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We are a non-profit organisation that puts out a quality product that is intended to inspire and nurture creavtivitvy in today’s youth. The 6 bi-monthly printed issues and website will host a range of interesting articles, interviews with industry professionals and showcase work from up and coming designers. The printed product will be entirely free to pick up by anyone with an interest in Art and Design.

Contents

Bar Lane StudiosWe take a look at a new studio that has recently opened in York.

Art in Unusual SpacesA new project that has been spreading across the centre of Leeds, which artists work is displayed in empty shop windows.

Yvonne CarmichaelWe interview Yvonne and discuss her work within the Yorkshire Art Community and her career aspirations.

Bar Lane Studios

It’s an exciting time to be an artist or art student in Yorkshire, and with encouraging and influential businesses like Bar Lane Studios appearing, it’s about the right time to be getting even more passionate.

Bar Lane Studios is tucked just inside the famous city walls of York and is the vision of Ben Clowes, illustrator and former teacher at York College and Northumbria University. In less than a year and with funding from York St John University, York City Council and Science City York, this non-profit business has become one of the focal points of the city’s artistic community.

Boasting 22 studio spaces and York’s first independent printing workshop, a huge part of Bar Lane Studios’ ideology is to bring together artists of all abilities and backgrounds enabling them to bounce ideas off each other and start networking. The art industry, like many, is a notoriously difficult one to get your foot in the door of and what Bar Lane Studios are trying to achieve can only aid new artists in this process.

Their free gallery space holds exhibitions by accomplished artists such as Dali, Matisse and was opened by ex-Stone Roses guitarist John Squire and his Structural Violence exhibition. There is even gallery space to benefit local artists, get their work seen by the public and maybe even bought.

You really get the sense from this organisation that they are truly community driven, and are there for people however interested in art or aspects of it. This couldn’t be any more evident than when you notice the 24 different courses provided every day of the week all throughout the year, for anyone interested in taking up a new skill or honing a pre existing one. For five graduates of York St John University, Bar Lane Studios are providing mentoring and experience along with £500, 12 months studio space and a chance to exhibit their art.

The success of Bar Lane Studios hasn’t just been noticed in York. In December 2010 and January of this year they were asked to curate an exhibition for the new Hugo Boss store in Manchester. Artists such as David Hockney, Matisse, Derren Brown and Bob Dylan were exhibited as well as the young, talented graduates from York St John. It’s great to know the word is spreading about this fantastic business.

Bar Lane Studios is a true original of its area. A selfless company, in which artists and the community can rely and count on, and one that asks very little in return. Art, along with history, has always been important to York and Yorkshire and Bar Lane Studios are really leading the way in this city and becoming very important fast.

Words: Harry Tolmie-ThomsonImages: Harry Tolmie-Thomson

Art in UnusualSpaces

Art is something for the people and should be freely available to view and appreciate. A number of years ago this was hardly the case, with most galleries charging entry fees, many people considered a visit to a gallery as a highbrow affair, something for just the enthusiasts. Now though, things have changed, radically, with almost all galleries in the UK now offering free entry to the public, art can now be appreciated by anyone.

But now the art world is asking, how can we take art to the people? Galleries may offer free entry but that doesn’t mean everyone will rush off to visit one. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea either, but something is happening at the moment in Leeds city centre that offers some fresh perspective.

With the recession hitting the high streets hard, a large number of shops and other retail outlets are becoming emptied and left in that state, with this comes a lot of questions, what will happen with the space? Will it remain like this or will another business take over? Sometimes it can take a number of months for these spaces to become filled, so in the mean time Art in Unusual Spaces, is giving up coming artists the opportunity to fill these vacant shop windows with their own work.

These pieces are freely available to view by members of the public and cover a range of mediums, still photography, sculptures as well as videos and projections. These short running exhibitions sprout up quickly and only remain in the storefronts for a limited time, but the work on show is highly unique, as is the presentation.

As a photographer, I understand the difficulties of having work exhibited, so with people taking this sort of initiative and being given access to these empty spaces to display their work is an incredible statement, not only by the organisers, but Leeds City Council. This sort of promotion and backing helps put Art in Unusual Spaces in a league of its own, as far as art groups go anyway.

At the moment a number of exhibitions have been and gone and I have been lucky to catch a number while they have been on display, the locations, while being central, are extremely varied. Some are located on busy high streets, while others occupy the lower levels of shopping centres and others at small outlets on the outskirts of the main shopping area.

Another great idea this project proposes is the endless possibilities for events and locations, some retail units are filled, some are emptied. With this constant juggling around of venues, the organisers can look at up coming artists and start matching them to the idea location that is waiting to be filled.

I really like the idea of turning something miserable such as businesses collapsing and going bust, with inventive and interesting art, a clear message to people that regardless of the recession, art and artists are still going strong.

Words: Richard ChappelowImages: Art In Unusual Spaces

Yvonne Carmichael

After covering our feature on Art in Unusual Spaces, we managed to contact programmer and curator Yvonne Carmichael, to talk about her involvement in this great art project. What drives and inspires her, as well as her career in the arts and plans for the future.

When did you decide this is what you wanted to do?

During the second year of my degree at Leeds College of Art. There was a module about collaboration that offered opportunities to get involved in projects outside of the art college and that’s when things seemed to click for me. It was during this time that I met other artists that I still work and am friends with.

What does a day in the life of an independent curator look like?

It really depends what kind of show you are working on. With Art in Unusual Spaces I seem to spend a lot of time carrying things from one shop unit to another - chairs, lights as well as washing windows, installing vinyl lettering (a very stressful time-consuming task, I can assure you), updating websites, writing press releases, getting hold of keys for shop units and of course meeting with artists and talking through projects.

How important was your art education in helping you choose a life that lets you do what you love?

I gained a lot from my degree. I was very wide-eyed and keen when I was a student partly because I hadn’t done a foundation course so felt I had a lot of catching up to do. The course involved regularly presenting yourself and your work, which at the time seemed to get in the way of the actual projects. In hindsight though, it has stood me in good stead. I am more able to communicate projects in their initial stages to lots of different kinds of people. Also, I did workshops in many different mediums and processes (glass, wood, metal, jewelry, photography, film, photoshop, textiles and drawing). Though I’m by no means an expert in any, it has provided me with an overview that has helped me to mediate for lots of different artists.

Studying is valuable as it provides a well needed excuse to spend time researching, exploring and learning and takes the focus away from doing paid work.

Do you prefer to organise events and exhibitions or produce work for others as an artist?

I do enjoy creating artwork and recently exhibited as an artist in my house as part of the Saltaire Arts Trail (www.saltairecatmap.co.uk). I very much enjoyed the experience and would like to do it again but I think I am more drawn to curating exhibitions and setting up spaces and situations for other artists to become involved.

Do you try to separate work from your home life?

My work Is something that I am really interested in so I do end up spending a lot of my spare time being involved in projects or visiting exhibitions.

But I do think its important to have time off, it is very easy to burn yourself out doing any job if you are passionate about it. It’s quite tricky to strike a balance between the two but I try.

How did you become involved in Art in Unusual Spaces?

After graduating I was involved in co-curating 42 New Briggate - an empty shop unit next to The Grand theatre in Leeds. In the beginning this was in partnership with Opera North; putting on exhibitions which accompanied their productions next door in the theatre. Then in between the opera seasons there was time to work with artists on independent projects. Programming the two strands of the space was really exciting, the balance between having funding and a brief for some projects and others being much more self-directed was really great opportunity for me and I learnt a lot in a short space of time.

Then at the end of 2009 central government gave funding to cities with a number of empty shop units including Leeds. Pippa Hale (PSL and Northern Art Prize director) and Emma Bearman (Culture Vulture editor) wanted to ensure that this money was put to good use and so set up a steering group for Art in Unusual Spaces to help put the wheels into motion and it was at this point I was invited to be part of the team. The money and support from Leeds City Council was key to helping set it up but now it has been constituted as an independent company which means we have a bit more freedom.

There is a lack of independent gallery spaces in Leeds. It’s such as compact city centre, property prices are high and the city prioritises shopping, eating and drinking all of which can mean that there aren’t really that many opportunities for artists to show their work. And the aim with Art in Unusual Spaces was to try and open out spaces in the city centre out to artists as well as to try and provide opportunities for audiences to access and engage in contemporary art.

Do you have a close group you collaborate with?

There are four of us on the board for Art in Unusual Spaces, (now a community interest company), with James Hill (Light Night), Sue Ball (MAAP), Andy Abbott (Black Dogs) and myself. We meet regularly to discuss how best to move the project forward. This has been a successful working group so far and I do hope it continues!I have also met some interesting and talented artists through working on Art in Unusual Spaces that I hope to work with in the future. I also try to ensure that there are ways for new people to get involved through open calls for submissions and curated shows.

What makes an outstanding exhibition? What would be your advice to artists preparing for their first major show?

I enjoy exhibitions which are ambitious and experimental. I think that it’s often important to be honest about what you are doing and why you are doing it. I find it frustrating when artists succumb to the pressure of ‘over-hyping’ or over-explaining their work. This often leads to disappointment. Audiences can make their own opinion about work and it can be off-putting when artists tell them how fantastic their own work is.

When putting on exhibitions for the first few times it is easy to forget about marketing the event. This is the same for any kind of event I suppose, the focus is placed on getting the actual event together and letting people know about it is left until the last minute. The balance between the two things is something I am still learning about. Artwork should be for everyone, not just people who might already know about it.

Being able to collaborate is key when putting on an exhibition, it’s often not possible to organise everything yourself and it can certainly be a lot more fun if there is a group of people involved.

Why is public art important?

It depends what kind of public art you are talking about; prefabricated bronze sculptures that you might see in front of an office block are, to me, less inspiring than research-based and socially-engaged projects. I do appreciate, however, that one of public art’s functions is to make places more attractive.

I think it’s important that the public engage with art because it can help people think about places differently by offering new narratives. For example with a piece of work I did as part of artist collective Black Dogs in Holbeck we helped people think about the area differently through guided walks and installations that played on the Italian and industrial heritage of the area.

Also, more generally, art provides an experience where the audience has to make up their own mind about the ‘meaning’ something carries so it can be a kind of training in critical thought; it isn’t entirely consumptive or passive. I think art outside a gallery is often more interesting and thought provoking because it provides these experiences in a non-specialised space and can be more surprising.

Do you see yourself always working primarily in Yorkshire or do you want to branch out to other cities possibly other countries?

I think there is a lot to be learned from other cities and so would not want to limit myself to working in

Leeds city centre. But sometimes it is hard to keep on top of projects and keep a momentum going and I wouldn’t want to spread myself too thinly. The projects I have done in other parts of the UK and abroad have been valuable learning experiences. After graduating I did a residency at Cittadellarte (Fondazione Pistoletto) in Italy and this ended up being a bit of a crash course in socially engaged art practice and was a great opportunity to learn about different ideas of culture from other international residents. More recently, the art group I am part Black Dogs exhibited at Milton Keynes Gallery. It was beneficial for us to learn about the different cultural landscape that exists in Milton Keynes as well as the way in which a formal gallery institution operates.

Over the years you have taken on a massive amount of exhibitions, teaching roles and curation jobs, what drives you?

Making art more accessible, providing more opportunities for culture to happen in interesting spaces, learning things, having fun and having interesting conversations. I think art has an important social function and can allow people to think about things differently.

Interview: Richard ChappelowImages; Yvonne Carmichael

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