Westgate Studio

Met with Bob today for a catch up in the Barge & Barrel in Elland, sampling Elland Best Bitter 4.0% ABV and Rooster Whisky Stout 4.7% ABV. Very tasty on both accounts. Jon Wakeman @eaststreetarts reminded me via twitter that artist Gordon McKiernan is head brewer at Elland Brewery Bar staff informed me that Elland Best was cloudy but not compromising on flavour. Rooster’s Whisky Stout was how you’d imagine – stouty with significant peaty overtones – but somehow still surprising. Elland Best very smooth and nicely tangy.

Had a lovely email from a former Temporary Art Space volunteer offering up some time towards the project. Looking forward to working with her more. Anyone wanting to get involved in projects on any level send us an email [email protected]

Bob & I made some vague plans for future shows and decided to also focus on some residencies in the intervals (details to follow). First residency we’re facilitating is by Susan Mortimer, who is also a-n blogging: www.a-n.co.uk/p/1089702 We’re looking forward to her next visit next week.

Our studio move in date is 1st March. Although a busy month already, I’m looking forward to having an expanse of space to play with straight away. I have a studio at home in my tiny box room which is convenient and cheap but pretty small, so really looking forward to working on some larger scale ideas.

Studios available for rent: Studios have 24hr access, disabled access and a project space for developing and showing work. Prices range from £95.00 to £167.00 per month. The price includes water, electricity and wi-fi. The studios are self-contained units with good natural lighting. For further information or to arrange a viewing contact [email protected]

Westgate Studios Project Space, Prudential Building, 55 Westgate, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 1BW, UK.

http://westgatestudios.blogspot.com/

Open Call for Proposals: Temporary Art Show 3

Who: Artists working in any country with any medium.

What: Following on from Temporary Art Show (Bates Mill, Huddersfield, 2008), Temporary Art Space (Piece Hall, Halifax, 2009) and Warehouse Weekend (Bates Mill, Huddersfield, 2010), Temporary Art Show 3 will be held at Westgate Studios Project Space, Wakefield, in March 2011, curated by artists Alice Bradshaw & Bob Milner. See http://www.temporaryartspace.co.uk/ for previous shows.

When: Wednesday 30th March 2011, 5-9pm (Wakefield Art Walk)

Location: Westgate Studios Project Space, Prudential Building, 55 Westgate, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 1BW, UK. http://westgatestudios.blogspot.com/

Westgate Studios are housed in a Grade II listed building in Wakefield City Centre, close to the new Hepworth Gallery. Wakefield bus station and Wakefield Westgate train station are in walking distance, with direct trains to Leeds, York, Newcastle, Sheffield, Doncaster, Birmingham, Nottingham, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

To Apply: Email [email protected] with your proposal (500 words maximum), supporting images, a short artist statement / biography (200 words maximum), contact details and links to websites/blogs.

Deadline: Monday 7th March 2011. Selected artists will be notified by 14th March and work must be delivered to Westgate Studios by 21st March latest.

Payments: None, sorry.

Costs: Artists are required to cover their own production costs and postage/travel costs including return postage if applicable.

After a difficult financial period and following many internal changes Westgate Studios ceased operating as a managed organisation in 2010. Following a thorough search for alternative premises in order to keep the core groups of people together, artists have begun moving back into the Grade II listed building on Westgate in the city centre of Wakefield.

Operating as independent tenants without a formalised studio group constitution, the studio holders are paying £95-£167 per month all inclusive for a self contained studio with natural light, 24 hour access, wi-fi and the use of a project space for developing and showing work.

The project space was refurbished in 2009 as a traditonal ’white cube’ gallery. It has been a core venue in the bi-monthly city wide Artwalk and hosted several residencies. For the next twelve months, the project space has become the new curatorial project of collaborating artists Alice Bradshaw and Bob Milner. As well as encouraging studio holders to initiate projects in the space, Alice and Bob are curating a series of exhibitions and inviting artists to take up short term residencies.

Alice and Bob have previously collaborated on a number of projects since meeting in 2007. Temporary Art Show popped up in Huddersfield in 2008 at Bates Mill where Alice was resident at the time, as a result of a pub conversation in the Head of Steam between Alice, Bob and Huddersfield based artists Tom Senior, Georgia Boniface and Kevin Boniface.

http://www.temporaryartspace.co.uk/temporaryartshow.html

Receiving a good reception of 200+ visitors over one weekend, the five artists sought further collaborative DIY exhibition projects. In 2009, a former Director for Calderdale Council, now Chief Executive of York City Council, Kersten England gave them that opportunity in the form of an empty unit in the Piece Hall, Halifax. Temporary Art Space ran for six months as a pilot project and featured six major group shows and a series of Changeover shows in between.

http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/

www.a-n.co.uk/p/490619/

In 2010, Richard Bates, co-owner of Bates Mill in Huddersfield, invited Alice and Bob to take part in an embryonic multi platform festival in Huddersfield. The result of a curatorial collaboration between Bates Mill, Alice & Bob, Vanessa Haley, Elise Rohde, Fresh Kids and The Parish Pub was Warehouse Weekend; two nights and one day of art installation, live art, film, theatre, live music, beat boxing and two specially brewed beers served from a purpose built colour-changing bar.

It is worth noting that none of these projects has received any grant or funding. All of the projects were made possible through support-in-kind, mainly in the form of people volunteering their time, offering venues and covering minimal overheads. Enthusiasm is the key. We do this because we love it. Rather than being from any particular political stance, our approach to curation is a result of a shared belief that time and energy is better spent on creating something interesting as opposed to continually writing funding application forms.

So, unsurprisingly, our latest collaboration at Westgate Studios Project Space is without funding. At present.

To find out more about how to get involved and current opportunities, or how to offer support-in-kind visit http://aliceandbobcurate.wordpress.com/ or email [email protected]