first site gallery, colchester
in November the amazing Stuart Tulloch came and gave a presentation about Gallery and art organisations in the uk. his talk was fascinating and I will summarise some of the major point made
gallery structures.
Stuart explained that there is a multi teared network of galleries in the UK, as his slides show there are the big national galleries like The Tate, V&A, British museum, National gallery and that many of these big galleries have network or off shoots across the county. the national gallery has several regional galleries like Liverpool, other nationals like Wales and Scotland and also Genra specific like The National Portrait gallery. Other organisations like the Tate has The Plus Tate Network with more regional Galleries like in St Ives or Liverpool. Across the country there are many more Regional galleries like those listed in the slide below. One of these Regional Galleries is First Site Gallery in Colchester.
Gallery funding and Structures
One of the major funders of Arts in the UK is the National Lottery and Arts council finding and also funding from local councils and bodies like the NHS.
Tourism is a very important for the big national galleries but for the Regional Group it is about local authorities, the council and local NHS support.
Stuart explained that due to climate change galleries are looking closer to home for exhibitions and events. Also as they are funded by local councils their events are directly linked to the local community . Oh course the big galleries will still show huge world class international exhibitions and all galleries strongly support ethnic diversity, but more and more the regionals are looking at art in their own areas. reflecting their own communities.
Stuart explained that many galleries hold their own collections, the biggies in London have some of the best in the world. First Site doesn’t have its own collection
ETHICS OF ART FUNDING
Britains Colonial past has lead to many of the establishment national galleries holding art from all over the world. some would say much of this art was stolen from other counties. There is big controversies about many museums past associations with DIRTY MONEY, from modern day billionaire capitalists (philanthropists?) to old Slave trade Money. Some of the big Galleries are having to return works to their rightful owners and many are taking down statues celebrating slave traders and Britain tyrannical colonialist past.
Dirty money is a problem and the ethics of arts funding is hitting the news.. Recently The National Portrait Gallery become the first major art institution to give up a grant from the controversial Sackler Family, whose US pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma LP makes the highly-addictive opioid prescription painkiller OxyContin.
it is a major blow to the Sackler family’s status as leading philanthropists. the campaign against them is being led by the photographer Nan Goldin whos work has portrayed first hand the nightmare of opiate addiction and the devastation pharmaceuticals like OyxContin is having across the world. leading members of the Sackler family facing a growing number of lawsuits over their alleged role in the deadly US opiate crisis and finally national museums are realising they cannot be associated with these drug dealing tyrants. Jess Worth, the co-director of campaigning organisation Culture Unstained, said: “The gallery’s decision to reject a donation from those that profited from the opioid crisis is a powerful acknowledgment that some sources of funding cross a red line.”
During the Pandemic Many galleries have had to restructure and rethink their position in our society. not only is Tourism, at home and internationally massively effected but other big protest movements like Black Lives Matter is having a direct effect of how galleries operate.
There is huge money in art and as a result there is a flourishing number of commercial galleries across the country.
Art is big business, and there is are commercial gallerys for every genre across the country. these are owned by private stakeholders and investors. Private galleries will often have their own Roster of Artists that they support and who’s work they sell.. Cork street in the West End of London is a gallery hotspot. If you go to the annual Photo London exhibit you will see hundreds of galleries from around the world supporting and selling the work of many incredible artists.
Art is no longer lead by academics it has become commodity and investment. the big auction houses in London sell works of art at astronomical prices. Some artist are global super stars, thier work will sell for millions.
MUSEUM OF THE YEAR
First site was built 10 years ago by the architect Raphiel Grenoble. it is a spectacular building. First Site won the museum of the year !!! by the art fund. its a very prestigious award and galleries like the V&A and Science Museum have won it before.
Stuart believes that their success is a recognition of how they are working more locally. recent exhibit include work with refugees and local community groups.
refugee action was a recent event where they asked refugees to choose a piece of Art which represents thier journeys in the UK. Another Exhibit called ‘Super Black” celebrated being black in Essex.
Stuart also believes that another reason for thier success has been their response to the pandemic. due to lockdown we went online and and started several community based interactive projects. Jamaican food and a ‘Art is where the home is’ were really successful and had good online response
lots of online work and interactive community projects, some of the posters are shown below.
WORKING IN GALLERIES
Stuart talked about career opportunities in the sector. From Curators to Administrators there are many opportunities. as with most of the creative industries a way in is through volunteering, (sadly often prohibitive to low income individuals who actually have to earn Money to survive). there are also academic courses like MA in curating at Norwich school of art.
I also asked Stuart the biog question. If I was going to be an artist how would I go about trying to get an exhibition in a gallery?!
He explained that First site doesn’t actually do many Artist specific exhibitions and I know that you need to be well established to be considered by most galleries. but he did suggest doing some local group exhibitions and also not be afraid to send in a proposal. he asked a good question which was that I should be clear as to why and what I wanted to exhibit. it sound simple.
Thinking personally and around the funding provided to gallery by then NHS I think if I was going to ask for an exhibition it would be about mental health and its purpose would be to encourage honest discussion around how people live and deal with mental health. I would be very interested in setting up some Photo therapy exhibitions where I could show my photo therapy work around addiction and ADHD and encourage the views to participate as well. looking ar how creativity is often a stabilising force and path to well being.
I found the talk really interesting and Stuart was so so dynamic and inspiring. It has defiantly made me want to get more involved with my local galleries.
ELIZA FUTURE 