Two Key Arts Providers for the City - Trinity Community Arts & Artspace Lifespace - have launched a petition Save Space & Arts West Side, located at 6 West Street. They are urging Bristol City Council to keep it as a space for community arts, Old Market.
The groups joining together and asking people to add their signature to the online petition to keep the building open for community use. If the petition receive 3,500 signatures, the Council have to discuss the decision at a full cabinet meeting.
The two groups recently applied to the Council to keep Arts West Side for community arts use, but the Council have decided to let the premises commercially; which they estimate will generate £15,000 rental value. While this will be a drop in the ocean of an estimated £60m budget deficit forecast for 2019/2020, this decision will have a huge impact on the grass-roots community art work taking place along the once troubled high street.
Emma Harvey, Centre Manager for Trinity said; “We’re surprised by this decision, given the lack of commercial value of the premises; also how it seems to conflict with the city’s vision of Bristol as an inclusive city of culture. We opened Arts West Side to support regeneration of the area. At a time when communities in Bristol are concerned that they are being left behind as other parts of the city prospers, it is sadly ironic that the Council themselves are acting as an agent of gentrification.”
Historically, there have been negative perceptions of the Old Market area. The area also has a diverse and complex identity, including a thriving night time economy and an established LGBT scene.
Trinity have been running the 6 West Street - known as ‘Arts West Side’ - since August 2011 through Bristol City Council’s Community Asset Transfer Policy, also known as ‘CAT’. The policy seeks to make publicly owned spaces across the city available for community use.
Trinity are also tenants of another well-known Bristol landmark - The Trinity Centre, a thriving community arts centre and live music venue, based in a converted former church at the top of Old Market high-street - also owned by Bristol City Council.
Emma continued; “Trinity and Artspace Lifespace have launched this petition in the hope that we can keep SPACE & Arts West Side. Together, we want to make sure that everyone in Bristol has an opportunity to shape arts and culture in our city.”
Artspace Lifespace - the community interest company behind ‘The Island’, based in the Old Bridewell Police Station - have been running a series of public and community arts activities and events at Arts West Side, under the title ‘SPACE’.
Standing for ‘sound, performance, art, community, engagement’, since April 2016 they have hosted public events, art shows, artist residencies, community meetings, as well as providing opportunities for volunteers.
Dina Ntziora, Project Manager for SPACE said; “Our work transforms neighbourhoods and also brings something fresh and diverse to commercial centres. Making SPACE accessible to a wide variety of creative influences helps to enrich and develop the multi-cultural identity of this diverse community. We’re really disappointed the Council do not wish us to continue this important work.”
Talking about the joint-venture, Dina explained; “The opportunity to work in partnership with Trinity Community Arts has been an invaluable experience for us as an organisation and has been a perfect example of how two Key Art Providers in the city can come together and work in partnership to develop a new project.”
A programme of events is already scheduled until the end of September, as part of PRIDE Festival, Open Doors Day as well as the ‘Doing Things Differently’ Festival about diversity and equality in the arts organised by Bristol City Council and Diverse City UK. The City’s art team were themselves unaware of the decision to change use and also took part in the recent selection panel to award Trinity a further five-year lease, alongside representatives from neighbourhoods and properties.
Paul Bradburn, Chair of the Old Market Community Association said; “Old Market has long suffered from a lack of community facilities and so when I was asked to support Trinity's proposal for the future of the building I was most happy to do so. As the chairman of the OMCA and as a local resident, I would implore the Council to consider their duty to the community and offer the lease to Trinity and the Island.”
The OMCA’s Neighbourhood Plan was recently adopted at a Full Council Meeting in March this year. Among other measures, the plan details a need for 'better local facilities to contribute to a balanced and independent economy' and that they will ‘seek to protect existing community facilities such as Trinity Arts...and encourage new facilities to service the needs of a diverse community’.
It goes on to explain the need for ‘creation of community facilities’, to balance the growing shift towards a night-time economy and unaffordable private housing emerging in the area.
The groups have until 31 July to show that the community are behind them and to continue with the current programme.
The petition is currently hosted on Change.org however if you do not wish to use this platform, you can add your signature to the Council's e-petition by clicking here. Please only add your signature to one platform.
Images courtesy of Sidz Photography
Bristol City Council are also asking people to inform a new Vacant Buildings Plan; complete their online survey, here.
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The partnership between Artspace Lifespace and Trinity Community Arts to maintain and promote Arts West Side & SPACE as an affordable, accessible community arts space began in April 2016. Standing for ‘sound, performance, art, community, engagement’, SPACE has hosted public events, art shows, artist residencies, community meetings, pop-up shops, as well as providing opportunities for volunteers.
John continued; “It feels like it’s part of the fabric of the Bristol music scene...It’s also the the work you do, the community work, which is amazing.”