Bluecoat Gallery and Printmaking

Visit: 14th January

Today we visited the Bluecoat and received a talk from Emma Gregory, a resident print-maker  She told us about the formalities and protocols of getting grants for projects or plans within an organisation with Arts Council funding, such as Bluecoat. This was really interesting, but quite disheartening. She didn't seem happy at all in her work and completely at the end of her tether with regards to getting things actually changed or improved there.

She also talked to us about herself as an artist and about teaching other artists. She commented that she felt frustration in the area of artists improvement. There seems to be a trap that artists fall into wherein they're aiming no longer for integrity, or intellectual stimulation, and instead print images of more commercial value. Emma said that she had moved beyond this stage, but was not yet at the level of working that granted galleries to be interested in her work, and so needed to develop her work more conceptually. When teaching others who do simply go for the aesthetic which sells, she said she felt frustrated and like she needed to push people forward by introducing new artists to the workshops to inspire the people she teaches.

The talk we were given was very passionate and very sad, but for good reason. It must be very hard to constantly have the battle of creativity or money. Obviously, Bluecoat aren't going to let her make improvements unless they see a financial return. But, as an arts organisation, that isn't how I would have expected it to be run, I would have thought it was community and arts before money. There seems to be a huge gap between the money thrown at exhibiting artists and that tightly given to artists resident or practicing there.

Emma noted that Bluecoat have recently become fonder of her project because it attracts young men of a certain age range who are normally seen as a 'trouble' group to  Governments and organisations. Because Bluecoat are seen to get involved with this cross-section of people, they are considering giving more funding. When you think about it, it's quite cynical and quite self-serving in the way it is run (rather than the community based space it seems to promote itself as). Although I found her talk interesting, it put me off wanting to get involved with that kind of project, because although it is admirable, it sounds like such a mess and struggle. It's a shame that because of the current climate arts funding has to be so stingy.