i♥slackspace

Transforming spaces – Arts use of empty shops and other disused spaces

Saturday 17 March 2012 9.30am – 5.15pm @ firstsite, Colchester

Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester, Essex CO1 1JH

£32.40 incl. VAT, lunch and two refreshment breaks. 50 free places available! (email us for a booking form and further details)

A Regional conference hosted by UK premier Empty Shop organisation Slack Space Colchester, in partnership with firstsite. The event will look at working in empty shops and other disused spaces and will combine an interactive focus on case studies and success stories with practical advice and contextual understanding.

This event is suitable for:

Artists

Community groups

Arts and regeneration professionals

Landlords and developers

Outline of day:

9.30 Arrivals. Refreshments available to purchase at firstsite restaurant

10.00 Abigail Cheverst (Slack Space) ‘Working in empty shops – possibilities, challenges and opportunities’

10.30 Michaela Freeman (Artside) ‘Artside - curating in the public space’

11.00 Amy McKenny (Tap) ‘TAP – running an artist led studio / gallery space’

11.30 Refreshments (provided)

11.50 Breakouts

12.15 Kayte Judge (We are Bedford) ‘We are Bedford’ – case study’

12.45 Chris Clarke (Slack Space) ‘Slack Space – case study’

1.15 Lunch (provided) with performance from popular folk band The Medlars

2.00 The coalface slots – a series of short presentations from working artists on what empty shops activity has meant for them

2.30 Eddie Bridgeman (Meanwhile Space) ‘New spaces, new ways of working - the meanwhile lease, development trusts and other solutions’

3.00 Dan Thompson (Empty Shops Network) ‘The big picture – presenting the results of a National research and evidence gathering project on disused space activity in the UK’

3.30 Refreshments (provided)

3.50 Breakouts

4.15 3Space presentation

4.30 Plenary / panel discussion – ‘Empty shops, disused spaces – the potential, the pitfalls and where we go next.’ The results of this plenary will be fed into the Empty shops Network National conference taking place later in the year

5.15 Close

Refreshments available to purchase at firstsite restaurant

Tour of Slack Space Colchester (optional)

All delegates will receive a copy of the Slack Space Manual and the Empty Shops Toolkit

Partner profile:

Slack Space is one of the premier ‘empty shop’ organisations in the UK and has been successfully putting art and performance into empty shops for over two and a half years

firstsite is a contemporary visual arts organisation based in Colchester with a mission to make contemporary art relevant to everyone.

Artside is a CoExist project featuring two weeks of art and interventions in Southend High Street with artists working directly with venues to create site-led work.

TAP is housed within a converted water works. Currently it houses CoExist Galleries and Studios,The White Bus, MEET, Solug and Open Arts.

We are Bedford is a community collective. The group put on the Castle Quay Weekender in March 2011, an arts festival in 7 empty shops, and run various other successful community events.

Meanwhile Space is led by the Development Trusts Association as part of the Advancing Assets programme, with support from the Dept. of Communities and Local Government.

Empty Shops Network is the National Network for organisations and individuals working in empty shops and other disused spaces.

3Space offer a brokerage service between landlords / developers with empty space and charities or other organisations wishing to use that space.