Having those visitors travel across to see my work on Monday had quite a big impact on me. I know it sounds silly, after all it was only two people – but the fact that they travelled 13 miles on public transport to see my work, gave a whole new perspective to the residency.
From feeling like packing it all in… I felt revitalised.
When I first took on the residency, I had many discussions with Roy, the director at LDT, about which direction we could take this. One of the options was to have a future residency programme. We discussed bringing in artists from Norway ( due to my contacts there) and let them make their own take on the space. A couple of months of me being there and feeling like I was talking to myself half the time, put me off the idea.
But now I’m rethinking it…..
LDT share their building with a housing trust, so there is also the possibility of attaching accommodation to the residency, making it more attractive to an artist from outside the area. The space is good and it is after all less than 20mins to Liverpool or to the local beach .
So much to think about….. and of course we have to face the F word ( funding that is) But there may be a possibility of getting round this without any funding at all. It just needs a bit more thought.
As part of a group ( Sci) we had been looking for a base in Liverpool for quite a while . The costs were astronomic though – I was even quoted by one company £15 per hour. How can you rent an exhibition and studio space by the hour? Does it matter that it’s not a city centre base? It just didn’t occur to me to have a base in Leasowe.
So this is it then. We ( with artist Carolyn Shepherd) are working on a plan to bring in other artists – with or without money.
