Platform Arts in Visual Artists Ireland and Front Cover
Belfast Platform for the Arts made the front cover of the January / February edition of VAI with a full one page story inside. Read the full article here.
Belfast Platform For The Arts LTD was officially registered as a company in 2009, however we have been working together for the past two years as Platform Arts. The learning curve from idea to realisation in forming our studio group and gallery into a company was a steep one.
The term ‘studio group’ does not do justice to what we do and our achievements. There are thirteen full time resident artists with Platform Arts and over eighty exhibiting artists to date not to mention education programmes and workshops in the first six months.
Platform started as a small venture established by graduates of the University of Ulster’s Masters of Fine Art Degree, but grew due to the demand from other artists seeking studio space.
Original members David Turner and Chris McCambridge found studio space impossible to come by and were faced with waiting lists and a severe lack of available studios in Belfast.
What quickly became apparent was the extraordinary amount of vacant space above retail units in the city centre. In our minds the space was not being used and should be rentable at a very reasonable rate. However, as many artists will have experienced landlords are usually far from reasonable and often quiet reluctant to deal with artists. The lack of understanding to what an art practice involves and what a studio group entails, proving the key factor in this hesitance.
Eventually we found two small rooms on 11 Lombard Street above shop units. These two rooms were no larger that 12-foot square but they where dry and warm with high ceilings and large Georgian windows that streamed in light. A year passed very quickly and Fiona Goggin and Rachael Campbell Palmer; also MFA graduates, got involved and we were now a collective. We soon had to come to grips with a quarterly rent, rates, electricity, and insurance. For four graduates this proved challenging but it was a pivotal step in the establishment of Platform Arts as it stands today.
We soon found ourselves inundated with inquiries about studio space as other young artists found themselves in the same position we had a year previous. We found ourselves in the position of offering advice to graduates on how to acquire a place of work. It was this duty of advocacy to fellow graduates that made us realise the importance of studio groups and support networks. It was this realisation that gave Platform Arts its core objectives and framework to work within.
What happened next was a mixture of pure luck, the recession, guts and the steep learning curve. Rent increases in Lombard Street and the lack of space to expand gave us the motivation to move premises.
The recession had just begun to show its severity and at the same time vacant rates in Belfast city centre had risen from zero to half rates. This was to force landlords to fill up vacant buildings and suddenly the artist collective became a lucrative proposition.
One afternoon an estate agent rang, who I had been talking to a year earlier. He had made a note of when our lease was up and wondered if we had resigned or were we looking for a new space. I agreed we would look at a space on 1 Queen Street, Belfast. It was two floors totalling 7000 square feet over a Pound Stretcher. The first floor was split into 14 large rooms and the top floor was a single opened plan space over 3000 square feet. It was a natural gallery with lots of light and lots of space.
After much discussion and fraught negotiation we managed to agree the building for a very low rate over a number of years. The landlord was to provide the building to us as ‘sponsorship in kind’ in return that the rates, upkeep and insurance be taken care of. We soon realised that rates would be very expensive and the only option open to us was to form a ‘not for profit limited company with charitable status.’ Such status gives protection to the individuals running an organisation. Charitable status covers the building rates and allows for greater opportunities to organise and run art based events in Belfast. We had no idea how to do this or what we needed to make it happen.
After taking advice we formed ourselves into a committee, Amberlea Trainor, Francesca Biondi and Gareth Martin joined three of the original members (David Turner, Chris McCambridge and Fiona Goggin). NICVA was recruited to write our memorandum and articles of association and started working towards forming the company and securing the building.
The Company was established in May 2009. Our primary aims are to actively promote the creation, presentation and access to contemporary art practice through Studio, Exhibition, Education and Outreach programmes.
Platform Arts is committed to
• Providing affordable, high quality studio spaces to artists
• Showcasing the work of emerging contemporary artists – local, national and international
• Developing more opportunities for artists and arts professionals at the beginning of their careers.
• Establishing a site recognised as an arena for emerging practice
• Forming a creative hub that plays a role within an extended network of like-minded organisations across Ireland and the UK
• Widening access to contemporary art and to harnessing art as a vehicle for further education and learning.
Our studios were quickly filled and our waiting list is ever growing. Our thirteen artists moved in at the start of May: Kenny Mathieson, Fiona Ni Mhaolir, Catherine Roberts, Rachael Campbell Palmer, Chris McCambridge, Miguel Martin, Ann Quail, Mairead Dunne, Gareth Martin, Stephen Dorethy, Fiona Goggin, David Turner and Jenny Keane ; with a wide and diverse range of practices.
It was never in our original plans to run a gallery space but due to the inherent qualities of light, space and structure in our top floor we felt it would be a wasted opportunity not to make a go of things. We had experience in organising arts events but never a gallery space so our learning continued. We looked to the example of similar organisations in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland and England for inspiration and direction. What we found was not necessarily a new ideal but one that seemed to encompass all our original aspirations: the artist led space. Platform deals with each artist and each show on an individual basis and tries to accommodate and promote the artists in their development to the best of our ability.
Our maiden show was in June 2009. It was the end of year presentation by the MFA students of the University of Ulster and proved to be a poignant reminder of why we decided to set up Platform, and also of how far we had all come since our graduation. It was also the foundations of a close relationship between Platform and the MFA.
Since then we have been proud to host: Platform Audio (an experimental sound installation by John Mahon and Andria Poiarkoff), ‘Singing in the Round’ (experimental vocal workshop with Caroline Pugh and Rachel Austin), ‘East meets West Via Belfast’ ( A performance event by BBeyond involving internationally acclaimed artist from Burma, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan, Germany and Ireland both north and south.), ‘Platform One’ (our first annual members show), Workshops with Alastair MacLennan (involving the participation and presentation of over ten artists) and Platform Futures (our first annual graduate show). We have also set up a graduate residency, begun taking students and young artists on work experience, and started planning our educational programmes and out reach.
Platform Arts has also been given our second building. This exciting venture is the old RUC building on Queen Street. This historic building home to the RUC for over fifty years and a fever hospital before that, will be the focal point of an on going curatorial endeavour of live art, performance, installation and much more for 2010 onwards.
The lynch pin to our organisation are the members – those involved who offer their time, their talents, their enthusiasm and their ongoing support. Our vision is clear, an artist run space, a hive of productivity and the show casing of contemporary art practices, and with the momentum increasing every day it seems more and more attainable.
We are currently accepting proposals for our 2010 programming of Platform and our Station projects. Please contact platformarts@live.co.uk for further details.
We would like to thank everyone who continues to support Platform Arts and look forward to seeing you all in 2010.
Belfast Platform For The Arts LTD was officially registered as a company in 2009, however we have been working together for the past two years as Platform Arts. The learning curve from idea to realisation in forming our studio group and gallery into a company was a steep one.
The term ‘studio group’ does not do justice to what we do and our achievements. There are thirteen full time resident artists with Platform Arts and over eighty exhibiting artists to date not to mention education programmes and workshops in the first six months.
Platform started as a small venture established by graduates of the University of Ulster’s Masters of Fine Art Degree, but grew due to the demand from other artists seeking studio space.
Original members David Turner and Chris McCambridge found studio space impossible to come by and were faced with waiting lists and a severe lack of available studios in Belfast.
What quickly became apparent was the extraordinary amount of vacant space above retail units in the city centre. In our minds the space was not being used and should be rentable at a very reasonable rate. However, as many artists will have experienced landlords are usually far from reasonable and often quiet reluctant to deal with artists. The lack of understanding to what an art practice involves and what a studio group entails, proving the key factor in this hesitance.
Eventually we found two small rooms on 11 Lombard Street above shop units. These two rooms were no larger that 12-foot square but they where dry and warm with high ceilings and large Georgian windows that streamed in light. A year passed very quickly and Fiona Goggin and Rachael Campbell Palmer; also MFA graduates, got involved and we were now a collective. We soon had to come to grips with a quarterly rent, rates, electricity, and insurance. For four graduates this proved challenging but it was a pivotal step in the establishment of Platform Arts as it stands today.
We soon found ourselves inundated with inquiries about studio space as other young artists found themselves in the same position we had a year previous. We found ourselves in the position of offering advice to graduates on how to acquire a place of work. It was this duty of advocacy to fellow graduates that made us realise the importance of studio groups and support networks. It was this realisation that gave Platform Arts its core objectives and framework to work within.
What happened next was a mixture of pure luck, the recession, guts and the steep learning curve. Rent increases in Lombard Street and the lack of space to expand gave us the motivation to move premises.
The recession had just begun to show its severity and at the same time vacant rates in Belfast city centre had risen from zero to half rates. This was to force landlords to fill up vacant buildings and suddenly the artist collective became a lucrative proposition.
One afternoon an estate agent rang, who I had been talking to a year earlier. He had made a note of when our lease was up and wondered if we had resigned or were we looking for a new space. I agreed we would look at a space on 1 Queen Street, Belfast. It was two floors totalling 7000 square feet over a Pound Stretcher. The first floor was split into 14 large rooms and the top floor was a single opened plan space over 3000 square feet. It was a natural gallery with lots of light and lots of space.
After much discussion and fraught negotiation we managed to agree the building for a very low rate over a number of years. The landlord was to provide the building to us as ‘sponsorship in kind’ in return that the rates, upkeep and insurance be taken care of. We soon realised that rates would be very expensive and the only option open to us was to form a ‘not for profit limited company with charitable status.’ Such status gives protection to the individuals running an organisation. Charitable status covers the building rates and allows for greater opportunities to organise and run art based events in Belfast. We had no idea how to do this or what we needed to make it happen.
After taking advice we formed ourselves into a committee, Amberlea Trainor, Francesca Biondi and Gareth Martin joined three of the original members (David Turner, Chris McCambridge and Fiona Goggin). NICVA was recruited to write our memorandum and articles of association and started working towards forming the company and securing the building.
The Company was established in May 2009. Our primary aims are to actively promote the creation, presentation and access to contemporary art practice through Studio, Exhibition, Education and Outreach programmes.
Platform Arts is committed to
• Providing affordable, high quality studio spaces to artists
• Showcasing the work of emerging contemporary artists – local, national and international
• Developing more opportunities for artists and arts professionals at the beginning of their careers.
• Establishing a site recognised as an arena for emerging practice
• Forming a creative hub that plays a role within an extended network of like-minded organisations across Ireland and the UK
• Widening access to contemporary art and to harnessing art as a vehicle for further education and learning.
Our studios were quickly filled and our waiting list is ever growing. Our thirteen artists moved in at the start of May: Kenny Mathieson, Fiona Ni Mhaolir, Catherine Roberts, Rachael Campbell Palmer, Chris McCambridge, Miguel Martin, Ann Quail, Mairead Dunne, Gareth Martin, Stephen Dorethy, Fiona Goggin, David Turner and Jenny Keane ; with a wide and diverse range of practices.
It was never in our original plans to run a gallery space but due to the inherent qualities of light, space and structure in our top floor we felt it would be a wasted opportunity not to make a go of things. We had experience in organising arts events but never a gallery space so our learning continued. We looked to the example of similar organisations in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland and England for inspiration and direction. What we found was not necessarily a new ideal but one that seemed to encompass all our original aspirations: the artist led space. Platform deals with each artist and each show on an individual basis and tries to accommodate and promote the artists in their development to the best of our ability.
Our maiden show was in June 2009. It was the end of year presentation by the MFA students of the University of Ulster and proved to be a poignant reminder of why we decided to set up Platform, and also of how far we had all come since our graduation. It was also the foundations of a close relationship between Platform and the MFA.
Since then we have been proud to host: Platform Audio (an experimental sound installation by John Mahon and Andria Poiarkoff), ‘Singing in the Round’ (experimental vocal workshop with Caroline Pugh and Rachel Austin), ‘East meets West Via Belfast’ ( A performance event by BBeyond involving internationally acclaimed artist from Burma, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan, Germany and Ireland both north and south.), ‘Platform One’ (our first annual members show), Workshops with Alastair MacLennan (involving the participation and presentation of over ten artists) and Platform Futures (our first annual graduate show). We have also set up a graduate residency, begun taking students and young artists on work experience, and started planning our educational programmes and out reach.
Platform Arts has also been given our second building. This exciting venture is the old RUC building on Queen Street. This historic building home to the RUC for over fifty years and a fever hospital before that, will be the focal point of an on going curatorial endeavour of live art, performance, installation and much more for 2010 onwards.
The lynch pin to our organisation are the members – those involved who offer their time, their talents, their enthusiasm and their ongoing support. Our vision is clear, an artist run space, a hive of productivity and the show casing of contemporary art practices, and with the momentum increasing every day it seems more and more attainable.
We are currently accepting proposals for our 2010 programming of Platform and our Station projects. Please contact platformarts@live.co.uk for further details.
We would like to thank everyone who continues to support Platform Arts and look forward to seeing you all in 2010.