Finally got in to see the potential space for the exhibition. Dating back to the 1700’s it is steeped in history with various ancient officials looking down from gold framed portraits above the exhibition floor. Discussing with the curator, it looks like we need to get totally back to the drawing board as far as the work we want to show and the artists who will be involved are, in light of the space and it’s inhabitants.
A quick update on the situation with the Salisbury project. The proposal was finished and handed in to both the Salisbury city Council contact and the head of arts for Wiltshire Council. As proposals go I think it was a whopper and to term a phrase that we are all thoroughly fed up with, it ticked every box going and even some that hadn’t yet been invented. And then – silence. Not an e-mail not a phone call, not a tweet, as it were, out of them. Admittedly the city Council did move from one building to another during this time but after numerous rebuffed phone calls it came to the point where stronger action was called for. During this month Laurence and I had also met with the Salisbury arts centre assistant director who was immediately on board with the idea and offered whatever in kind help they could in the way of space and equipment. As we now had a trail of people involved I gave the city Council a final date to respond by otherwise we would have to assume the project was off. Within 10 min I got a really is positive response with apologies for not contacting sooner due to the move, workload etc etc and all of a sudden everything was back on. As the situation stands now we have a site visit arranged for 16th of May with a council worker, Laurence and I, the curator involved and the technician who will ultimately help to install the show. So far so good.
Susan Francis is a Belfast born artist, now based in the South West with a past record of UK and international exhibitions, international residencies including the Bemis Centre for Contemporary Art in Omaha, USA, and work held in public and private collections including the collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. She often works within health and education and has instigated and managed long and short term participatory projects. Susan also curates and manages a wide range of projects and exhibitions.
