About this website: On the 26th and 27th of November 2009, a group of people came together at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham to begin to answer the question "How do we create a better future for theatre, here, in the West Midlands". This website holds the notes from the sessions held over those two days, and allows anyone (whether they were present at the event or not) to continue the conversations from the event. You can read Alison Gagen's full invitation to the event here

How can we take over an empty building and create an artists hub, and should we?

Convenor:

Jo Carr

Attendees:

James Yarker, Janet Vaughan, Sam Fox, Olivia, Emily, Mark Webster, Katerina, Johnny O Hanlon

Description:

Jo started by commenting on Theatre Bristol’s hub building an old office that was empty and where companies have hot-desks, or have their base, hang out exchange ideas etc etc. She wondered if it was as good as it sounded and how it got going.
Everyone seems to like the idea of having a shared space to see other people and not feel so alone.
Mark said he had just taken over a building in the Jewellery quarter and it had been a nightmare and taken 3 years to accomplish BUT he also pointed out that quite a few co’s had just done the same thing recently, Stans Café, Friction and Boxed Theatre.

Olivia loved the time Kindle had spent at AE harris where there are no restrictions on the space other than for the artists to play and that she had fund it very motivating .
Jo wondered if the spaces are already there and if then we need to ask and share and talk to each other more about when we want to rehearse, put a show on etc etc.

James commented and all agreed that there’s no point seeking out a mythical building that we’ll cater to all our needs and that a “scene” will only happen organically, so perhaps we seek out seed money to feed into the scene as a group of artists. This money would be better used to market the events .

Olivia. Wondered if we could run a space as a co-op but Johnny says NO someone always has to run it, he felt it would eventually fall on one person.

Janet Mentioned the Empty Spaces and empty shops initiatives, as places to go to and think about.

James and Katerina talked about how Brum City Council could help, James thought that there was a trend towards prop’ developers buying into the cultural sector and maybe we should explore this more.
Winding up James said that AE Harris lease was up in a year and Stans Café were in the process of deciding how to move on, whether to renew the lease, how to do that and how the theatre community can come together to make a case for funders to invest in the building , the scene , the art and the people.

Lets use what’s here already in a more subversive , and interesting way.