Bar Lane Studios’ opening night [June 25, 2010] A View From The Inside

On Bar Lane‘s opening night, things are looking very positive. Not because the summer sun is still shining (at 7pm), but because I stand looking at the entrance to the building and I feel a great sense of pride at being involved in the whole process. As a reporter, it is my job to observe proceedings, comment and take lovely pictures to break up any lengthy rambling, so I’ll start doing that in a few words time, but yes, it is clear to me that what Ben Clowes (Project Manager) and the staff at Bar Lane are offering tonight is a glimpse at the massive potential for this impressive structure to change (and shape) the lives of many creatives in the Yorkshire region and, as such it feels very special.

I enter through the side door of the building and am greeted instantly with vibrant and stunning artwork sourced from local artists who got in touch before the opening to have their work displayed, it’s a fascinating sight and great for this writer to see visual evidence of the talent that’s on offer regionally and locally – great stuff (and congrats, of course to all of the artists who managed to have their work shown – I hope you manage to sell it!).

So, what can Bar Lane offer artists and art lover in the York area? I share a few words with some of the artists who are now residents about what they hope to get out of this fantastic resource.

“IT’S GOING TO BE NICE TO GET MESSY” – NATHAN CHENERY

The first person I grab to sit down and talk to about his thoughts on Bar Lane is local drawer and painter David Patrick (pictured below). The artist, who has spent time on the committee for another not-for-profit project York Open Studios before now, says that a residency at Bar Lane will help him expand and evolve his art. “It is the perfect for me to move forward with my work, simply because I live in an apartment in York’s city centre and the space just isn’t big enough.”

David goes on to expand on how he thinks having the studio in York will benefit the community and help local artists to thrive. It’s obviously going to be very important. Other museums in the area don’t really have time for local artists and as a result, these talented people get very little exposure”, he adds. “Here, it’s all about local artists and we can share a gallery with the likes of Matisse and Dali – it’s a fantastic opportunity to learn, develop and meet with other people.”

Speaking on the next evolution of his work, David says: “I want to open up my style a lot further and leave room for experimentation – I hope to push some new styles while focusing on improving as a painter and drawer.”

The second artist in residence that I meet is acclaimed “stained glass-worker” Julia Spall. Her innovative and passionate approach to creating has allowed her to create truly inspired pieces – having worked on glass for years as part of the York Glaziers Trust (working on and preserving the glass at York Minister was a particular highlight) until last year when she started her business, this artist is not short on experience. Julia (pictured below) explains that she will use her new space at Bar Lane Studios to expand and develop her career. She says: “I want to do more tuition work and having the studio will give me a base – it will be so much easier to work from and hopefully I will be able to do some workshops and get some commissions!”

The scope and diversity of Bar Lane‘s new crop of artists is very credible. After meeting with Julia, I ventured into the studio next door and found an interesting artist who works in a variety of mediums including site-specific installation and sculptures.  Julia McKinlay (pictured below) is keen to become more established in York having returned to her place of birth after spending time studying in Glasgow. She says, “While York has always had a great community of talented artists, it has been lacking in a bigger space to work, or even to hold exhibitions – I can see Bar Lane making a huge difference to artists in this city as there will be a lot more exposure.” Julia explains that she is looking forward to experimenting with plastic and getting her hands on more industrial materials in the new space, and I, for one am looking forward to seeing how that comes out!

While I couldn’t pin elusive local painter Nathan Chenery down for a photograph, I did manage to get a snap of his new studio (below) and grab him for a few seconds to get his thoughts on working at Bar Lane. He considers for a moment and then happily talks about his desire to use the space to its full potential. “It’s going to be nice to get messy and I am looking forward to using lots of colours.

“It’s going to give me (and everyone else) a great chance to network and collaborate – I think that’s how Bar Lane will be great for artists in York, as a hub for people to talk and share ideas.”

Bar Lane has not just benefitted local artists in the community but the space has also been providing opportunities for young people to work in the arts sector. York St. John’s theatre student and performance artist, Kiran Tanna talks about his duties as Front Of House for the studios. He comments: “My role basically involves talking to customers and making sales.”

“It’s been great for me to see all of these local artists get their work up next to the likes of Dali and John Squire and there are going to be more chances for people to get involved in the future. The space to create is huge and with the AV

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  room, Mac studio and loads of teaching courses and workshops, Bar Lane is shaping up to be a really positive resource – other galleries in this city don’t show local artists’ work for very long and so there’s a real niche for York there.”

Next up, I found Zoe Marsh (studio space pictured above) on the second floor of the building – she creates homemade jewellery under the name Glance and recently she has had her work exposed internationally by Vogue magazine. Zoe is now looking to develop her brand with the help of those around her at Bar Lane, she says: “I have been making jewellery for five years – I also do glass making on the side.

“It’s fantastic to have a dedicated workspace at Bar Lane alongside other artists and creative people and it’s going to be really important as there are not many great facilities like this in York – I am already meeting some very interesting people and I feel at home.”

I followed my short chat with Zoe by speaking to an artist who is a little different to the other new studio occupants. One of the most interesting and dedicated new artists to enter Bar Lane is Stan Sandig – the 64-year-old has a brain disorder (as a result of a bleed in the brain) and so he requires 12 hours of sleep each evening and two hours each day. The diverse artist (pictured below with his mannequin, named ”Monique’) says that using Bar Lane will give him the freedom to work as he pleases without any pressure. “I have finally found a space that is practical for me to work in at a price that I can afford.

“I have previously worked in isolation and so it was difficult for me to practice my profession and now I can be constantly surrounded by people to keep me inspired while I am awake – I love being in touch with art.”

Moving on, dynamic local illustrator Chris Jevons (pictured) explains how Bar Lane can provide a gateway for art students into work. He says: “It can be so hard to go from uni straight into work but with Bar Lane people can get the experience and contact that they need through the professional staff and support.

“The cool thing about this place is that, even if you are not an artist you can still come around, look at people’s work and feel inspired – I am really looking forward to getting to know some of the other artists, sharing ideas and trying new stuff for myself.”

Sarah Knowles (pictured) is a multimedia artist who works in a variety of mediums including stitch paper, paint and jewellery. She explains that it’s Bar Lane‘s ethos that first caught her eye. “When I first found out about Bar Lane it was because of the not-for-profit idea and I had been looking for space – it’s great to have residency here and it is certainly a golden opportunity.”

Sarah expands on how she will use the studios space to further her career. She says: “It’s exciting to be part of a creative community and it will be great for me to network with people from other disciplines, I am looking forward to trying out oil-painting in the future too.” Continuing the positive mood, abstract painter Mark Fieldsend (below) comments on what working at Bar Lane offers. He says: “It’s going to be great really – there’s a diverse community here and this space is a perfect hub for creativity.

“I am really looking forward to sitting down with people in the cafe to talk about ideas and getting to know them better.”

Towards the end of the night, I managed to catch a representative of Creative York, who have been behind Bar Lane Studios‘ efforts since day one. Heather Niven comments on how pleased she is that Bar Lane has been received so well. “We are looking forward to working with Bar Lane a lot more in the future because there is great potential for the artists here to mentor graduates in the city.”

It’s positive for the artists who have now taken up residence at Bar Lane to be able to work with a group of people because many have previously worked in isolation – there are a number of opportunities to make progress using the wealth of space and facilities, and I am really proud of Ben and his team for what they have achieved and taking the project from just a concept up to this point. “

Before I leave, I share some words with an artist who will play a huge part in the gallery’s future before the end of 2010, we met outside the venue where I took the nice photo below. The name is Keith Hopewell (his collection of forward thinking “street art” is internationally recognised  as ‘Part 2ism‘), and in November of this year he will join the list of acclaimed artists who have had their work exhibited at Bar Lane when he brings a retrospective career-spanning collection of  conceptual paintings (from 1995 to 2010) for show in the gallery. As someone who was born in York and left to go to London because of the capital’s thriving art market, Keith recognises the importance of Bar Lane and how it can play a role in putting York on the map as a centre for art in the UK. He says: “It’s great for these artists because they can network and create together and that’s what it’s all about.

“When I started out there really weren’t these kinds of places open in York, and there hasn’t been much recently, so  it’s fantastic to see how the artistic community has developed in the city and I am pleased to be bringing my work back here later on in the year.”

Indeed. Good luck everyone.

Thanks for coming!

For more information visit the new website.

Kind regards.

Words and images: Dom Smith

You can hear some audio interviews with Julia Spall and Zoe Marsh   recorded by Mike Leigh Cooper.

A Little Bit More About Bar Lane Studios

Bar Lane Studios is a brand new instantly accessible and exciting space for artists and creatives in the city of York. Currently, Bar Lane is housing a unique Salvador Dali exhibition in its gallery which features original signed prints by the world-renowned creative force, before the whole building opens next week to take in a number of local artists (including Nathan Chenery of the York-based art promoters Revolving Gallery and John Squire of iconic band The Stone Roses) along with selected interns from York St John’s University.

The project is the first of its kind in the UK as a not-for-profit social enterprise housed in a 7,000 sq ft space. The idea has been developed by York-based illustrator Ben Clowes who is a former Fine Art teacher at York College and Northumbria University with an aim to support the region’s creative talent. “Our mission is to get everyone together as one big community to support the arts.

“We’ve got a lot of people involved and investors from Aviva and the NHS – the biggest challenge when we got started was finding people to help fund the project and then getting them to work together, but because we had done our research and knew that  there was a desire for this kind of space in York, everybody agreed that it was a solid idea and so, we did well when we had to pitch it to people.”

Bar Lane has been met with positive support locally with funding coming from the aforementioned York St John University, Science City York and the York Council. YSJ will also be sponsoring five of its graduates in July and providing them with free space at the studio along with a year’s bursary to support the artists’ growth and business development.

Ben says that it is imperative that creative industries are nurtured at a local and regional level: “The UK has the highest percentage of people working in the creative industries in the whole of Europe and there’s no reason why York shouldn’t be a centre for creativity in England.”

As an artist who moved from York down south (to study at Cambridge School of Illustration and Design) before returning home to teach, Ben acknowledges that there is a pre-conception within local graduates that one has to move to a city like London or Manchester to get jobs in creative industries. He continues: “People don’t have to leave York to find jobs and we are now trying to fill that gap in opportunities within the region.

“There are some great people that we’ll have in once we get started who are trying to help us support graduates including Blink Media – they will be helping graduates we take in to nurture their skills in multimedia and the arts.”

As project leader Ben explains that while there were some stressful points leading up to the gallery’s opening, his passion and the level of support he has recieved from the local community has kept him inspired throughout the process. “It’s not been easy to set-up, because it’s all well and good having creativity but you need to have business experience as well.” He adds: “The creative people of York are so dedicated to the arts and that’s inspiring.”

Continuing the positive discussion, Ben reflects on the future and how he’d like Bar Lane Studios to develop. He says: “I want to create something that will help local people in the creative sector get noticed whatever their chosen profession – in the future we will be expanding into other forms of media depending on what’s required s0, if anyone’s got any ideas on how we can move forward, get in touch.”

The space is one of the largest arts-orientated ones in Yorkshire with 22 studios for artists, a print worksop, an Apple Mac suite, the gallery (to showcase work by both local and national artists) and a cafe too! There will also be various courses, workshops, networking events and seminars which will be open to the community – Pulse York have already signed on to teach both beginner and advanced workshops (with a special digital youth class on Saturday mornings for 13 to 17-year-olds) in using Mac software for photo-editing and drawing.

Other artistic support will be offered in the form of workshops and courses in screen printing, relief printing and etching – there will also be an afternoon print workshop in July held by local artist Piers Browne. The print room will be open to monthly and annual subscriptions for artists wishing to take advantage of the facilities.

Courses and workshops from life drawing, painting for beginners (and an advanced painting course to be held by one of the country’s up-and-coming painters Nathan Walsh), to photography and jewellery design will be held throughout the year with costs ranging from £7.50 to £11 per session.

Each space is available for hire on a monthly basis (the idea is that artists can come and use the facilities for the period and then stay on if they like). There are five individual studios ranging from 100 sq ft to 215 sq ft available, alongside 10 partitioned “hot space” studios. Ben comments: “The way it will work is that an artist can pay £10 to store their work in our gallery for one month and then, if they sell it, they can pay another £10 admin fee – the emphasis is on supporting local artists to get their work exposed to a wide audience.

For the artists in residence, Bar Lane will act as a “home away from home” and they will have access to washroom and kitchen facilities. Ben emphasises how important it is for everyone to get the most out of the space: “The people that come into the studios can start off in one of the smaller ‘hot spaces’ and then there’s room for them to progress into one of the individual ones as they develop,” he says. “We want people to feel comfortable here so that they can thrive in a professional environment.”

For more information you can now find Bar Lane Studios on Twitter and Facebook.

See you on the 25th when the gallery will be showcasing original Matisse lithographs from 1954! We will also be launching the arts cafe and opening up the studio space to introduce our new residents. It’s going to be fantastic! Following that there’s going to be a summer open exhibition (see the poster above and a full resolution version click here), that will focus exclusively on local artists.

Kind regards and keep in touch.