PRIMARY CONCERNS: A new studio for Nottingham
Primary will be the first dedicated, permanent artist studios in Nottingham, supporting the development and production of contemporary visual art in the city. Its mission is to operate high quality, secure and affordable studios with associated exhibition and events space, which will support artists and provide an integral public interface. Having secured a former school building in Nottingham, work is currently underway to transform the building into a social and cultural resource. Primary has been developed by Nottingham Studios Ltd. a charity formed through artist-led initiatives focused on studio provision for the city. Jennie Syson met with one of the founding members, Niki Russell, to find out more about the 2000 m2 (22000 ft2) space.
Why Primary?
Primary will be a different option for the city, not intending to replace existing studio groups. The name has been really positively received. We would like to avoid the sense of it being seen solely as a studios. That’s important for it not to become part of the name. The first time I heard it I was quite worried it could seem conceited, but on reflection I think it’s strength is the various connotations it has.
How long has the process of getting the studios together taken?
It came from a conversation I had with Michael Forbes; the first time I met him in fact, in 2003. Reactor and Michael had been having conversations with Arts Council England, on the basis that a broad based studio group could be formed. Simon (Withers) and Mik (Godley) became involved shortly after this conversation. It was the last round of arts capital bids from the Arts Council, and we were strongly encouraged to apply, fairly last minute, but were unsuccessful. I think this was due to many other capital bids having had much longer to develop. But it helped build support from Arts Council for the project.
Who are your partners?
Since the outset the New Art Exchange (NAE) have been a corporate director within the organisation. Initially within their capital plans they had provision for studios, but then realised that they were not able to deliver this. They had a building lined up and allowed us to make that connection within our initial application. We have also been supported by ArtReach consultants in developing the project.
I know that initial building that NAE suggested isn’t the one we are sitting in now. How did you get here at the Douglas Road Primary School off Ilkeston Road?
The original arts capital application was for a building in Hyson Green, but that fell though. We then began working with New Deals for Communities (NDC) looking at a building called Tennyson Hall on Forest Road West. The idea at that point in time was to create a new building upon that site. However, this approach led to concerns about exactly where the money would be found for this, and it fell through largely because NDC wanted to think about other options for that building. It was their decision not ours and this led us to working more closely with the City Council to secure a site. This is the third building we have seriously considered for the studios.
Its definitely one of the more interesting options, until recently a Ballet company was here and its in fairly good nick for a studios – its clean, dry and warm, and historically very interesting.
I guess we have to look at the positives here. In the previous building we would have been able to buy the building outright, as it was initially the intention for it to be owned by artists. Now with this building – we don’t own it, but we have a lease for 30 years. The plus side is that it’s a much better building than anything that we were previously looking at. Obviously a purpose built place would have been different, but its definitely the most attractive of anything we were looking at that already existed. Also it’s in better condition.
It has a feeling of spaces I have visited in other countries, the most obvious comparison being the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin; an old mental asylum – very nineteenth century and institutional, but with beautiful high windows used to great effect by the artists who now inhabit it.
Regarding the element of it being institutional and of a certain age – its very recognisable as a school. It’s about revitalising those spaces and revisiting the fact it was a school many years ago.
How long is the lease?
30 years from the City Council. It’s more permanent than artists are used to in Nottingham. And we would have first option to purchase the building. We have to look at the achievements we have made, and the building has a huge amount of potential. We then can think about further steps we would like to take. I think that owning the building could be that next stage.
What are the immediate plans for occupying the building?
We have secured a grant from the Arts Council England, and also a grant from a charitable trust called the Foyle Foundation. Those monies are predominately focused on an initial phase of refurbishment and essential maintenance. We are undertaking these essential elements like fitting a new fire alarm and sorting out the gas boiler so there is heating etc, so that it operates properly. We are focusing the refurbishment on the ground floor of the main building. To take the spaces back to their original state – removing false ceilings and redundant items. Making the spaces cleaner and rectifying any issues.
The intention is not to do anything fancy to the building but just to provide well lit, clean and useable studios.
In terms of how the building would be used by the public, will there be any areas where people will be able to come and see what is going on? For instance a canteen or maybe some of these large well-lit rooms would lend themselves to be gallery or performance spaces?
From the outset it has always been the intention that it would be open and maintain a public interface without suggesting that the building would be open every day. Our intention at the moment would be to leave the 2 main halls as the public spaces. They form the heart of the building, which all the other corridors lead off. This works in relation to certain access requirements. At the moment these are aspirations – in terms of how these spaces are going to function and operate in terms of being programmed. The key thing is that we have left these spaces for that purpose. They will not be used for anything else, so they will be there when we figure out how that will work. At the same time we are leaving the previous kitchen space as you walk into the building – thinking about maybe having some sort of canteen. Not necessarily as a public space, but as a communal kitchen of some kind. We’re thinking of how that space could also be used as a programmable space within the building. We would have to look at permissions and legalities and I guess in relation to this, we also have a house at the end of the building that we are intentionally leaving – with an eye to this becoming a residency space of some kind. We would like to work with other organisations on this as no other art space within the city has a ‘lived-in’ space. Many existing studios and organisations have spaces for artists to work whilst on a residency or working on an exhibition, but not space for them to live in – so we envisage this could be quite useful.
In terms of studio provision within the city, people tend to take the DIY approach and make their own arrangements. In a post-industrial city such as Nottingham there are buildings that are falling apart and therefore cheap to rent and sometimes even free to occupy. I know it was your original intention to provide affordable spaces for artists, so who will get the first studios and how much will it cost them?
The intention is that the building provides a different option. We accept that for some people they are still going to want to do their own thing and that is a perfectly valid way of going about it. Particularly, it seems a productive thing to do at an early stage, perhaps when leaving university. It seems that it’s a common trait within Nottingham, and we wouldn’t suggest for a moment that graduating artists should stop that. But for some people who have perhaps done that three or four times over, they might not want to do it again and they may be thinking, “I just want to concentrate on the work that I am making”. Therefore, we expect that the rental level will be higher than other studios within the city. But we hope that what the building can provide will make that additional expense worth it. We are still concerned with providing affordable space – we still have to provide space that people can actually afford otherwise its not going to operate.
At the same time, what are people willing to pay a little bit more for? An example of this might be if the building is heated to a level, which is comfortable all year round – it’s a usable space for 12 months in the year. They may only be able to use their current space for 9 months because it isn’t warm enough, but still paying for 12 months worth. It’s important that people will want to be here on a full time basis. They should be looking to achieve a level within what they are doing, whereby they can sustain themselves on a full time basis.
At the moment, all that we have done is look at the rent of individual spaces. This ranges from £100 - £300 per month. With the bigger spaces, it is more likely that they would be shared by several artists – but if someone came along and wanted to take it on individually, that’s perfectly fine.
You could get a really interesting mix of artists groups and collectives alongside individuals. Perhaps a more established individual with assistants. Because of this, you are providing a place where different levels and experiences amongst artists can co-exist under one roof.
We are looking to leave the spaces as open plan as possible. Because it is an old school, it is broken up into rooms – but rather than subdividing those large rooms, initially we want to think about who would like to take them on. There may be an existing group or collective within Nottingham who want to take on a space that they have control of. On the flip side we know that there might be many artists as individuals, who don’t necessarily know many people who would benefit from a shared space.
In answer to your earlier question, the building is not emergent from other existing groups within the city, and therefore, nobody is guaranteed a space within the building. Within the next 2 months, we hope to make very clear what the process of applying for a studio here is. It’s open to everybody, and it will be an application process, which will start in the summer. We hope to have some kind of open days in late August / early September for artists to visit the building to get a sense for the space and there will be a deadline shortly after that when an initial decision would be taken. We are imagining that this would not fill out the building completely, but that this would be a gradual process. There is going to be assessment criteria and a group of people will be brought together to assess applications. It will be very simple stuff as its about somebody having an ongoing commitment to their artistic practice, whatever that means in relation to what they do. I guess contemporary visual art is a catch all term, and it will be for applicants to determine how they feel they fit into that classification. It’s important to stress that seeing it as a career is part of what they do and they must make it clear how being part of this building will help them to achieve this. We are also looking for people who want to contribute to the culture of the building as well as getting something from it. The building should end up being the sum of its component parts.
