Glasgow Art District

[murdomac]

Ross thanks for that piece from the ET about the creation of a £7,000,000 arts hub in King Street off the Trongate.

With the nearby Briggait well on its way to becoming a centre for artists and the long established WASPS studios in East Campbell Street off the Gallowgate there really is a critical mass developing.

While the studio space is great for the artists what we really need is a quantumleap in the traditional gallery space in the area.

The Third Step on Trongate has been opened a year now and it really adds a new dimension to the area. Run by artist/entrepreneur John Mullan it is supported by Peter Howson and has some striking limited edition Howson prints on vivid display including the inimitable Madonna.

But there should be more.

Round in Watson Street there is talk of a creative businesses complex being made out of a delightful Victorian red sandstone warehouse. Trouble is the Council's cleansing department are still in dogged occupation.

However there are a number of new developments either under construction or being planned. The Council have an official strategy titled, as only councils can, "Housing the Visual Arts in the Merchant City".

If the Council and some of the developers could get together and between them provide some ground floor commercial units on busy thoruoghfares at cheap rents to art gallery operators then arguably all would win out as such an area would increase the desirability of it for would be flat buyers and other commercial users be it shop or office.

This would be on High Street, Trongate, and the ends of London Road and Gallowgate nearest Glasgow Cross.

There would be no reason why the existing wallpaper and 3 piece suite type shops would not welcome this and benefit by it.

Thus could be born the Glasgow Arts District, complementing the Merchant City but not compromising it.

A greater mixture of people in terms of age, income and interests would be drawn to the area enhancing the viability of the existing small shops and counter balancing some of the negativity brought about by the cheap fag sellers in the Barras at a weekend.

In due course people might talk enthusiasticly about having a flat in or working in The Arts District.

Visitors and the growing (slow but steady) tourist trade would make a point walking round these streets.

And Glasgow could get a huge boost to its image both nationally and internatonally just by having an area known as the Glasgow Arts District.

[resistme]

It would be good to create Glasgow's Montmarte artist's quarter in Glasgow. Given the Art School, and the quality of some glaswegian artists we can have a thriving area. Who knows how long it'll be before we have artists on the street doing cheap portraits! lol

Seriously, though as Glasgow becomes more and more a tourist attraction, we need more tourist attractions to see and do. I still think Glasgow lacks behind Edinburgh and even Manchester and Birmingham on that front.

Manchester has the very successful Granada Studios tour, and Birmingham has the Sea Life Centre, the canal district and the yummy Cadbury's World chocolate factory tour.... wondering whether Glasgow will ever get a Sea World or Sea Life Centre, and even a studios tour, or improved theme park... why not make a Harry Potter theme park outside Glasgow - instant success, me thinks! .... opps I'm getting carried away ...

[crusty_bint]

Theres always the tours of the Irn Bru factory or the Wellpark Brewery (where Tennents is fae )

[maccoinnich]

Could be wonderful. Portland, Oregon, where I spent last summer, has a very similar area. The Pearl District is a former industrial/warehouse district immediately adjacent to the city centre. Over the last 20 years it's undergone a bit of a renaissance, as artists moved in, initially due to cheap rents. Now it's immensely popular, with many private art galleries, interesting shops, and lots of new residential buildings. Rents are no longer cheap, but there are still many artists working in the area. Other things that make the area include the Portland Streetcar passing through, and Powells City of Books - the worlds largest new and used bookstore. So long as you avoid creating an 'arts ghetto' (think the South Bank centre in London) it could be very very successful.

Glasgow would be well suited to this as it does have many artists based there. Even The Guardian has written about the vibrancy of the Glasgow art scene, saying it's only city other than London where an artist can hope to be based in and gain success.

[teapot]

Sounds like the ultimate gentrification.

[murdomac]

Gentrification is good is it not?

It is not like local people are being priced out. Most local people wil be pleased that their property values should go up. And if they are renting they will probably be short term or transient. Besides rentals have not moved that much in recent times.

Mind you there should be a place for housing associations especially if they sponsor the "shared ownership" option.

[teapot]

Bring it on, I like art myself and have bought some pieces from time to time (the other half decides). Not sure about Howson though, he seems to thrive on a darker meaner side of human nature. Could just see him doing something showing New Orleans looters.

Portland sounds interesting maccoinnich. I was in Seattle but never made it down.

Portland is slighly smaller than Glasgow, is it not, therefore we should be able to sustain a defined and focused cultural quarter as well.

[escotregen]

murdomac I really agree with you on the vibes that a critical mass is just maybe developing around this quarter. The news of the Council's £7million initiative is very welcome and you have pointed out what else is going on around the immediate area. I have been involved in activities in the Tron theatre over the past 14 months and even in that time I have been struck by the 'real' activity going on a t street level on a typical Saturday. An attratcive aspect is the authentic jumble of activities - everything from a comics fanatics' shop, to a tatootist and the bookshops and art galleries... and of course the theatre itself.

One of the other elements that makes me optimistic about this quarter is the significant trends in its wider hinterland. For example, The regeneration of the Gorbals is now maturing and this in itself has generated an adjacent population with high levels of discretionary spend. Another consequence of the regeneration is that the Gorbals population is a better balanced one and more likely to generate and sustain interests and particpation in a whole range of cultural activities. The St Andrews Square and the area south and east to it is slowly developing... albeit not to everyones taste (i.e. mine )

I also think that for the residents of many of the riverside developments, the Kings Street quarter may become a more accessible (and less pretentious and over priced?) destination than the West End for cultural activities.

All-in-all with a bit of finger-crossing we are maybe seeing something of great impact unfolding.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by teapot

Portland sounds interesting maccoinnich. I was in Seattle but never made it down.

Portland is slighly smaller than Glasgow, is it not, therefore we should be able to sustain a defined and focused cultural quarter as well.

It's kind of like Seattle, but without a big needle and people throwing fish at each other. It really is a very nice city, with a good combination of American looking buildings and a grid pattern, but the European quality of a compact, walkable city centre and excellent public transport. Unlike other American cities, they've invested in building a tram network and a public transportation 'mall' in the city centre, rather than vast freeways. The city is littered with lots of independent cinemas, a range of independent and chain shops and cool cafes. Sadly, couldn't try out the bars though...

For some reason, hardly anyone has heard of it though. It really should be better known. Wonderful city.

In terms of population, it's slightly smaller than Glasgow, and has a metropolitan area population of 1.7 million. Basically, anything they can do, Glasgow can do.

[resistme]

Could also attain the markets and art shops of vancouver's granville island: the markets are full of home made jewelry, and full of organised street theatre!

[The Boy David]

Granville Island is a great little part of Vancouver, but its totally not Glasgow, lol.

That sort of idea just wouldn’t work over here - look at our type of Market: The Barras'..............

A bit different, I'm sure you'll agree. The setting of Granville also makes it to be honest, and Glasgow just can't compete in that area.



Portland. I was also in Seattle just a couple of months ago, wanted to head down to Portland for a bit but didn’t have the time. Looks like a fantastically liveable city though - very clean and friendly. I was under the impression that Portland was a considerable amount smaller than Glasgow though (remember the American's idea of a "Metro" area is vastly larger than ours..). Certainly in terms of importance Glasgow surely comes out trumps I'm sure, although I pressume that it's port must deal wth substantial amounts of imports and exports to and from the Far East.

I was reading about it for quite a while the other day - it sounds like a rather European style city - solid public transport, clean, pedestrian friendly areas, and as you say quite a lot of theatres and public arts venues to admire the local West Coast talent

But yeah looked like a great city - shame I won’t be back in that neck of the woods for a wee while...

Good to see someone else who is quite well acquainted with some of the more bearable places the U S of A has to offer

[teapot]

Granville Market in Vancouver and Pike Market in Seattle are to the Barras what Arsenal and Chelsea are to Dundee FC.

However the Barras could still improve its game substantially over what it has become and have some sort of pride again ( a bit like Dundee FC ).

[maccoinnich]

Were the vibrancy of the Glasgow Art scence in doubt:

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/52042.html

Glasgow artist is Turner Prize winner

DAMIEN HENDERSON
December 06 2005

SIMON Starling, the winner of this year's Turner Prize and famed for turning sheds into boats and ore into platinum prints, said last night he was "a bit flabbergasted" at receiving the award.

One of two Glasgow-based artists on the four-strong shortlist, Starling said he had received unprecedented recognition as well as critical acclaim since his work was displayed at the Tate Britain gallery in London.

Among the feedback was "a fantastic little poem from an elderly woman in St Albans about sheds", he said. "That's the thing about the Turner Prize – you have 80,000 people looking at your work. People engage with it and enjoy it, and that's special."

The prize has traditionally courted controversy and has previously been awarded to Chris Ofili – known for using elephant dung in his art – Damien Hirst, and Grayson Perry, the transvestite potter.

Despite the offbeat nature of his work, Starling denied being an eccentric, insisting it is "serious business" whose concerns include slowing down the accelerated world of global capitalism. He said: "I don't like to be thought of as eccentric because that's not what my work is about. It's a serious business on many levels."

Starling explained that Shedboatshed, for which he dismantled a shed, turned it into a boat, sailed it down a river and turned it back into a shed, was a work about anti-globalisation.

He said: "It's a bit of mobile architecture. It's an attempt to make an artwork, which is very ergonomic and easy on the environment. It's a very simple idea.

"I went on a little expedition up the Rhine to find a structure I could use for a project and I found this shed. It had a paddle on the side so it was just an incredible piece of luck. It's about slowing things down, about trying to retard this incredible speed at which we live."

He also revealed plans for his next major project – throwing a replica Henry Moore sculpture into Lake Ontario.

The artist explained: "Zebra mussels have been introduced into the lake and they are taking over and transforming the ecosystem. There is a Henry Moore sculpture in Toronto called Warrior With A Shield so I thought it would be nice to throw it into the lake, leave it for six months, grow lots of mussels on it, then hang it in a gallery."

Curators at the Tate say Starling's work "counters the illusory nature of globalisation and capitalist exchange".

Starling, 38, had been the bookies' favourite to win the prize, which was announced at a ceremony at Tate Britain by David Lammy, the culture minister. He received a cheque for £25,000 and the other three shortlisted artists received £5000 from sponsors Gordon's Gin.

Patricia Ferguson, the Scottish culture minister, welcomed the award. She said: "The fact that not only one Scottish artist has won, but that two were shortlisted, is a reflection of the vibrant nature of Scotland's artistic community and shows that Scottish artists are at the forefront of arts innovation in the UK."

The other to emerge from the Glasgow School of Art is Jim Lambie, a DJ who decorated a floor with psychedelic designs. Since graduating from the environmental art department in 1994, Lambie has won widespread appeal and proved popular with visitors to this year's Turner exhibition.

Gillian Carnegie was also nominated for her series of "bum paintings", alongside Darren Almond, whose work included a video installation of his widowed grandmother reminiscing about her honeymoon in Blackpool.

[M_Riaz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4629324.stm

Curtain raised on arts shake-up

Scotland's culture minister has raised the curtain on a £20m-a-year drive to revitalise the arts industry.
Plans announced by Patricia Ferguson will see the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen merge into a new body called Creative Scotland.


A new agency called Creative Scotland will tap into new potential


Curtain rises on a new arts era

FUNDING boost of £20m a year, the end of the Scottish Arts Council and a system of public "cultural entitlements" are at the heart of the biggest shake-up in Scotland's cultural policy since devolution.
After two years of speeches, research and reports, Patricia Ferguson, culture minister, revealed a series of measures at Holyrood yesterday.
Scotland's national companies – Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the National Theatre of Scotland – will receive extra funds, and be removed from an "arm's length" status. They will also be given funding direct from the Scottish Executive.
In a move greeted cautiously, the SAC, Scotland's main arts funder, will merge with Scottish Screen, the Glasgow-based film and TV agency, to form Creative Scotland.
New legislation will require local authorities to develop "cultural entitlements" for the public, such as free access to live performances or access to local cultural heritage.
A "one stop" cultural ticketing operation is to be established and a system of honouring individual artists is to be launched later this year.
Ms Ferguson was responding to the report of the Cultural Commission, which gave 124 recommendations for cultural policy last year.
However, the Cultural Commission called for an extra £100m a year from the executive to fill a funding gap, rather than the £20m announced yesterday.
Ms Ferguson said: "Today marks the start, not the end, of a new journey towards achieving our ambitious aspirations for Scotland's cultural life.
"Scottish ministers are now determined to continue that journey to reach a Scotland which values and celebrates its culture and its experience of culture."
The Herald understands much of the £20m will increase the funds of the national companies – including attending to some of their deficits.
The money will also boost the budget of Creative Scotland – meaning small and medium-scale arts companies, as well as individual artists, could gain access to more funding.
Creative Scotland, which will technically still be a quango, will also handle the National Lottery funds currently held by the SAC and Scottish Screen.
Ms Ferguson said she did not consider the SAC to have "failed" in its role. However, she said: "Too often, the success of talented performers and Scotland's creative community is more the result of good luck rather than good planning – serendipity rather than support."
James Boyle, the former head of BBC Radio 4 and ex-chairman of the SAC who headed the commission, last night said he was "astonished" that so many of his recommendations had been backed.
Mr Boyle added: "Despite that £20m is not £100m, I cannot remember a day that has been better for the arts in a long time.
"This is a start, there's still a long way to go, but I am happy because I feel the hand of the first minister is in this, and that is good, because we need a champion for the arts in this country.
"Doing this was a tough gig but it's been a good result although I have my reservations about Creative Scotland: I have no idea how that is going to work."
Richard Holloway, chairman of the SAC, said: "Ms Ferguson has produced a very positive piece of work.
"The future looks exciting for us. In a sense, it is a relief the national companies have been taken from us, as 90% of our work is not concerned with them and they dominate the coverage."
Ministers have also pledged to consider how policy can contribute to the executive's cultural agenda and schools will place a greater emphasis on cultural education.
Scotland's local museums and galleries will be eligible for increased funding and more money will be available to promote the improvement of public libraries.

New measures
The Scottish Executive's response to the Cultural Commission.
An extra £20m a year for culture from April 2007 onwards, bringing spending up to £234m in 2007-8.
The merging of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen into a new body, Creative Scotland.
New legislation to allow local authorities to set down a series of "cultural entitlements".
Extra funding for the National companies: Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the National Theatre of Scotland.
The National companies to be directly funded by the Scottish Executive, rather than through Creative Scotland, seeing the end of the "arms length" principle for these companies.
The establishment of a National Box Office – a "one-stop-shop" for culture and sport ticketing.
A new scheme – possibly an "academy" model – to honour individual artists.

[murdomac]

Thanks M Riaz for posting tonight's Evening Times Stories about the Briggait Centre and King Street North over on the Glasgow Latest thread.

We might get an Arts District yet!

[M_Riaz]

I was looking for this thread earlier Murdomac but must have overseen it thanks for bringing it to the fore front.

Yes the Art District is a great incentive for the Merchant city and Trongate area, it is well overdue and not enough is being to promote the Arts in the city as we have a multitude of talent in this city that constantly strives to promote their work internationaly, hopefuly this will be a step in the right direction.

[M_Riaz]

The Briggait Plans for an Art quarter.

The subjects comprise the “A” Listed, former Fishmarket, located between Clyde Street and Bridgegate, and extend to 4,588 square metres (49,000 square feet), as shown on the enclosed
plan. The accommodation is spread over three ground floor halls with first floor accommodation on the Bridgegate frontage and within the main hall at 72 Clyde Street. The subjects were partially refurbished in the early 1980s by the Briggait Company Ltd as a retail centre, but the project failed and the management responsibility for the subjects returned to the Council in 1995
on relinquishment of the lease. Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GSS) currently occupy the subjects on the basis of a monthly tenancy.

Wasps is the association that will take over this space.

The Briggait, Glasgow

In partnership with Glasgow City Council, the Wasps Trust has embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to house 11 arts organisations in Glasgow 's Merchant City . One of the largest scale projects in the history of the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery, the Trust plans to develop Glasgow 's much loved Grade A listed, 100,000 sq.ft. building, The Briggait, into a £5million world-class arts production and events facility for Wasps Studios and the Glasgow Sculpture Studios.
Glasgow City Council plan to redevelop the King Street ‘North Block' which currently houses many arts organisations, including Wasps Studios. The redevelopment will see an improved and expanded range of spaces for artists to work in, combined with better public access. Arts organisations to be housed in the refurbished building are Glasgow Print Studio, Street Level, Transmission Gallery, Sharmanka, G-Mac, Project Ability, Independent Studios, Journeymen and the Russian Cultural Centre. Wasps Studios will relocate to the Briggait.
Award winning architects Nicol Russell Studios have recently been appointed to redesign the Briggait.
The project represents Glasgow City Council's ‘Housing the Visual Arts in the Merchant City' Strategy which aims to develop the Merchant City into a new cultural quarter, regenerate the area and support thousands of artists in years to come. The Scottish Arts Council has awarded the Wasps Trust £105,000 to develop proposals for the project. If the proposals are accepted, the Scottish Arts Council will award the Wasps Trust a further £1.37 million towards the project. Glasgow City Council has also earmarked £1.25 million to the briggait project.
If all funding applications are successful, we expect to be on site in late 2006 and complete the redevelopment of the Briggait in 2008.

[M_Riaz]

I'm really happy the facade will be will be rebuilt, it was well overdue for many years now


£1.7m boost for bid to turn Briggait into artists' village



THE BRIGGAIT as it looks now, but the facade will be rebuilt and the inside turned into artists' studios

[loose canon]

this is a topic my brother and I talk about quite alot for a city to have so many well known artists to have studied in why has it got a second rate attitude towards art.
The glasgow boys (colourists) well known through out the world but only get a small corner in kelvingrove
The G.O.M.A what a mish mash wast of space as if lets shove some modern art in this nice old building.
The centre of cotempary arts enough said
An arts district would be the best thing this city could do for its art heritage for all kinds and levels price wise brought to the one area
William simpson another great glasgow artist his prints shoved in the provans lordship get the origianals on display show the visitors of this city how live really was. so much wasted potential

[M_Riaz]

SH

Scots fish market to rival Tate Modern art space


A LOTTERY grant is set to transform a rundown former Scottish fish market into an arts space on par with London's Tate Modern.

A £750,000 Heritage Lottery Fund award announced earlier this month will be used to refurbish The Briggait in Glasgow's city centre to create a mixed-use visual arts space, including an exhibition hall, which it is claimed will become "the Turbine Hall of the north". Once refurbished, one of the building's three 19th-century market halls will be on a scale to rival the Tate's world-famous exhibition space.

The fish market and 17th-century merchants' steeple will be restored and adapted to house studio and exhibition space for 250 artists and provide more than 150 creative industry jobs. The 71 affordable studios and purpose-built sculpture workshop will cater for emerging and established artists from Scotland and abroad.

WASPS