What is/Could be the centre of the artistic community in Leeds? and do we need to make one

What is/Could be the centre of the artistic community in Leeds? and do we need to make one

Matt Rogers, 5 October 2012

Attendees
Matt, Claire, ant, natasha, dick, Joanne, Carolyn, Tim, Reb, Olya (and about 6 other people who I didn't catch the names of, sorry)

*THERE WAS A LOT OF CONVERSATION THAT TOOK US TO A VARIETY OF PLACES BEFORE GETTING TO OUR CONCLUSION. I'M WRITING UP A VAGUE REPRESENTATION OF THAT TALK AS A GUIDE, BUT FEEL FREE TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE CONCLUSIONS AT THE BOTTOM*

We talked about LAB (an artist led bar in Leeds that ran for 3 months then had to close) and how this had a feeling of home but was unable to develop. How this sense of belonging might be something that is missing in Leeds.

Very quickly we came to the conclusion that an all encompassing focal point, then discussed some examples of successful projects around the country.

The Welcome centre/trust was mentioned. Then we talked about targeting retirement homes to gether funds (through wills in a macabre fashion) and starting a trust.

DICK - “I'm very scheptical of the idea of focal points”

His claim was that there is a lot going on, and we just don't appreciate what is there even though we all engage in it.

He had a point.

So we started a wish list of what we wanted (this quickly got derailed)

-Something nebulous (not a place) something that acts as a focal point for communities to form around it.

- we want creative and practical sessions and not necessarily a physical Space.

- It must fulfill a NEED if WE are to be involved.

Questions arrose at this point; Who is the “we”? and how does finding collaborators actually happen

SUDDENLY AS IF FROM NOWHEREN ANALOGIES STARTED TO OCCUR!

Matt talked about regular meeting points - using the example of a church (defined for these purposes as a scheduled meeting point for like minded people to reconfirm that like mindedness and build community)

Several people said that this might feel like work and probably would not turn up.

West Yorkshire Theatre Network was mentioned - we all talked about how we don't associate with it because it doesn't apeak to our needs.

WE MUST AVOID THE SAME FATE! (not to be overdramatic)

The avoidance of a program, spontinaity, and inherent value for those involved is key.

We tlked about the recent Odd Doll play day which was A CREATIVE PLAYGROUND FOR ADULTS

is this the model for building stronger connections between people?

“NETWORKS ARE IMPORTANT FOR GROWTH”
talk about being more visible about what is happening helping more to happen.

OLYA - talked about the Hollywood fringe being a meeting point for artists and how that continues through the year.

AT THIS JUNCTURE CLAIRE POINTED SOMETHING OUT

we where having a diverse conversation about a variety of different objectives. 2 key ones seemed to be

1, How to keep young artists here, offer mentoring, signpost existing networks for people begining to create work in the city.

2, Peer networks and the creation of new collaborations

There was a sense that we should look at what we have and use it differently.

There are many things which happen in the city in unconnected ways. Our question's could be “how could these events and spaces be arranged to give us more ownership?” and how do we fight “self exclusion?”

D&D seemed very important as a level playing field in which people can meet and form new collaborations.

*ACTION POINT!* (fianlly) an Annual D&D in Leeds

We came back to what we need to do

-avoid claims of universality (we are a broad church with many differing values)

-set up something with an open doors policy (in some way)

-find guiding principals that bring that group together.

-find cross pollenating interests

we then talked about residence in bristol. (look em up)

Matt realised that Uncanny Theatre(sort of) do this unnofficially by supporting other artists in their rehearsal space (he was slightly proud)

*ACTION POINT!* (boom! now we've got going) the formation of artistic movements. Don't be afraid of seeming like a clique. Just get some like minded people together

and galvanise THAT community.

Again the principals that hold them together are important

also what each artist is willing to give, without getting in the way of their own goals.

AT THIS POINT THINGS GOT REALLY INTERESTING

Again We said that we needed to address a need in the city to interest people.

The largest need that we could identify was the absent from the city.

we identified SLUNG LOW's space “THE HUB” as a place in which the incumbant company had expressed a desire to do such things but did not necessarily have the time and resources to do it.

We talked about Odd Doll's play day as a model for a regular activity but making a specific call for types of artists (2 tuba players, 5 pupppeteers, 3 gymnasts and a stand up comedian - or whatever)

—————————–*CONCLUSIONS*———————————

The 2 needs that we want to meet are:-

- facilitating the formation of artistic movements

-the creation of an artist led venue.

Matt will discuss guiding principals with artists that interest him (including those that use Uncanny theatre's space) in order to potentially form an ‘official connection between them’

Matt will also discuss the potential of using a variety of spaces to house a curated (artist led) small scale performance program, this will include but not exclusively be The HUB.

After these actions Matt will call a meeting to form a core team,steering group and guiding guiding principals for this venue.

it has been accepted that these values may be dispparate and cause separate groups to form, THAT IS OK.

Matt is now very busy.

update: As a follow up to this discussion I wrote 2 articles which may be of interest http://wp.me/p2F2R6-T and http://wp.me/p2F2R6-1b

Tags:

artistic movement, artist run, artist led, venues, community, Community, Venues