Beautiful People

I have finally got around to scanning in some of the wonderful 'face-to-face' portraits drawn at our fund raising event, Pen & Paper. With only a week to organise I was very pleased with the £140 that was raised, and all the contributors made the event truly special and unique. A big thank you to Anna, Nick, Luke, Ellie Harman, The Wolf Larsens and Cosmo Sheldrake.

And so!

The Brighton 'property mafia' (as I've heard it described during my investigations) are particularly elusive. I still walk around the city and see many sadly empty buildings, and the numbers seem to be increasing. However, an opportunity to hold the CAA in an empty shop outside of Brighton has arisen, and hopefully this is what will go down.

Workshop 1A is run by the Empty Shops Network, wonderful people spearheading the empty shops movement. Located just off Shoreham High Street, it was once an empty shop like many others.

But after much hard work and cleverness it has now become 'a temporary, flexible and informal space' available for use by the community.

(image from http://workshop1a.tumblr.com/post/2684238499/new-year-new-team-new-name-new-logo)

This is the kind of thing I really want to get involved in and perhaps have a hand in crating more of in the future. At the moment I feel like I don't quite have the experience to set up an empty shop project from scratch all by myself in Brighton, but hopefully if the CAA can find its first nesting space in Shoreham then it will be wonderful and there will be more wonderful things to follow.

Watch this space...

(Also take a look at Workshop 1a, artistsandmakers.com, Empty Shops Network and Meanwhile.)

'Look Out... Look In' - Moukhtar Kocache

"I imagine our sector rebuilding its alliances with social movements to regain its historic place at the forefront of ideological and social mobilisation."

"On a basic level, this means demystifying our arts institutions, rendering them more transparent and accessible; even, perhaps, re-imagining the use of our spaces and facilities." 

This morning I am reading an interesting essay written by Moukhtar Kocache for the Arts Council England in which he considers the relationship between the arts and government, society and policy. In 'Look Out... Look In', Kocache suggests that the priorities of the free market, 'efficiency, profit and growth', have come to shape and restrict the position the arts hold within our world.

Pen & Paper: Saturday 5th March

This coming Saturday I have organised a fund-raising event.

Pen & Paper,

Saturday 5th March, 5pm-11pm,

The Green Door Store,

Brighton.

Empty shops make up 14.5% of town centres

In this article from Property Weekly, property experts give their opinions of the changes faced by high streets and retailers across the country.

Matthew Hopkins, director of The Local Data Company, points to the problem that many smaller retail units in local shopping areas are 'not fit for the purpose of modern retailing'. Professor Barrry Gilbertson also recognises the desire of big brand retailers for larger retail units that can compete with the large stock holdings of their online competitors. This shift towards retail parks and shopping centres, and away from high streets, has left 'a lot of vacant shops which will never be replaced'.

Proposal Document

'The scope of activities at the CAA is limited only by our imaginations. They could last for the whole four days, or just 30 seconds, aimed at toddlers or 80-year-olds, use the entire space or occupy a cupboard. We will be looking for proposals that challenge traditional modes of learning, that inspire, confuse or excite, that are inclusive and inviting, that restore a sense of magic and discovery to our city.'

I've written a proposal document that can be downloaded will explain in more detail the structure and goals of the project.

Please have a look at it to find out what the CAA will be all about, and feel free to pass it on and show it to anyone who you think would be interested.

The Common Academy of Arts Proposal (<- click)

Rays of hope... (a nice photo to brighten things up)

Queen's Square, Brighton

A bright future awaits.

I admit I have never walked up the road between Dyke Road and Queen's Road that is apparently called Queen's Square and was the home of Brighton's ice rink for 30 years before its closure after an arson attack in 2003.

According to the Brighton and Hove News the site has been sold to hotel developers who are expected to make a planning application in six months time. Perhaps in the interim period, if it's safe to do so, they'd like to house the CAA in their new acquisition?

Perhaps... off for a peek tomorrow morning.