Claire Gulliver looks at the challenges faced by Aune Head Arts in their county-wide open studios project, Devon Art Works.
Open studios co-ordination is not for the faint-hearted. Imagine trying to satisfy the demands of hundreds of artists while wrestling with assorted this is how its always been done pressures and managing complex communication systems, and you begin to get the idea. Couple this with the second biggest county in England, a challenging transport infrastructure and a socio-geographical character ranging from affluent middle-class to post-industrial urban to troubled rural and you can understand the combustible context within which Aune Head Arts is seeking to deliver a fresh and engaging event.
Devon Art Works 2007 will see more than 500 artists welcoming audiences into their studios and spaces across Devon between 8 and 23 September. Aune Head Arts is co-ordinating this year's event on behalf of Devon Artist Network, funded by Devon County Council. For us, the challenge of taking a traditional open studios platform and making it vibrant and relevant for 2007 is a compelling one and part of the reason we bid for this work.
As a model, open studios raise issues wherever they are staged. The most fundamental of these is selection or the lack of it. With no critical selection or curatorial process, open studios are exactly that open to anyone who pays the registration fee. Artists pay £110, which includes membership of Devon Artist Network. When anyone who thinks highly enough of their own work and is able to pay £110 can enter, how are discerning buyers to identify work that will engage their particular taste, be it cutting edge ceramic art, environmental installation or traditional watercolour?
In its co-ordination of Devon Art Works 2007, Aune Head Arts has developed some tactics for selecting and sorting, in appropriate instances. These will enable visitors to navigate more effectively among a diverse offering, without compromising the open-to-all ethos of open studios. Firstly, in partnership with Devon Artist Network, we have introduced artists bursaries. Five bursaries have been awarded, through a selection process involving the Craft Officer for Arts Council England South West, to emerging professional artists (whether just entering the market from university or re-entering it after a period away). This year the bursaries, awarded for quality and potential, have gone to less traditional open studios artforms such as video and installation. Five further bursaries are to be awarded to new graduates through Devons art colleges.
Secondly, we are developing a limited number of selected shows as part of the programme. Artists will be selected by independent curators from among those who have registered for the open studios. Not only has this attracted high calibre artists who would not normally take part in open studios, but it also enables selectors to consider new faces as well, refreshing the pool of artists who form the countys art establishment.
Thirdly, we are working on a small events strand, which will give us chance to work with new graduates, emerging and leading-edge artists, to develop events that will challenge expectations of what open studios can be, and introduce cutting-edge work into new spaces and new geographical areas.
And therein lies the crux of Aune Head Arts ambitions for Devon Art Works 2007. We want artists to benefit from thinking beyond traditional studios and static gallery shells. By embracing work that moves beyond the supermarket-shelf model, open studios can transform work from something an artist has left behind, disembodied and out of context, into a dynamic and engaged experience embedded in site, artist and audience.
Open studios have already begun this journey. They already provide a rare chance for dialogue in real time between art, artist, space and audience. Aune Head Arts is exploring how much further this dynamic can take us within open studios. Just some of the answers may be revealed in September this year. One thing is certain Devon Art Works 2007 will involve a more diverse contemporary arts offering than ever before. Further exploration is recommended!
Claire Gulliver is a project manager for Aune Head Arts and is Devon Art Works 2007 Co-ordinator. Aune Head Arts is a contemporary arts organisation based on Dartmoor. It makes and commissions work about contemporary rural life and runs workshops and continuing professional development for artists.
t: 01822 890539; w: http://www.auneheadarts.org.uk
For more information about Devon Art Works,
t: 01271 853297; w: http://www.devonartworks.info