PART ONE:
This is a report on Fly Eric #2 at Storey Gallery, Lancaster, which I attended with a travel bursary courtesy of LAN (Lancashire Artists Network). http://www.lanarts.com/
Fly Eric is a developmental network of artist focused organisations in the North West of England, led by Art Gene, Castlefield Gallery and Storey Gallery. Its mission is to support visual artists to infiltrate, inhabit and contribute to society.
Fly Eric Symposia series – Changing perceptions of what artists can do
NO. 2: Expanding possibilities for artists’ professional practice and opportunities for artists in the creative industries.
Chair: Mitra Memarzia, Speakers: Linder Sterling, Sans Facon and Olivia Plender
The event last Saturday opened with an introduction to Storey Gallery by the director John Angus, he was one of the artists who set the Storey up and his love for the place was evident. I also appreciated seeing the little things like the new hidden door to let the big artworks in. It seems that small things like the way the door opened on its hinges could spark whole projects for me.
The event was chaired by Mitra Memarzia, an artist and generally multi-skilled individual (also an AIR advisor and on the board of directors for a-n). She seemed pretty formidable and I had to wonder how she had squeezed it all in! She made for an insightful and relaxed chair, wrapping things up before they went stagnant and asking some interesting questions. I enjoyed her presentation on her own work too, in fact, that might have been one of the most relevant parts of the day (in relation to the title of the symposium) as it was evident that she worked within different spheres, with many organisations and that there were many different avenues her work explored. I did mean to try and have a quick chat at some point, but my feeble state coupled with the fact that she was constantly occupied meant that didn’t happen. http://www.memarzia.org/mitra/
