectives occupying spaces within multi-purpose buildings. Many artists maintain their own private or shared studios, while others undertake residencies within various businesses. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland subsidises six studio groups and two printmaking studios, and are currently working with Flax Art Studios to research sustainable models for studio provision across the city. Founded in 1989, Flax Art Studios recently merged with Orchid Studios to become the largest managed group in Northern Ireland, providing subsidised studios for 30 artists at various stages of their careers, working across a range of disciplines. Flax Art Studios maintain a waiting list, in order to gauge demand for studio spaces moving forward. Flax provides access to a range of subsidised shared resources such as a professional wood and metal workshop. The gallery continues to work with the University of Ulster to provide residency opportunities for recent graduates. Flax is now in the fourth year of an international exchange with Art Center Ongoing, Tokyo, while a new exchange will take place in 2017 with Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre, Thailand. QSS Studios and Gallery on Bedford Street is Belfast’s oldest and second largest studio group supporting 23 professional artists. QSS members are required to be fine art graduates and must have an exhibition history. They offer spaces for short to medium-term projects, as well as long-term studios for members. Their gallery programme is curated by an exhibitions committee and is often used to showcase the work of studio members. Paragon Studios (better known for their project space gallery, PS2) have recently relocated to North Street, which has increased the size of their exhibition space, and they now accommodate seven artists. Paragon Studios are unique in that they also provide studio space for a curator-in-residence for up to one year at a time. The Belfast Print Workshop have a very active membership base and offer access to superb printmaking facilities and courses, as well as regular exhibitions. Lombard Studios was established in 2016 by five emerging painters from the University of Ulster. Cathedral Studios also have a core group of painters, but recently expanded to accommodate
eight artists working across a range of disciplines. Platform Arts are the largest self-funded, permanent studios in Belfast. Their 12 studio spaces and large gallery space continues to play a major role in the artist-led contemporary arts scene. The organisation operates a two-year directorship model, similar to that of Catalyst Arts. Other notable studio groups in Belfast are Creative Exchange in east Belfast, Artists at the Mill in west Belfast and Array Studios in the city centre. Belfast has seen two new studio collectives emerge in the last six months, with artists taking over an old Ulster Bank in east Belfast (Belfast Bankers) and the old InterContinental pub in south Belfast (Wee Art Pub or Wub). With fixed-term, oneyear leases, the 30 or so artists involved are applying their creative energy to make these studio-based projects successful in the short term, without having to secure public funding. Outside Belfast, Bangor has a burgeoning studio sector, with facilities like Blackberry Path, Studio 24 and Seacourt Centre for Contemporary Printmaking providing a variety of artist workspaces. Boom! Studios is the largest studio group in the region, with spaces for 20 artists over two floors. They were recently awarded charitable status and run workshops, artist residencies and participate in larger regional events and festivals. At Oxford Island, near Lurgan, 12 members of the North Armagh Artist Collective (NAAC) finished their studio residency at Artspace. Arts in Motion will take up a summer residency in the space, delivering creative projects for young people with disabilities in the Armagh, Craigavon and Banbridge area. NAAC is in negotiations to occupy new premises in the coming months. In Derry, Creative Village Arts have provided studio spaces for 13 artists at Bishop Street and Pump Street since 2012, where Derry Print Workshop (DPW) occupies the ground floor. Recent restructuring has seen DPW take over the lease of the whole building, transforming existing studio spaces into a new digital print room. This move aims to provide long-term stability, as they seek greater support through public funding. The studio groups in Derry frequently pool resources and collaborate with artists in Donegal. The partnership between Creative Village Arts, Derry Print Workshop and Artlink at Fort Dunree in Buncrana has been essential for supporting artists across the region. Many artists are concerned about the effects Brexit will have on such important cross-border partnerships. There are many challenges facing studio providers across Northern Ireland. Gentrification issues in Belfast are forcing artists and organisations to look increasingly further outside of the city centre for vacant spaces, while existing spaces are threatened with increasing rents or eviction. Loft Studios became the most recent victim, when their building was torn down by a developer, days before a preservation order was about to be passed. Rob Hilken, VAI Northern Ireland Manager.