In 1982 together with Director/Designer Peter Avery I set up 1st Framework specifically to deliver imaginative partnerships projects, says Maxine Webster.
We wanted to see new initiatives produced to a high standard as we felt that so many good ideas were being compromised by a lack of resources. Peter has an excellent eye for new work and my ex-London Business School training helps ensure sound business management.
The company runs an ?empty studio policy? for partnership projects. We have no staff but gather specific teams for each project. The projects provide capacity building for organisations, work experience and employment for young people, and volunteering and participation for older people. They also provide invaluable opportunities for organisations to work together to try out new ideas and ways of working.
An example of a current project is ?The Threepenny Opera?, a London/Berlin inter-generational exchange over three years. The project partners are English National Opera Baylis and UFA Fabrik, Berlin?s award-winning ecology and culture centre. It is a participatory e-learning/ performance project which has three main aims: to take an example of a participatory opera project to outer city areas; to learn how a successful example of arts/education/housing can be replicated; and how to develop information technology platforms to support international community arts projects via Netd@ys Europe. After a series of workshops there will be two joint performances this year: in Berlin at the famous 1920s UFA film studios, and in London at the Trinity Buoy Wharf, a centre for artists in east London.
1st Framework resources partnership projects by a variety of means and people are often surprised at the scale of the projects in relation to the balance sheet. An average of 75% of our project costs are covered not by writing a cheque out, but rather items are provided through partnership deals, particularly administration, communication and accounting services/management of cash. These have to be done to a very high standard when you?re working on partnership projects and we have chosen to partner with organisations that have the capacity to do this extremely well. For small arts organisations like ours these issues can be a barrier to the delivery of projects.
We?ve found that the best co-productions are the ones we?ve developed over long periods, which means at least two years before we make a project together. We socialise a lot, go to each other?s events, go on ?away? trips, and make a lot of small pilot projects to try out ideas before we embark on the big one. The best ones are when you truly understand and respect each other?s philosophy. Good communication strategies are absolutely vital. It has to be the first thing to get right. We make sure that everyone is on board for the project. We have a project photographer who photographs everything and pins the pictures up. Every project has a website with schedules, contacts and minutes of meetings, which is accessible to all at anytime. If it?s a trans-national project the site is bi-lingual. There will always an element of training required ? we identify what it is we need and do that training together.
You need to understand each other?s agenda. What does each partner want to get out of it? The best relationships we?ve had are the ones which do not have long complicated written agreements. We don?t like to get hooked on massive partnership documents (the Voluntary Arts Network has an excellent website and information service which helps identify what should be incorporated in a partnership document). Every partnership is different and the best ones are those that relish overcoming problems together.
Maxine Webster is Director of 1st Framework. t: 020 7803 0530; e: maxine@1stframework.org