Artists from associates and membership programmes across the country will be coming together this weekend to share knowledge and network, as Plymouth Arts Centre hosts the first Jamboree residential workshop.
The back to basics event, which will see participants camping out in the arts centre and working communally to prepare meals, is the idea of Plymouth-based artists LOW PROFILE (Rachel Dobbs and Hannah Jones), who developed the concept in partnership with PAC Home, Plymouth Arts Centre’s own associates programme.
Participants were selected to take part from a call out to six partnering associates schemes: PAC Home (Plymouth); Spike Associates (Bristol); Wales Artist Resource Programme (Cardiff); Extra Special People (Birmingham); CG Associates (Manchester); and Glasgow Sculpture Studios (Glasgow).
The artists taking part are: Laura Hopes, Marcy da Silva Saude, Ryan Curtis (PAC Home); Laura Phillips, Laurie Lax, Jack Wilson (Spike Associates); Jason Pinder, Lauren Heckler, Clare Charles (Wales Artist Resource Programme); Aly Grimes (Extra Special People); Beth Kettel, Emma Sumner, Clara Casian (CG Associates); Rosie O’Grady, Emmie Mcluskey, Jamie Kane (Glasgow Sculpture Studios).
Fostering connections
LOW PROFILE says the idea is to create more visibility for artists who are based in the regions by expanding their networks and creating a social environment for sharing that supports the potential for long-lasting connections.
“For us, being part of peer networks of artists who are invested in each others’ practices has been a really crucial way to push our practice forward.
“We don’t always have the time or budget to travel and meet other artists as often as we’d like, and we figured other artists might also feel the same way. We developed Jamboree as a way to bring people together in a short, intensive and efficient way to start fostering those connections.”
Alongside LOW PROFILE, the workshop will be led by guest curator, Martin Clark (director of Bergen Kunsthall and artistic director of Art Sheffield).
The weekend activities will include a mix of practical tasks alongside ‘go and see’ visits to local galleries, studios and facilities. The programme kicks off on Thursday evening with a special screening of Andrea Luka Zimmerman’s Jarman Award shortlisted work, Estate: A Reverie, with the artist on hand to answer questions. This will be followed by screenings of works by the other five shortlisted artists.
Practical sessions will include a place-mapping task that asks participants ‘what it is like to be an artist in the place that you live in?’ and a skills swapping session around what participants can do to support each other’s networks. A preview at Plymouth-based gallery KARST, and visits to Peninsula Arts and Ocean Studios are also on the itinerary.
As part of a-n’s support for the project, artist Julie McCalden will be attending Jamboree and will post regular images on a-n’s Instagram across the weekend. Plus, on a-n Blogs, participants from each of the associate schemes will be blogging about their post-Jamboree experiences over the coming weeks.
More on a-n.co.uk:
Plymouth Art Weekender: an ambitious event in a changing city – Steven Paige reports on the burgeoning art scene in the city
Plymouth Art Weekender review – by Pippa Koszerek
