Artist studios in Hobart

Well there is as easier way - sign up to Salamanca Arts Centre and get a studio there. But maybe that's a bit like Artschool? I think the reality is that it is always difficult to find good studio space wherever you are in the world. It has always been thus. There is a lot to be said for a collective of like-minded, space poor, money poor aritists coming together to find a suitable large space and divying up rent but to keep costs low this generally means one or two acting as manager/rent collector/ loo cleaner allbeit in a beautifully soft , non aggro and ineffective way. Which can in itself lead to all sorts of problems. The answer? Lobby the local government to provide an arts administrator who can facilitate appropriate artist agreements, provide constructive advice and guide artists through this notoriously difficult area. Then lobby the federal govt for a tax free status for practicing artists...

In the meantime, keep looking, keep letting others know when things come up, get together and see what can be done with four or five others. Or build a shed.

The problem with SAC is not necassarily the reformation of a community (re: the comment about it being a bit 'Artschool'), as a matter of fact that kind of community is precisely what I currently miss from my time as a member of a studio collective and would like to re-capture. SAC is a great local resource that solves the problem for some but the combination of the buildings heritage listing (and the restrictions that listing entails) in tandem with a lack of ground floor working spaces for big works means that it is impossible for many artists to do what they need to do within that space.

Some artists by the very nature of what they do make a lot of noise and mess; some artists need dust-free, lockable space to protect valuable equipment; some artists need to figure in extreme control of light and/or noise; some need to set things on fire; some need a businesslike office in which to strike deals with potential sponsers; some need a space to embroider delicate fabrics; some need somewhere to process film in their own urine and lordy, lordy some just need to be free to splash a bit of paint around!

This may seem like a long, even infinite, shopping list but there are currently buildings all over Hobart that remain empty (in anticipation of commercial tenants or awaiting future development) sometimes for a year at a time and they often contain every kind of space from office to concrete garage.

The commercial rents are so high that even a banded group of art-brothers and sisters can't afford to split the cost. Not unless the space is divided up into the equivalent of one shoebox each to allow for more shares in the tenancy. I know. I 've been searching in tandem with a variety of potential collective members on and off for the past three years but am still working out of my spare bedroom. God help the Christmas visitors...

I agree lobbying is very important and if YOU recognise how important this issue is please lobby at every level you can - government, council and the local business community - for someone to help us find a solution, be it a dedicated, funded adminstrator, a commercial rent subsidy, tax free status for artists or another initiative.

Some colleagues and I have been developing a discussion paper that grew from our individual responses to Paula Wreidt's 'An Island Inspired' paper (look it up on the Arts Tas website if you are in the dark) on this very issue.

Sounds like a great idea - I'd like to hear more about the discussion paper.

Will people have the opportunity to contribute comments, if so when? Who are you thinking of sending it to? What, realistically, might we hope to achieve?

...for leading you astray.

Arts Tas have a new website and the only info on Paula's paper seems to be grant funds tied to it's outcomes.

My bad.

Hello – we are the colleagues drafting this paper (Fiona Lee, Bec Stevens and Sally Rees)

We have banded together to stimulate discussion about an artist run studio initiative and how best to achieve an outcome.

To date we have individually written submissions to Paula Wreidt’s Island Inspired Discussion Paper, which we subsequently redrafted into a brief outline titled Hobart Artists Studio Discussion Paper. In this paper we outline the need for such an initiative, give examples of successful models in other states and overseas and make recommendations. It is important to note that it is a wholly organic document now in its fifth draft that we are constantly redeveloping for presentation to different bodies/stakeholders. To date we have had preliminary discussions with ABAF and the Hobart City Council and presented this paper to them.

You can download a copy of this paper in its current state (76kb PDF) at http://www.snipurl.com/studios.

We would be happy for likeminded artists interested in pursuing this issue to feel free to use this document as a lobbying tool or to contribute ideas or models for inclusion here on the STOCK website.

Bec, Mary, Philip – can we use STOCK to compile a list of interested parties?

Hi Sally, Fiona and Bec

Why not submit the paper as an article with a call for comments and support from interested parties added? There was a studio complex set up in Canberra (ANCA) some years ago now - initially funded by local government but now, I believe, successfully as a co-op. Maybe a good model to look at.

As suggested the discussion paper is now a bona fide article.

The Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA) site was useful. Supported by the ACT Government, this initiative houses a series of studios in two locations (at very reasonable rates) and a gallery. Sounds similar to what we need...

Australian National Capital Artists Inc (ANCA) is a dynamic cooperative
of visual artists established as a result of a bold and unique
collaboration between the ACT government and representatives of
Canberra's art community. ANCA's aim is to foster artistic growth by
providing individual artists with low cost studio space in a supportive
and stimulating environment.

The artist group 10% Pending was set up this year with the intention of finding a space for a gallery/studio but so far we haven't had much luck. As a group, we too put in a submission to 'An Island Inspired' re. this issue and we're looking forward to a response. A number of us put in individual submissions as well, so hopefully the message will get through.
The artist Jackie McNamee who came out on a residency from the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop had some good suggestions on how to set up a studio with minimum costs. This mostly involves approaching smaller bodies such as local councils or businesses rather than the state government simply because it's easier to get your voice heard. Like Sally, she suggested that we hunt for an empty building, approach the owner (hopefully the council) and suggest that 'rent' be paid by the owner under the heading: 'arts funding'. This is apparently how the ESW came about. However it's hard work.
If anyone finds an abondoned building and wants help getting hold of it, there are six of us in 10% Pending who would be really keen to be involved! 10pending@gmail.com
It's interesting that this topic is the first thread on this site; perhaps this is a lobbying tool in itself?

Hey all, the problem that you'll find is, by either bluffery or ignorance, most council/officialdom think that this whole studio issue is entirely solved by the existence of SAC. Having earnestly attempted that particular option, until my rent was raised an additional 30% on top of an already steep rate - because the space was valued by a commercial real estate auditor, who deemed that the location location location was really more than some messy artist should be able to afford. Not to mention that there are more than say, 12 artists in Tasmania..(amongst many, many, many other issues of note. sigh.)

Fortunately we lucked in at Six a. The rent is....manageable at the moment, the landlord open minded.I honestly think the only way to convince those in high places of this lack of existant resources for artists is possibly to expose the places that promote themselves fraudulently as being artist resources, and allow the actual state of being to be observed for what it is.I am willing to stir the bubbling cauldron of mischievious truths...Hey how important are we? Check out the following article links 'The Artistic Dividend...'  and 'Art, Gentrification & Regeneration...'. For an article about the same issue in the US click here or failing all that - let's secede! 

Actually I was looking for the paper that descibes the development of the ARI in Melbourne and it's (along with the molto-importante artist studio network) rejuvenation of the CBD from crumbling wasteland to cultural mecca.Couldn't find it. Anyway, I think it's a council issue. We bring life, people. Sad that everyone should underestimate our importance - I'm not willing to join them.

The SAC option has been mentioned in nearly every conversation that we have with officialdom - along with "Have you tried ABaF". (Yes we have - with little response)

Bec Stevens, Sally Rees and I are off to meet with the Lord Mayor for coffee on Tuesday - taking with us a list of artists that have registered interest. My guess from feedback so far is that we need to find the building and they 'may' facilitate - but we'll wait to see what our Rob says. The thing is it needs to be dirt cheap - heavily subsidized
Will keep you posted

I completely agree that public bodies should recognise the need for studios and provide some form of assistance to allow these kinds of spaces to develop.... but.... we all know that these public institutions are rife with butt covering behaviour which doesn't really support untested ideas or ventures.... someone who is able to say yes to money wants to know that the funds will be suitably acquitted, so that they don't lose their job and neither does the next person up the line, and so on..... boring but true....

so it seems to me that the thing to do is be a bit more lateral about the problem.... if these bodies need evidence of success... then create the success... negotiate for a years lease of a building, for lower rent than usual... then make it work...perhaps improve the condition of the building..... then take your success to those public bodies and ask for help.... cynically speaking, it makes a much better story in the papers if it says "council saves artists from eviction" with pictures of said artists looking either doleful or happy, depending on the state of affairs..... yes....?

and if you can't negotiate a lower rent, think of the ways that you might supplement the rent payable by artists...put a business plan together that identifies maximum payable rent by artists, and the likely shortfall.... other designers/architects who have much more potential to earn money/pay rent are also always on the look out for good space...I could name at least four off the top of my head... and it is infinitely good for business to be part of some building full of creative buzz......

so yes.... lobby lobby lobby...... but also.... do do do.... take action.... find another way to skin the cat, so to speak......

Good comments and all taken on board.

We have a groundswell of about 30 artists so far that have expressed
an interest in studio spaces and, more importantly, the concept of them
being located in some sort of communal site. Equally important is the
fact that rents would have to be very very low in order for the
facility to be of any help to this section of the arts community.

Your suggestion of designers and architects (who have more capacity
to derive income from their practice) as tennants could be useful - but
ultimately I guess the success of the studios (in order to generate the
type of creative vigor for funding purposes) will depend on the model
used to secure tenancies.

As suggested earlier Sally Rees, Bec Stevens and I met with the Lord
Mayor and staff to discuss the issue and surprisingly, a positive
response was the result. The key suggestions were that, if this
initiative were to go ahead, it should be a joint affair that would
include the government and non-govenrnment sector, businesses and
other interested parties. It was also suggested that a formal working
body be formed to lobby these key agencies on behalf of the artists.

that is where we are at now.

Feedback from this site has been valuable as it continues to give us
an idea of where others in the arts community sit - thanks for that

J_A_A's comments about public servants expecting anyone to be able to account for spending public money as some sort of outrage or only doing it because they don't want to lose their job is just so annoying I have to comment, sorry.
Yes governments of all persuasions could definitley do better in supporting artists on the ground for the very reason I believe, that art in all it's forms, has intrinsic value to the individual and to society as a whole, above and beyond the economic. At the same time, public money, especially in the arts, is so scarce, that no matter how valuable a thing is, spending our (in which i mean tasmanian taxpayers' money) has to be justified, seen as equitable, have real outcomes and be properly acquited by those who ask and receive $. Remember its PUBLIC MONEY, not money a mate is lending you and you can pay it back when you can.
If dealing with bureaocracy is so difficult, then 1. Don't expect them to solve the problem and decide to work outside of that scenario to achieve your aims or 2. Decide you do want to get them involved and don't slagg them off but actually find out what the reality is and avenues or opportunities there are with Government that will strike a cord with the real decision makers up the ladder. Show success and pitch it at the right time, to the right people in the right way and you may win sometimes...and sometime you still won't, but that's life.
(And yes i have been a public servant, who has worked in the arts and culture in Australia and I have been an arts practitioner).