Updates from Six Lips Theatre!

Six Lips Theatre is certainly a very active group within York’s community and as residents of Bar Lane it’s our job to keep you posted on what they are up to!

Yes indeed, the innovative three-piece organisation have a few new events to tell you about…

The first is called wwwdot and it’s running every Wednesday from 7pm until 9pm at York St John University in Theatre 3. Admission is free and all reservations can be directed to info@sixlips.co.uk.

In their words: “A free ten week course (which started on October 13) of weekly Wednesday workshops with Six Lips Theatre, culminating in an original devised performance. We intend to explore with you the various art forms and techniques we have gleaned from and experiment with methods of generating work. We will cover writing, devising, improvisation, physical theatre, performance art, happenings, and classics. Contact us for dates and reservations. Set to run on a termly basis.”

Next we have the rather refreshingly termed Open Mic Goodness which we think is a lovely concept. It runs every Thursday at Pulse Cafe from 7pm until 9pm. Enquiries to info@sixlips.co.uk. Booking is not required. It costs £2 entry and £1 to perform.

In their words: “Art, music, comedy, poetry, prose, rants and ramblings. Come and see and do it all here. If you can’t make it but you want to get your stuff heard, send us something to read for you.”

Last, but certainly not least the group has an event called the Lazy Sunday Writers’ Club running at Bar Lane from 1pm until 5pm on…Sunday.

As always, all reservations and inquires to info@sixlips.co.uk. Booking is advised! £5 per day or £7 for two. Payable on entry.

In their words: “Hosted by two thirds of Six Lips Theatre, co-founders and in-house writers Anna Rose James and Roxanna Klimaszewska. Come and share ideas, learn and practise techniques, develop scripts and stories, brainstorm with like-minded creatives. Lazy Sundays provide a nurturing atmosphere where writers of all kinds can come and work, network and appreciate to their hearts’ desire. Every Sunday 1-4pm followed by storytelling for those willing from 4-5pm. Bring your own lunch if wanted, tea and coffee available for £1 each.”

For more information, visit the official Six Lips Facebook!

See you soon,

An update for November! New courses!

Hello again,

We’ve got some great news for you this month.

We are starting some courses on November 15, 2010 and running them until December 11. While it’s stated on the website that these are supposed to start from today (November 1) we have had to push them back because we’ve been working on a massive project.

The course listings are still correct on the site but the prices are now £75 for the full five weeks (of the options on Monday, Tuesday or whatever day that you choose) or £15.20 per course.

Jonathan Green will be teaching the photography course and others, he says: “This extra two weeks gives people a great opportunity to sign-up. These courses are to start people off and then we will be doing intermediate and master classes to follow on in the new year.”

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook for more updates.

Kind regards, and get in touch with any questions.

The first day of CIDA at Bar Lane Studios!

The first day of the CIDA course seemed to be a great success, reflecting on yesterday’s events we are very pleased to have Lee Corner and her dedicated team of mentors work with us at Bar Lane. A range of topics were covered,  all catering to support the creative entrepreneurs that have chosen to take part in the course. Those involved in yesterday’s events included York-based photographer Keith Findlater, Carl Letman of Agathon Productions and Six Lips Theatre along with many more talented and interesting people.

Topics covered in the opening session were balanced to take into account the creative mind at its best and the good points including the art of Strategic Thinking (the fact that creative people are very good at recognising opportunities), as well as Commercial Aptitude (the fact that creatives are also good at understanding the best practice within their chosen profession and then learning from it and improving), Persistent (the idea that they are determined enough to operate from out of hope of success rather than fear of failure) and, Making Things Happen (the fact, [and we enjoy this the most] that creative people are very good at turning ideas into reality.

Obviously as the programme’s director, Lee is no stranger to motivating people through truth and what’s quickly established through a nice balance of humour, real-life experience and community is that CIDA, will be able to help most of (if not all), the representatives that have chosen to attend from York St John‘s Phoenix Centre, DesignWorks and Bar Lane Studios over the next six months. It’s not all positive stuff mind, the talk also examined the challenges that creative people face on a daily basis trying to make a living as painters, writers, designers and photographers. Such challenges include the fact that creatives don’t always conform to traditional industrial processes like distribution and reproduction when going into business and as such, they tend to be much more collaborative, also that they can be perceived as being “flaky” by banks, friends and other important people in their lives (don’t you love that word? Click for a definition!) It was also discussed that creative people can often have difficulty accessing finance, which of course is a massive problem for anyone starting out, or even someone who has been in business for many years.

One of the highlights to come out of this part of the discussion though, was the examination of individuals’ values as Lee went around the room in an effort to familiarise the “class” with each other and to get them to talk about their projects and the ideals that inspire them to continue despite adversity. Supported by worksheets those in attendance responded well by listening to others and offering feedback where appropriate in order to offer constructive and welcome advice.

Another interesting point in the day came when those involved were asked to examine their own “toolkit” which meant that each person was required to examine their key characteristics, attributes, behaviours, skills and resources along with a group of other people from different businesses. This was particularly effective as it gave those involved a unique insight into each other’s personalities and from out of this discussion we saw many people offer to support others and extend help, support and resources that could help benefit their business.

The CIDA course successfully brings together a variety of different businesses, people and skill-sets to support each other under the “wing” of the Lee and also with the help of personal mentor sessions from friendly and experienced industry professionals. It is the hope that with the skills people learn from these sessions, they can become self-sufficient and can learn to support themselves by making profit as a creative person within their desired industry.  We managed to catch up with Lee once the day had concluded to talk a little bit about what has kept her inspired to continue helping creative people over her 35-year career. She explains that while managing 25 people is much more of a “tall order” than she has been used to in the past, she is more than ready for the challenge. “I do prefer speaking to individual people and catering for their needs usually, but with all of my experience I have been able to learn about dealing with a variety of people in a range of sectors,” she says. “The people who are a part of this course just need more confidence in their abilities.” Moving on to talk about her inspirations and what has kept her going, she examines how creative individuals benefit people around the world and not just in York. “The contribution that the creative community has made to society seriously improves on the quality of our lives,” she adds. “I will fight to the death for creative freedom.”

We would like to wish every participant on the CIDA course the very best, and good luck in the future. Especially considering that there will be a session coming up which will examine finances and the concept of survival and business income! It’s a fine balance!

Kindest regards to all of our readers and best wishes,

Bar Lane Studios

A lovely August update from Bar Lane!

Hello!

We are back with another wonderful update for you this month and we hope that summer is treating you well?

Our fantastic summer exhibition opened up this past Sunday (you can see some pictures of that below) and the feedback we’re getting is amazing. It’s always been the team’s goal to have the public involved in the project as much as possible and so it is great to see so many people taking the chance to exhibit, coming to our showcases and popping in for a coffee each day. Thank you!

Speaking on the opening, Bar Lane‘s Director Ben Clowes says, “We had around 200 people come down for the opening, and the standard of the work was incredibly high – the exhibition is made up of local artists and I can say that all of it is really great, solid work.”

Ben explains that there were about 300 items put in for the show and around 200 of those are going over to the New School House Gallery located at Peasholme Green. He discusses some of the benefits of working as a social enterprise. “It’s great that we can work with School House, and that’s the benefit of us being a social enterprise business.” He adds: “We can work with whoever we want this way whether that be galleries, local and national artists and companies – as a result, we are able to progress and develop ourselves while supporting other organisations.”

Ben happily comments on new developments at Bar Lane over the coming months. He says: “We have been able to raise enough funds to have CIDA [Cultural Industries Development Agency] come and run a course with us which is open to 25 individuals from the creative sector. The organisation has never run anything in York before and we are very fortunate to be able to get involved with them as it will offer our interns and residents the chance to take their business forward and develop their ideas.”

Yes, indeed! We’ve got loads on. On August 18, we have a special PechaKucha event which will provide a platform for Bar Lane‘s resident and local creatives. The artists that take part will have three minutes to show and talk about their work using a projector – it’s going to be a fantastic challenge. You can find out more about this exciting concept here. We are looking to run these events every two months.

Looking forward, in the second week of next month (September), Bar Lane‘s courses and workshops will commence offering a variety of skills including life drawing, print making and photography – for more details on what’s being offered and how you can get involved, visit the website.

Bar Lane‘s brand new interns have moved in now and have at the time of writing been in there for two days! Six Lips Theatre Company are taking every opportunity to showcase their skills and shine, and they performed a small production down in the basement of our studios (which, incase you were wondering is a part of the building we will be hiring out to anybody that wants to use it as a rehearsal space or, for their creative endeavours). On that note, Six Lips will be performing again tomorrow (August 4) at Bar Lane from 7-9pm – be there or be…bored!

Ben has been observing how the new intake are getting on. “Everyone is settling in nicely and each person is beginning to form relationships and bonds that will help to benefit them – we are already starting to work with the Revolving Gallery [resident artist Nathan Chenery's business] alongside We Performance and the York Artisans are also continuing to work with us.

“It’s important for us to encourage young and new artists to showcase their work and promote themselves – we want everyone to get involved and come on board with what we are doing – we are open to helping everyone from graphic designers to film-makers.” To further promote this aim, Bar Lane has achieved funding (around £2,000) to hold a CDP (Continued Professional Development) course in York which also has 25 spaces to support local creative talent to develop business management skills. The course will cost £300. For more info on CPD and what it can do for you, visit the above link.

The studio has also been gaining momentum recently with great exposure in the local press with spotlights in both newspapers and magazines, not just in York but also outside of the city in key northern cultural hubs including Leeds and Manchester. Ben comments: “The exposure has been very positive because other organisations around the country are hearing about us and getting in touch asking, ‘How did you do it?’ and ‘How can we do the same thing?’ – it’s great that we are getting out there and again, it shows the advantages of being a social enterprise, because we are in a position to help out.”

For you dedicated readers are wanting to know if there’s still some space left at the studios to showcase work, it’s important that you realise that if you don’t succeed getting your work a space at this point then try, try again. Ben comments: “We have a constant stream of established artists wanting to come and exhibit, and we also have a constant stream of applicants looking for space for their work.

“If we can’t fit you in this time, please keep coming back because we are here to help you – if you are interested in working with us, we need a well-written proposal and in that, we have to see that your work is quality and we also need to identify the advantage of you as an artist.”

In other grand news, we’ve sold 22 Matisse paintings since his iconic work has been up in our main gallery! We really didn’t expect to do so well so quickly – again, thank you very much!

Last month we also hosted Danesgate Skill Centre‘s exhibition which featured two skateboarding Nun’s right next to our Matisse collection – it was a great experience having the kids in (some of them had never even been inside a gallery) and thanks to some more positive feedback, we will definitely be working with them again soon. As you can imagine, we’re very excited to see what Danesgate‘s budding artists can create for us next!

One veteran creator that would definitely appreciate the Danesgate approach to art is Part2ism – his work will be showcased at Bar Lane in October – it will be awesome!

That’s it for now!

To visit our official website, click the logo below.

Kind regards and best wishes. Come and visit us soon!

Dom Smith and the team at Bar Lane Studios

Calling all local artists – need a place to put your work?

We are still looking for more work to display in our arts cafe which will be opening this week on the 25th!

There’s a £10 hanging fee for one month. If your art sells, then there will be another £10 admin fee. Interested? Please do get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Our main aim is to promote local artists and give them a place to showcase their work. It’s a really exciting opportunity and we are pleased to be in a position to offer this kind of support to those creative people that constantly offer inspiration to us.

Also, if anyone has any art books that they don’t need, then please bring them in for us when you come in!

Thank you and best wishes.

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.

Hi there!

We just want to say thanks very much for all of your support as we have started out. We really appreciate it!

We officially open our doors next week (June 25) but people are welcome to come and enjoy the Salvador Dali original signed collection exhibit that we have on at the moment.

Click the links for more information and contact details.

The reason that we set this up is to keep you all updated as to what’s going on inside Bar Lane. This will consist of monthly updates (including images and interviews) once we start having regular exhibits, taking on interns and artists begin to use our lovely studio space and facilities. The first proper one will be up on here just after we open.

Kind regards and keep in touch.