Artists ‘recycle’ empty buildings

An empty car showroom, shop windows and deserted beach huts will all be venues for Side Show, a summer art and performance programme in Bournemouth. Programmed by 2nd Birthday, a not-for-profit company committed to artistically ‘recycling’ empty buildings, the event follows a year of dialogue with local property agents and Bournemouth Borough Council, whose support, together with funding from Arts Council England and UnLTD, has made it possible. £3m of government cash to help communities find creative ways of reducing the negative impact empty shops on the high street was promised by former Communities Secretary Hazel Blears in April (AP193), but although the Department for Communities and Local Government is charged with distributing the money through Councils, no decisions have yet been made as to how this will be allocated.