Birmingham studios

Just a little light reading as a quick follow-up to the studio conversation to tide you over until Self Service releases the official summary…

The Birmingham Post has followed up on the debate at the event with an article about studio spaces in Birmingham.

Here are a few extracts that stood out for me and an indication as to possible routes for discussion/action to take as a response (sorry it’s quite cryptic but I’m away from home at the moment and not really in the right frame of mind to write anything more substantial):

Birmingham accepts the principle in its published creative strategies and ought, on the face of it, to be well placed to work with artists in helping to lift vast, run-down areas like Eastside. But for some reason it seems to have more difficulty in translating theory into practice than its rivals.

Terry Grimley on regeneration and competition between cities to attract investment and footloose young professionals

Jumping off points:

  • Working with artists.
  • Following up on pledges put into print.
  • Attracting new people into the city in contrast to that of keeping hold of the people who are here already. (The issue of graduate retention is briefly mentioned later on in the article.)
  • Rivalries between cities?

The studio situation is really difficult. The council says it wants all this stuff but you have to create structures to support people. It’s completely out of kilter with every other major city for the council not to be making empty buildings available.

quoting Ruth Claxton, artist

–verb (used with object)
1. to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.
dictionary definition for ‘support’, my emphasis

Artists are key cultural assets for any city. Whenever a trade delegation visits Bristol nowadays, they are always taken to Spike Island. Artists need places to make work, and we have to address the whole question of artists’ workspaces. I feel it’s a joint responsibility between the city and the Arts Council.
quoting David Drake, Head of Visual Arts at ACE West Midlands

Jumping off points:

  • Using a bottom-up approach (with suitable top-down support at times).
  • Artists need places to make work – it’s not all about galleries and exhibitions and showcase events.
  • “Birmingham will get a reputation as a vibrant, creative, international city when it becomes a vibrant, creative, international city”. (Attempt at paraphrasing a commenter somewhere on CiB, I think).
  • Fundamental changes vs glossy patches.
  • Creating flexible frameworks around which people can build their own activities and value as appropriate to the work that they do and the way that they do it.