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Art in the Arches
08th June 2005
Councillor Adrian Vinson, Leader of Southampton City Council today launched the 'Art in the Arches' project; a ground breaking initiative, funded by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), to encourage and support the development of the creative industries in Southampton.
The Arches, situated under Central Bridge in Terminus Road, provides much needed studio and exhibition space for some of Southampton's young up and coming artists. It consists of two areas of studio space, housing 17 artists with a range of specialist disciplines from painting and sculpture, through to IT based creative forms such as film and IT software design.
The project was developed in collaboration with the Southampton Partnership, a space, Southampton Cultural Consortium and SEEDA to address the lack of business support, affordable studio space and exhibition facilities in Southampton which is stifling the development of the creative economies in the city. Councillor Vinson explains: "We are keen to give young creative people the opportunity to launch and develop their small business ventures. Southampton welcomes these individuals and I strongly believe that they have a vital role to play in the economic development of the city."
"Young people need to realise that they don't need to disappear off to London to run a successful business. We need to ensure that our home-grown talent has access to the support and encouragement they need, through projects like this and with the continued support from organisations like SEEDA."
With £100,000 of SEEDAs funding, channelled through Southampton's Area Investment Framework (AIF), a bursary scheme has enabled the artists access to the newly refurbished studios along with business mentoring support.
Artist in residence, Laura Joy, has been working in the arches to develop her creative filmmaking business; she said: "Its really great to have an environment where I can be creative in my work; its really difficult to find a suitable space, particularly one that is affordable. The arches have provided me with the perfect solution."
Fellow resident artist, Alys Hawkins, said: "Having lived in Southampton all my life, I couldn't wait to get out of the city because I never thought that the opportunities existed here to survive as an artist. The arches have provided me with not only a fantastic space to work, but also the business support I never thought was available."
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Area Manager at SEEDA, Rachel Andrews said: "SEEDA is committed to s upporting the creation, retention and development of local business in key sectors such as the creative and media industries. An important part of this is ensuring that individuals have access to suitable, flexible and affordable workspace. We are delighted to be involved in such an innovative project that will help small creative businesses develop and flourish."
The 'Art in the Arches' project forms part of a wider Southampton Partnership vision to improve and enhance the City's cultural offer and develop Southampton's Businesses.
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