The winding down of HMS begins. I gave the artists three month’s notice. Obviously this came as a shock to everyone but it is quite fair as I had only asked for a month’s notice when artists wanted to leave HMS. Financially giving a month would have suited me as the holding costs remain the same. But I also wanted to leave on the best of terms! Some have chosen to vacate straight away whilst others will leave their space at the end of the year.
Many of the artists have been at HMS from the start – moving into the spaces as they were created. We’ve become good friends and socially it will be quite a wrench.
The process of taking down partitions will begin in a couple of weeks. The new tenants will be making frames for the upholsters downstairs. We have agreed a transition period where they can move machines to spaces as they are vacated. It will mean a bit of juggling and some goodwill on everyone’s part.
A group of artists are looking into starting a new collective and are in the process of researching spaces. I hope they pull it off as it will be great if they can stick together.
One of the reasons for giving up HMS is a 50 mile round trip from my home. I’ve had two accidents on the M1 which potentially could have had more serious outcomes. My carbon footprint will be substantially reduced too and gaining more time will be so much appreciated . It’s impossible to ‘pop in’.
I have also been running the mill for eleven years which has been both challenging and rewarding. I’ve always had a lots of lovely people on the ground doing practical stuff. The fairies have managed to keep a respectably clean kitchen and loo. But the admin has always been relentless and I know other studios have teams to do the marketing, management and education. I was approached by an institution with the help of an “apprentice” to fill in application forms for funding. However, my contribution would be £750 and a fortnightly meeting. When you are running something on a shoestring this is a significant sum and regular meetings didn’t appeal. This might have been achievable if HMS was nearer.
Whilst I am closing the studios I am intending to continue with certain projects. I have a domain name of H-M-S.co.uk (or Harrington Mill Studios lite) and I’m looking to curate a space at the forthcoming Platforms event in Athens!
In the meantime I am looking forward to a residency in Baroda, India in January 2019, organised and funded by Artcore.
