Friday 11 September 2015 / 10.00-12.00 at BALTIC 39
This event is programmed in collaboration with artist led initiative The Newbridge Project as part of the programme, Do we need to grow up?, which examines ‘artists ecosystems’ across a 2-Day Conversation and accompanying exhibition.
BALTIC 39 Common Room will host a discussion which considers the role of universities and larger galleries in the ecology of artist-led communities and workspace. BALTIC 39 is home to BALTIC’s Project Space in addition to 33 artists’ studios and Northumbria University’s post-graduate community. This setting presents a unique opportunity to unpick the relationships between artists’ education and research, workspaces and public programme. The conversation will feature contributions from colleagues at Northumbria University, Newcastle University, and BALTIC and will be chaired by John Tomaney, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at University College London.
Questions to prompt discussion:
- How do institutions interact and engage with the artist communities/studios where they are based?
- What role can institutions play in these communities and how can this be achieved?
- What is the potential for partnership, collaborative, consortium working between institutions and artist-led initiatives and how can this support the transfer and sharing of knowledge?
- What is the institution’s role in creating more national/international opportunities for artists locally and how this can be shared?
- What role can these relationships play in the development of the creative economy in the region?
- What is the role of academic research in artist ecologies? How do we translate academic research into broader civic terms/for artistic benefit?
- How can institutions and artist led initiatives work together towards improving/maintaining graduate retention?
- What role can institutions play in providing transitional support post-study, e.g ‘incubator’ models for artists CPD, critical dialogue and peer learning?
- How does the arts community engage with ideas about the future of the city and what kind of city we want to live in? How can we articulate those questions?
- More broadly how do ‘citizens’ do that, and to what extent could arts/culture be part of that debate?