OPEN STUDIOS – Weekends of 17/18 December 2011, 10am – 8pm.

UNITY STUDIOS -

Units 15/16, St James Industrial Estate

Westhampnett Road, Chichester, PO19 7JU

on the right as you head east from the city centre towards the Sainsbury’s supermarket.

Ch-Art was set up to support artists and craftspeople who currently operate independently or in small groups in the Chichester area, to come together in different venues in order to build new creative networks and/or informal relationships, to offer feedback on each other’s work, to develop their creative practice, to learn new things and enter into debate, and ultimately to influence the development of new creative possibilities for creative practitioners in Chichester. Ch-Art is an artist led programme supported by Pallant House Gallery, Unity Arts Trust and independent artists.

Join FACEBOOK group: Ch-Art.

EVENTS PROGRAMME Spring 2012

Thursday Feb 9th  6-8pm

• PechaKucha Night Chichester – a lively event that brings together creative people from different artforms and media to share their ideas and inspirations. For the first Pecha Kucha Night Chichester, 8 artists from Unity Studios will each present in under 7 minutes something about their art practice.
• PechaKucha – Deriving its name from the Japanese term for the sound of ‘chit chat’, PechaKucha Night, devised and shared by Klein Dytham architecture, consists of a series of presentations where each participant shows 20 images for 20 seconds.
• Venue: Pallant House Gallery – Room 11 upstairs.
• Price: £2 (to go towards equipment, promotion, events), inc. Free entry to PHG
• Light drinks/refreshments available.
• LIVE MUSIC, experimental electro-jazz-fusion soundscape by Tudor and Jim
• Note: Pecahkucha will feature regularly in Ch-Art events and YOU will have the opportunity to present your work too. Please email tiffany.robinson@btinternet.com if you’d like to take part, and if you’d like support in putting together and presenting your work.
• Park Tavern: move on for casual drink and chat 8pm – late, the pub next to Priory Park.

Thursday March 8th 6-8pm.

• Follow up 1-1 Surgeries:
• 6.00pm – Surgeries on the subjects of ‘What makes a good artists’ website?’, ‘Photographing your work’ and ‘Statement/CV writing’ – Bring your own issues, questions or examples relating to these 3 topics to discuss with Tudor, Maria or Tim.
• plus, to be confirmed – from 7.00, a tour of the Vaughn exhibition upstairs.
• Venue: Room 11 upstairs
• Drinks/refreshments
• LIVE MUSIC, experimental electro-jazz-fusion soundscape by Tudor and Jim.
• Venue: Room 11 upstairs.
• Park Tavern: move on for casual drink and chat, 8pm – late, the pub next to Priory Park.

Thursday April 12th  6-8pm

• PechaKucha Night Chichester – a lively event that brings together creative people from different artforms and media to share their ideas and inspirations. For the second Pecha Kucha Night Chichester, 8 more artists (perhaps incuding you?) will be doing speedy presentations about their work, their studios, what inspires them, work-in-progress, how they work, funny anecdotes etc. Each will each present in under 7 minutes.
• PechaKucha – Deriving its name from the Japanese term for the sound of ‘chit chat’, PechaKucha Night, devised and shared by Klein Dytham architecture, consists of a series of presentations where each participant shows 20 images for 20 seconds.

Saturday April 21st  6-8pm – DETAILS, DATES AND TIMES TO BE CONFIRMED.

• MATT ROBERTS OPEN FORUM EVENT –  Following five years of producing international touring exhibitions and providing artists’ professional development support Matt Roberts Arts is partnering with Unity Arts Trust and Ch-Art on Saturday 21st April 2012 (tbc) to provide a lecture entitled “How to Apply to Prizes and Awards”. The evening lecture will reflect on Matt Roberts’ five years of running the Salon Art Prize, Salon Video Prize and Salon Photo Prize, how to make the best possible application and what mistakes to avoid (www.mattroberts.org.uk).  The event will be ticketed, details to follow.

Unity Arts Trust has a mission. It wants to build a dynamic and thriving community of artists and craftspeople in Chichester, whose creativity, skill and ambition reach out into the wider community providing pleasure and inspiration – to learn and to practice.

In a recessionary climate we believe that Art and Craft can provide something more than the personal satisfaction the practitioner obtains or its financial worth. We believe:

• Creativity can enhance the way we experience the world by presenting new and exciting interpretations of reality.
• Art can encourage debate, inviting us to question what we see and whether our interpretation is valid. In this way we may be moved to explore the nature of the world that we, as individuals, experience.
• Above all, art and craft can bring joy and pleasure into our lives, and the Trust is keen to do all it can to broadcast its enthusiasms.

Unity Arts Trust and its artists resident in Unity Studios are already beginning to channel their creativity to the Chichester community through a variety of projects and ‘open days’. We hope you will share our vision. Come and join us. 

“create, inspire, educate”

Workshops, Artists in Schools and community.

• Mentoring Scheme: UAT is running 2 ‘community art’ projects any one time, run by 6 artists and overseen by 2 mentors, Rachel Johnston and Mandie Saw.
  This will be supplemented by 1½ days of professional development to be provided by Inroads, Continuing Professional Development Consultants for Creative Partnerships, Sussex and Surrey.
• Shadowing Scheme: UAT is currently partnering with West Sussex County Council’s Arts Service. Creative Partnerships, Sussex and Surrey. Westergate Community School, Specialists in Visual and Performing Arts to pilot a free ‘shadowing scheme’ whereby 5 emerging artists/craftspeople will each ‘shadow’ a more established artist educator for three half-days as they undertake Enquiry Projects at schools involved in the West Sussex Creative Partnerships programme, observing a creative practitioner at work with a school group. This will be supplemented by 1½ days of professional development to be provided by Inroads, Continuing Professional Development Consultants for Creative Partnerships, Sussex and Surrey.

Unity Studio Artists are also independently engaged with community activities in the following ways, often supported by the mentoring schemes run by UAT:

• Sophie Adams – part time Project Assistant  working for ‘Flying Books’ http://flyingbooks.net/ , a ‘shared sketchbook’ community project connected to ‘The Big Draw’. http://www.campaignfordrawing.org/home/index.aspx
• Jayne Sandys-Renton – having set up and run the Chichester Art School for Young People for 3 years http://www.jstudio.co.uk/chichester-art-school-for-young-people/ , and numerous other freelance teaching roles in schools and for the West Sussex ‘very able pupil scheme’, Jayne is now teaching A-level Art as a part-time tutor at Southdowns College, Waterlooville, Hants.
• Laurence Elliott – Laurence Elliott has planned & designed various drawing & painting workshops, as well as delivering a stencil/poster workshop at 2010’s I AM JOY festival which had participants aged from 6 to their sixties.  In 2006 he was the artist in residence for ‘Studio Project 6’ at Glasgow’s Market gallery, on Duke Street. There was much discussion with the public, in particular with drugged drunk youth gangs (NonEducatedDelinquents).

OPEN STUDIOS: Enabling members of the public to engage with artists, visit artists’ studios and learn about their practices.

Future Open Studio weekends planned on 7/8 and 14/15 May 2011.

Previous Open Studios:

• 30/31 October and 6/7 & 13 November 2010, 10am – 5pm, coinciding with the National Open Art Exhibition http://www.thenationalopenartcompetition.com/ at the Minerva Theatre. Chichester.
• 7/8 and 15/16 May 2010 – coinciding with Chichester Open Studio Art Trail. http://www.chichesterarttrail.org/.

EXHIBITIONS:

• July 2010 – Exhibition by 9 studio artists at the Oxmarket Centre of Arts, attended by 670 people. Artists present 100% of the time to answer questions and talk to visitors.

THE FUTURE: Intended community-access facilities at Graylingwell in 2014 (approx) – to be confirmed:

• Large flexible ‘education space’, a perfect place for you or your group to experience new art activities, particularly those that are messy and require lots of space
• Workshops for print & 3D equipment; an ideal place to learn new skills on the sort of equipment that’s hard to find elsewhere.
• Mural wall outside – a great place for young people to express themselves publicly, and to develop their art skills and passions in an informal environment.
• Gallery - UAT’s aim for the gallery would be that it be ‘curated’, a place for professional artists from the region to present works to enhance their careers, as well as presenting exhibitions and outcomes from artist-in-residence schemes with a strong educational element.

We are seeking benefactors keen to commit to supporting UAT’s aims:

• to provide mentoring and training aimed at enabling artists and craftspeople at the beginning of their careers to develop their skills and channel back their creativity to the local community, i.e. through educational work with the young and disadvantaged. 
• to ensure access to training and/or facilities by offering bursaries to artists and craftspeople who are themselves in need, or on low incomes.

Become a Friend of Unity Arts Trust (£50+) or a Founder Member (£500 – £1000). If you would like to hear more or to pledge support, please email Tim at info@unityartstrust.org uk or call 01243-530179. All donations, large and small, appreciated! Use our online donate button now!

SUPPORT FOR ARTISTS & CRAFTSPEOPLE:

Community Education Mentoring schemes:

Home-grown pilot MENTORING SCHEME – at any one time, 2 mentors, 2 projects, 6  artists. Through informal teaching each ‘community education’ mentor will take the lead in guiding a group of 3 selected artists/craftspeople, working together as a team, as they deliver one successful community art/craft education project. Over the course of the project the Mentor will nurture the skills and confidence of these artists/craftspeople to the extent that subsequently they will be able to continue providing education to the community in art/craft, unaided, as professionals.

• Community Education Mentor -  Mandie Saw has been working as a community artist and practicing artist for the last 20 years, predominantly with vulnerable and disabled adults, but also with all sectors of the community from young able and severally disabled children, ex offenders and users, elderly and also primary schools. Her personnal creativity is fundamental to who she is, and she is passionate about sharing this with all members of the comminity, using art as a catalyst to enable healing. She has undertaken community arts projects for Creative Landscapes, Creative Response, Creative Futures, Light Box, Pallant House Gallery, Metal Monkeys, and many more. Along side this she has set up Artscape in Petersfield,  and run drop in workshops at many other venues and for the general public. http://www.mandiesaw.org/
• Community Education Mentor – Rachel Johnston has worked with a wide range of individuals and community groups in different settings in London and the South East over the last 16 years, and is familiar with the challenges of finding work as an artist and all the practical considerations of working in the community. She believes passionately in the importance of socially inclusive art, in widening access and offering participation in cultural events to socially excluded groups. Rachel is a part-time tutor at the University of Chichester where she has begun to develop an extensive programme of external projects and opportunities for students. This has encompassed working in schools, healthcare environments and other community organisations. The projects have given students an invaluable opportunity to gain vocational experience of working to commission as well as broadening the context of their studio practice. http://www.chi.ac.uk/fineart/RachelJohnston.cfm

SHADOWING SCHEME – UAT is currently partnering with West Sussex County Council’s Arts Service. Creative Partnerships, Sussex and Surrey. Westergate Community School, Specialists in Visual and Performing Arts to pilot a free ‘shadowing scheme’ whereby 5 emerging artists/craftspeople will each ‘shadow’ a more established artist educator for three half-days as they undertake Enquiry Projects at schools involved in the West Sussex Creative Partnerships programme, observing a creative practitioner at work with a school group. This will be supplemented by 1½ days of professional development to be provided by Inroads, Continuing Professional Development Consultants for Creative Partnerships, Sussex and Surrey.

Professional Mentoring schemes  … tba

• Professional mentors, inc. developing career plans.– tba
• Professional Development Training – tba

EVENTS for Artists & Craftspepople.

• Professional network: PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY and UNITY ARTS TRUST are collaborating and hosting regular events for Artists and Craftspeople, art students and recent arts graduates, on regular Thursday evenings at Pallant House Gallery. The first meeting on Thursday 9th December 2010 was a chance for the 100 or so people who attended to meet and chat, but more specifically discuss what this event should be for! There were all sorts of suggestions, ranging from simple networking and talks to formal debates and critical feedback sessions about each others work. The organisers will be feeding back the results at the next event  in February 2011. Contact UAT for more information.
• Crits and Talks … tba

Unity Studios – Pilot project  – 11 studio spaces.

Selection Criteria for studio space:

• ‘Art/Craft Research/Practice,
• Skill and/or innovation, ambition, aspiration to excellence and to national/international standards of art and/or craftsmanship,
• demonstration of commitment to artistic development and helping to provide public benefit,
• ‘need’.
• Note: There is no waiting list, applications are judged on merit.

Intended facilities for Artists & Craftspeople at Graylingwell in 2014 (approx):

 ‘studio space for artists’ @ 1500 sq meters.

• 40% space (600 sq meters) for established artists in large market-rent studios around large open courtyard, with shop windows, good for potential sales
• 60% space (900 sq meters) for emerging artists working in shared ‘incubator’ studio spaces. 
• Large flexible ‘education space’, ideal for teaching messy activities. 
• Workshops for print & 3D equipment, available to rent on timed basis, and to teach classes.
• Mural wall outside, ideal for engaging youth groups.
• Gallery. UAT’s aim for the gallery would be that it be ‘curated’, a place for professional artists from the region to present work, as well as presenting exhibitions and outcomes from artist-in-residence schemes. There would be a strong educational element.