PlymSlackSpace

martin bush gallery - walkthrough

2010-07-28T12:03:00.002+01:00

Ongoing action in Torbay

2009-08-14T14:21:00.007+01:00

Here's a link to an article on the Herald Express web site about their equivalent of the SlackSpace concept and how they have missed out on a share of £3m of Government empty-shop cash.

I think it's relevant as it shows Torbay already has an active team, sorting out empty shops and using them to display art.

Is Torbay ahead of Plymouth in dealing with with issue? Yes!

comments / suggestions / feedback welcomed and encouraged

Closed shops blight for one Derby business

2009-07-31T16:13:00.004+01:00

Here's a piece from the BBC about how one Derby business is suffering by being the one open shop amidst a sea of closed ones. This is an example of what PlymSlackSpace can stop, given support from leaseholders / owners and you...

Read the BBC piece

A stitch in time...

Let's act before it's too late for Plymouth. Follow this blog to show your support, share it with your Plymothian friends and encourage them to join up too.

We need people to follow us who are

from Plymouth or who regularly come here
or owners / leaseholders of currently empty Plymouth retail properties
local artists
local people who like wandering around art galleries / displays :)
people who like buying art ;)
local people who support the whole idea, whether they intend to come along or not
Plymouth council members / local politicians who support the idea
local art groups / collectives / flickr groups / facebook groups and so on...

That's you (yes you!)

If you fall into any of these categories, help get the number of followers here up into the hundreds by following right now!

If we can get to high numbers of followers, we'll kinda force the hand of those whose hands need forcing—but in a nice way :)

So tell your friends to follow too—don't be shy about it! See those buttons below for sharing? Well, go on, get to it!

comments / suggestions / feedback welcomed and encouraged

Empty / closing shops in city centre

2009-07-03T23:04:00.013+01:00

These photos show shops that are either empty or are closing down. Taken on date of posting. Filenames give locations.

Barbican

City Centre

comments / suggestions / feedback welcomed and encouraged

Aims and Objectives

2009-07-02T13:28:00.003+01:00

These are the ones set from the first two meetings. They may be updated as work initially progresses and then revisited again later as the project evolves.

Aims

To help improve the visibility of fine art artists / makers based in Plymouth
To help engage the public and commercial enterprises in the work of these artists
To help the artists sell their work by arranging locations for them to display in / at
To use art to help maintain and improve the feel of an area where spaces and buildings are becoming slack or empty due to business closure or temporary inability to let
To investigate and implement specific projects to further these aims

Objectives

Encourage a linked up online community of target artists using facilities such as twitter, facebook, and a Google Friend Connect enabled blog
Establish a brand image / graphics / logos etc
Obtain funding
Ensure that direct and indirect costs incurred by the organisers are accounted for and met
Establish contacts with on and offline media outlets
Identify and work with the right business and local government organisations to a achieve a commonly agreed set of goals for shared projects
Establish a fair and balanced mechanism by which artists are given prominence according to their standing whilst not adversely affecting new and upcoming artists
Establish an initial set of projects with concrete goals
Aim to have at least one project up and running by / for Christmas 2009

comments / suggestions / feedback welcomed and encouraged

Inaugural meeting

2009-06-26T00:46:00.005+01:00

The initial three members of this collective met to discuss aims, objectives and initial responsibilities. This followed the first mention of the project in the Evening Herald

Initial statement

We agreed that there is growing recognition of the revitalisation of the south west of England as a well-spring of fresh art, a regeneration of the old hub.

We also acknowledged in the present climate, that there are many public and commercial spaces that are becoming empty; devoid of vitality and that there is an appetite amongst the commercial and civic leadership to address that in innovative ways.

Aims and Objectives to come

We are in the process of drafting these and will publish them here once agreed.

comments / suggestions / feedback welcomed and encouraged