A three-for-all

From the beginning, Watershed has been of and for Bristol, but it also connects with artists and audiences in the wider world. Watershed is now a group of three companies: Watershed Arts Trust, a charitable trust focusing on the public-facing cultural programme delivered at the venue and online; Watershed Trading, a for-profit subsidiary focusing on catering and conferencing; and iShed, a Community Interest Company (CIC) focusing on research and development which bridges the public, private and higher education sectors. As a CIC, iShed is established to benefit a defined community of interest (in this case, the creative community) and is set up to identify opportunities for cross-sector collaboration; create sustainable collaborations between arts, media and technology partners; incubate creative ideas; manage collaborative projects; facilitate research, knowledge exchange and networking. This positions iShed as a bridge between the arts and the wider creative economy, levering value for both.
 

We set up iShed with the aim of creating a sustainable business model for Watershed that would operate with all the risks required to be part of innovation and research in the creative application of digital technology, whilst maintaining a high quality cultural cross-artform offer for audiences.
Within months of setting up iShed we had created the Pervasive Media Studio as a physical space for open innovation to drive collaboration between artists, university researchers, commercial media and technology companies. The combination of iShed and the studio has increased opportunities for artists and collaborating companies. The University of the West of England has just launched a new Digital Cultures Research Centre based in the Pervasive Media Studio, and the collaborative community working through the studio has accessed over £1m of innovation investment in the two years since opening.
We still face challenges. This is an emerging space and we have struggled to deliver absolute clarity for stakeholders and audiences around brand and communications. We are addressing this while working to keep up with demand and opportunity. In partnership with our stakeholders, we are reviewing our role, our vision and our business model. One early product of our review will be the publication of a long-term study by the International Futures Forum: Producing the Future – Understanding Watershed’s Role in Ecosystems of Cultural Innovation. These indeed are interesting times.