Gaby Lee Talk

 Gaby Lee:

• Works for the councils art sector
• Barnsley Museums
• 5 sights including the Cooper Gallery and Experience Barnsley

The arts in Barnsley is quite active and funded by the local art council

How do they work with artists?

• The council commission artists from all over the country
• We need to let the council know if we do work within Barnsley
• Creative recovery 
• Being an artist is a difficult thing 
• Audience is important (involve them within your work)
• But the Barnsley don't require that you involve the audience. 
• Arts council funding is important 
• The UK wants everyone involved within the arts (creative and cultural)
• Relevance to local area
• The arts council wants artists to be interactive with their audience and local community 
• People want to be active within the arts, rather than passive

Jake Attray

• Installation piece based on an artist studio where anyone could come in and ass their drawings (York Art Gallery)

The Yellow Caravan 

• Make exhibitions which are based around specific areas of the country
• Interactive with the community

Nick Elwood

• Made illustrations which children had to go round and search for

Commission for us:

• Just to make work based on objects from the collection, research around it and then make work based on it. It's a way for them to get to know us. 

Question Time:

Can we get support from the councils when approaching other organisations?

• We would have to write a proposal first
• Get in contact with the appropriate people
• Gaby (Working with Barnsley Museums specifically)
• Creative Recovery

Is there a central space where artists can post events, see what's going on?

• Not really, other than fusion but they work more with children

What should we do after university?

• Have a website
• Get business advice when setting up a small business
• Keep an eye on the art council page
• Artist news letter
• Art Jobs and Art News
• Art rabbit
• Axisweb - Contemporary art and artists
• Funding - The national lottery heritage fund
• How to make work from home? This is something hat we need to start thinking about 
• Use art to work out own issues due to Covid 19
• Keep an open mind
• Artist in residence (Barnsley College)
• Studio spaces behind the Cooper Gallery
• The arthouse in Wakefield
• The arts council do offer funding to individual artists (hard to get as a fresh graduate)
• Attend events where possible even if online and apply to competitions 
• There are charities that gain funding from the arts council (it tends to be project based)