B R I G H T O N & H O V E A R T I S T S ' M E E T I N G S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8

What do you need to make more and better work in & ?

O V E R V I E W

Two different groups of people met at ACCA and The Basement for conversations hosted by Louise Blackwell (independent arts producer), Richard Freeman (Director of always possible) and Peter Chivers (Director of Our Future City). The events were free to attend and 169 people signed up to the Eventbrite page. 94 people attended across the two sessions. The people in the room came from across Brighton & Hove and from Lewes, Shoreham and Worthing. The was a range of practitioners in the room including: writers, arts tutors, directors, visual artists, dance artists, installation artists, set and costume designers, puppeteers, technicians, researchers, architects, producers, composers, musicians and theatre makers. They represented a snapshot of the independent arts sector in Brighton & Hove.

These notes represent the needs expressed and ideas shared by the people who attended the meetings. The themes discussed included: Being Radical and New Behaviours, Networks, Money, Space, Training and Learning, Audience Development and Marketing.

always possible L O U I S E B L A C K W E L L powering brilliant decisions N E T W O R K S

N E E D S A N D C O N C E R N S

New collaborations: proactive radical collaborators – opportunity to collaborate cross sector e.g science how to find others to collaborate innovative collaborations – collaborators from different disciplines

Connecting: an easy way of connecting with venues - mailing list, database – hub for theatre makers – UK theatre producers forum – to know who else is out there – regular get togethers – disability, diversity, untypical, marginalised, inclusivity – share the contacts of this event with us all – a local theatre makers consortium – links to touring networks – form an association, create a collective voice – more meetings like this – spaces for meeting – disconnect between arts institutions and DIY/grass roots – regular artist meetings – a way to communicate – networking opportunities – meet musicians, producers, sound engineers and arrangers for recording music demos – mailing list, database – support for those who work from home – joined up thinking, communication within community

Critical responses: someone or somewhere to review our work when it happens – critical friends – – outside eye feedback

Sharing knowledge: skills swap, workshops – peer to peer artist support – producer support – sharing – community – sharing information and expertise with each other – international exchanges – to fill the space between open mics and established artists

Sharing resources: tapping into well resourced venues – hireable film resources – van hire – graphic designers – printers – carpenters – accommodation – an opportunity to swop physical resources

Sharing work: opportunities to share work in progress – more performance spaces – lack of open calls judged on idea alone – go and see each other’s work – cross artform sharing – opportunities to showcase new work – a hothouse for radical work – commissioning and bookings A C T I O N S A L R E A D Y T A K E N

● A regular meet up on the first Monday of every month with the first one happening from 7pm at the Al Campo lounge on London Road on 5 March 2018

● Grace from Stumbletrip Theatre has created a Facebook Group for Brighton & Hove artists (BAHA). She says: Anyone can join and add others. It's a platform for promotion, socialising etc!

● Independent producers Ruth Dudman, Faith Dodkins and Abby Butcher are interested in creating an independent festival/scratch night for Brighton and South East artists outside the May Festival

● RAPT Theatre is a new company interested in creating connections between artists and researchers. Lisa Peck would love to hear from anyone interested in creating links.

● Louise Blackwell is creating a list of contacts (with photos) of people who were at the meeting and are happy to share their details

T H I N G S T H A T A L R E A D Y E X I S T

● City Council Cultural Framework Website:

● What Next? Brighton & Hove chapter meeting Tues 27th March at 9am contact Louise Blackwell or Marina Norris [email protected] [email protected]

● Xavier De Sousa and Sally Rose’s Producer Gathering

● House Network resources

● South East Dance’s The Other Yellow Pages

● The Brighton Chamber of Commerce Creative Hub

● www.brightonactors.co.uk/producers/

● Sustained Theatre up North supporting BAME artists N E W I D E A S

● City wide scheme to have cheap tickets for artists

● There used to be a regular meeting at Brighton Dome – can it start happening again?

● Set up a Meet Up group ‘Creative Arts Brighton’

● An online resource where people with different skills can find out about each other

● Create a clash diary of events in the City

● Brighton Funemployed – an online networking resource

● Create a Brighton Performance Network

● Worthing Facebook group called ‘Worthing artistic’ is very successful

● Connect with organisations like Arts Admin

● Create a digital space with pictures of people, job titles and work/skills

● A format for artists to review each other’s work

● Create a South East mailing list like SCUDD

● A showcase event for promoters T R A I N I N G A N D L E A R N I N G

N E E D S A N D C O N C E R N S

Young people: arts subjects being removed from schools – opportunities for young people – educating and involving young people in the arts – relationship of traditional education institutions as a space for artists – STEAM not just STEM – helping dance survive in schools – STEM/EBACC impact

Support for artists: locally provided training and professional development – post university training – business training – more cultural apprenticeships – skills swop workshops – more training opportunities in the arts – mentoring – training for makers – helping dance survive in schools – more support for emerging independent companies – encouragement and ongoing support for emerging artists – lifelong learning – intergenerational – health and wellbeing – talent development – creativity – next generation of artists – collating what is happening – young directors learning and development programme

T H I N G S T H A T A L R E A D Y E X I S T N E W I D E A S

● Devonshire Collective ● Become a school governor

● Independent Dance Management Network ● Turn Jubilee Library into an ● The Producer Farm: educational performance centre

● Clod Ensemble’s free artist development ● All club together to pay for training programme Reboot ● Taster workshops – for all ages, not ● Academy just formal learning ● In Good Company artists development in Derby

● Cities of Learning RSA

● Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme B E I N G R A D I C A L + N E W B E H A V I O U R S

N E E D S A N D C O N C E R N S

Alternative support structures: a hub, a union, a collective – use collective skills to get things done – create a force to be reckoned with – form a collaborative effort (with legal help?) – create a proposal with objectives and offer it to councils, venues, funders etc – a Theatre Bristol model for Brighton? – let’s burn down existing venues and start again; what do we want the cultural landscape to look like? – disseminating across art forms – cross discipline support

Visibility: make what is radical in Brighton visible – things that don’t just happen in May - celebrate Refugee Week, Black History Month and Diwali

Audiences: who are we speaking to and does it matter to them?

Creative residencies: artists in residence in interesting ways – supported play time with no conditions – outdoor spaces curation

Other: we need really good ideas – warning to the city; artists will leave – if I take work to a building, why am I the worst paid person in the building?

T H I N G S T H A T A L R E A D Y E X I S T N E W I D E A

Code of conduct for artistic directors of ● The Bevy - cooperative pub buildings; they should call us back. ● The Rose Hill - music and performance venue Some good ideas from Kieran Hurley

● Hisbe alternative supermarket here

● Your Place by Brighton People's Theatre M O N E Y

N E E D S A N D C O N C E R N S T H I N G S T H A T A L R E A D Y E X I S T Research: Research aspects of funding for independents – Arts Council England audit: how much money goes to Set Exchange: Freecycle for artists and how much to companies who are not actually theatre, TV, film and event based in Brighton – understand council values production.

Types of funds needed: more opportunities of funds to make in Brighton opportunities for artists/performers of all ages (not just youth) – more commissioning money – talk to Arts Council England about issues surrounding funding in Brighton – some money; just a bit – more opportunities for seed projects – more funding for Brighton artists and projects – financial support outside of Arts Council England – development pots for testing new ideas - support for people of colour to develop applications for over £15k – how can there be long term investment in artists of colour in Brighton & Hove?

Visibility/lobbying: raise visibility of the identity of Brighton independent artists to Arts Council England – venues – local union around lobbying for local funding – making the case for Brighton

Information sharing: information and resources accessible to emerging artists – austerity reality check for artists and venues – information about who is on the Arts Council grant decision making panels; is it transparent – working collaboratively

Training: fundraising support – training on how to apply for arts council funding – workshops for total fundraising beginners like arts admin does in London

N E W I D E A S

● Community crowdfunding ● Look at Heritage Lottery Funding model which has ● Match funding pot via crowdfunding regularly supported projects by and with artists of ● Model of barter/exchange, with colour for the last 10 years. Could there be funding policy of no money exchanged to support someone to support artists of colour to ● Event/invite to ACE to talk to us as group make their own ACE applications? S P A C E : L E T ' S C I T Y I T U P

N E E D S A N D C O N C E R N S

Spaces to make work: accessible, cheap rehearsal space - space can have different meanings: space to wrote, space to think, space to discuss, space to hang out – messy space with 24 hour access – venue for workspace – pop up reclaimed buildings – vibrant, future proofed makers space and hub – making space for set and props – testing space – technical/rigged space just for making work – affordable rehearsal space - identity, creative process – creation spaces – access to vacant shop fronts – hot desks – reclaiming council building for creative work and administrative spaces – can we access spaces in Churchill Square?

Spaces to perform work: performance spaces free and accessible to all – biophilic space for healthy creativity – a space for new things – producing venues – accessible venues

Art form specific needs: venue/space for new writing – an independent cinema – a space where families and children are welcome – a great big multi-disciplinary arts centre, a children’s theatre in Brighton like Polka finding a home – VR and binaural sound making space Other: lack of alternative theatre scene – university = emerging artists – artists access to programming – raw Brighton heritage – what’s happening to 88 London Road? – There’s more beyond Brighton – we are part of a wider cultural corridor

T H I N G S T H A T A L R E A D Y E X I S T

● Brighton Dome opening a new creative space in 2019 as part of the redevelopment

● South East Dance and The Dance Space in the meeting a SED team member said that they are aiming to make the Dance Space (opening in 2020) like the Battersea Arts Centre of Brighton where any artform that uses choreography in the widest sense is welcome in the space.

● King Alfred redevelopment in Hove although it doesn’t make it clear in this link, there are plans to include creative spaces and a performance space in the redevelopment according to the Starr Trust. ● St Augustine's Brighton

● Greater Brighton Metropolitan College

● Brighton Youth Centre

● Copperdollar Studios

● The Basement Currently in residence at The Basement is Our Future City which is using the space for young people to programme, curate and develop new projects.

● The Rialto Theatre up and coming space, in house producing. Get in touch with Delphine Du Barry for more information

● The Spire

● ACCA is run by Laura McDermott and her email is [email protected] and she is pleased ACCA could host one of our meetings and is open to being contacted by local artists

● Artswork they bridge together the work of arts and cultural organisations, schools and communities.

● Brighton University's Community 21 case studies and tool kits

● Transported's Pop Up Shops Handbook

● Hunt & Darton's Tool kit for working on the High Street

N E W I D E A S

● Work with schools; they have space. How to connect artists and schools?

● Use underused spaces; churches, open market, pop up spaces for performance

● Use collective voice to have conversations about new space

● NPOs to offer more access to space

● Look at subsidised models

● Create a network of existing spaces on offer A U D I E N C E D E V E L O P M E N T + M A R K E T I N G

N E E D S A N D C O N C E R N S

New audiences: Is there actually a testing audience? – audience development for contemporary audiences – thinking long terms rather than project by project – developing networks and partnerships to present work that can be sustainable without funding – use crowdfunding to create audiences – sell more tickets – audiences for new ideas – audience for contemporary performance

Training: How do we find and reach an audience? – workshops sessions on arts marketing – there is an expectation from venues that artists have the skills and resources to market their own work

Access: more inclusion for vulnerable people – take work to audiences – placing work where audiences might be – consulting with young people

A C T I O N S A L R E A D Y T A K E N

Run Riot in Brighton - Nick Tigg and Marisa Carnesky have been in touch with Jamie Maclaren who runs Run Riot in London to see if it might be possible to set up a Brighton version. Jamie said: This all sounds really interesting and perfect timing. Really interested in having a conversation about this. I’m working on a development plan at the moment. I need a month or two to pull it together. That said - it’d be good to fire over some questions to you to get an idea of what you’d like from something like Run Riot in Brighton. They are planning to meet at the end of March.

Radio Reverb - Megan Clifton presents a weekly live radio show on for music/arts/community events called The Brighton Guide, it comes with an accompanying listings blog post and anyone can email her events at: [email protected]

N E W I D E A Set up an artist meeting session with marketing specialists to share knowledge and ideas about how to reach an audience.