Assembly Margate
Thursday 4 May & Friday 5 May 2017

Assembly Margate is the first of the a-n Assembly events taking place during May and June this year. Hosted across a number of arts spaces in the town, a-n have devised a programme of events with Margate-based social artist Dan Thompson.

In Margate, as in much of the South East, the influx of new artists, priced out of London, has brought opportunities but also created tensions. Art is a contentious subject in a town with some of the most deprived areas in England. With a small population and a huge variety of studio spaces, galleries and artist-led projects, there are further tensions between the diverse groups of artists as they find new spaces, new ways of working, and new ways to fund their work in the town.

The Assembly events will in part respond to this context, with formal talks and workshops complemented by artist-led tours, a social night out and opportunities for networking and discussions with fellow artists and the a-n team.

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Thursday 4 May

The curation process (or how do I get them to exhibit my work?)
10.00am - 12.00noon
Foyle Room 1, Turner Contemporary. Rendezvous, Margate. CT9 1HG

How do artists get chosen for exhibitions at Turner Contemporary, Whitstable Biennale and other exhibitions and festivals? And how do we make sure artists are fairly treated?

During the seminar, we’ll hear from Turner Contemporary’s Head of Exhibitions Sarah Martin and Director of Whitstable Biennale Sue Jones as they discuss their commissioning process.

a-n’s Director Jeanie Scott will introduce the newly launched Exhibition Payment Guidance and how it contributes to fair contracts and pay for artists exhibiting in publicly-funded galleries, whilst artist Dan Thompson presents the accompanying Artist-Led Manifesto which takes into consideration the different economies that these often lo-fi activities operate in.

The event will be followed by a 30-minute tour of Turner Contemporary’s current exhibition Entangled starting 12.00noon.

FREE event but booking is required.

Demystifying crowdfunding and getting to know your audience better
1.00pm - 5.00pm
Fire Eye Land, The Avenue, Margate. CT9 2ST

*** This event is sold out - to add your name to the waiting list email: jennifer.picken@a-n.co.uk ***

Do you have a creative project you want to get off the ground? Do you have a brilliant idea you want to see realised? Do you run a creative organisation and want more freedom to make work? Do you want to reach a new or larger audience? Do you better want to understand how to crowdfund?

Understand crowdfunding to help you build a sustainable creative business, or project and reach a wider and more engaged network of supporters. This workshop will help participants to identify how to target and engage new audiences, capitalise on networks and social media and develop a personalised strategy and timeline for micro-financing.

Crowdfunding should be part of a much wider fundraising plan and understanding the model can help you to build a sustainable business strategy.

Crowdfunding enables artists and creative entrepreneurs to break down barriers.

The workshop will be facilitated by Henrietta Norton who started www.wedidthis.org.uk (one of the first Crowdfunding sites in the UK) back in January 2011. Henrietta is a creative producer and a documentary filmmaker and artist who applies her methods and crowd funding model to her own projects and work. She works as a consultant to the creative industries across the UK and Internationally.

Tickets £5 / £4 for a-n members. Booking required.

Cancellation policy
If you are unable to attend the session please let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer the place to someone else. Please note that refunds will only be given if we are notified at least one week before the event is due to take place.

The power in people
1.30pm - 3.00pm
STAN Art Pod, 46a Athelstan Road, Margate. CT9 2BB

*** This event is sold out - to add your name to the waiting list email: jennifer.picken@a-n.co.uk ***

We hear a lot about ‘socially engaged practice’ - but what does it really mean? How do artists working in unusual venues at the centre of a local community uncover the resources of that place, and through creative acts, support and develop these with local people? Join artist Anna Francis as she introduces The Portland Inn Project and works with the group to identify a manifesto for a genuinely socially engaged practice.

Anna Francis is an artist based in Stoke-on Trent, Director at AirSpace Gallery and Associate Professor of Fine Art and Social Practice at Staffordshire University.

FREE event but booking is required

Assembly social
7.00pm - 9.00pm
Cliffs, 172 Northdown Road, Margate. CT9 2QN

There’s no agenda as artists, Assembly guests and the a-n team gather at popular coffee shop Cliffs. Local artists will spin vinyl while local artist-led organisations map the services they offer and we ask what’s missing from the Margate landscape for artists as they develop their careers.

You can drop-in anytime but please register your interest by booking via Eventbrite.

FREE event but booking is required

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Friday 5 May

Artist-led tour: A Walking Assembly with Julia Riddiough
10.00am - 12.45pm
Tour starts at Marine Studios, 17 Albert Terrace, Margate. CT9 1UJ and finishes at Cliffs, 172 Northdown Road, Margate. CT9 2QN

Artist and curator Julia Riddiough shares local knowledge about artists and artist practices, laced with history, architecture and the odd artful anecdote. Join the conversation to explore art and the new Margate Art Cluster. Building on the success of ‘Misguided’, an Artist Led Walk and Performance for Whitstable Biennale 2016, and ‘Do You Remember Me?’ for Margate Festival 2016; A Walking Assembly joins the dots between the independent artists and arts organisations, revealing and celebrating our unique and thriving arts ecology and architecture. Includes visits to Marine Studios, Crate, Limbo, Bon Volks, Clayspace and Resort.

FREE event but booking is required

Help!
12.30pm - 2.30pm.
Cliffs, 172 Northdown Road, Margate. CT9 2QN

Don’t panic - help is on the way. Drop in at Cliffs for some tea and cake and meet the team from a-n and Art Emergency, to find out what support they provide for artists. Tap into a-n’s 30 years of knowledge and experience with members of a-n’s team and AIR Council on hand to answer questions on membership and a variety of practical topics for straightforward advice including insurance.

a-n is the largest artists membership organisation in the UK with 21,000 members. They support artists and those who work with them in many practical ways, acting on behalf of their membership and the visual arts sector to improve artists’ livelihoods.

Arts Emergency gives young people in Further Education, 16-19 years old, from diverse backgrounds a mentor, ongoing support as they study at degree level, and access to an “alternative old boy network” of hundreds of volunteers working in the arts.

You can drop-in anytime but please register your interest by booking via Eventbrite.

FREE event but booking is required

Spaces and Places
3.00pm - 5.00pm
Resort Studios, 50 Athelstan Road, Margate. CT9 2BH

How do artists change the places they live? While accused of being ‘the stormtroopers of gentrification’ a-n’s work through the Paying Artists campaign has shown many artists earn low wages, and there’s evidence they’re more gentrified against than gentrifying.

Working from Marine Studios, Crate, Limbo, Bon Volks, Clayspace, Resort, Pie Factory, Fire Eye Land and other spaces, Margate and the wider Isle of Thanet has an incredible number of practicing artists. We ask - how can they be a force for good? How can they do things that engage with people who don’t think art is for them? How can they demonstrate that art, culture and heritage bring benefits for everyone?

We’ll hear from speakers including Colette Bailey (Metal, Estuary Festival) and Kate Kneale (Marine Studios, Pie Days & Holidays murals at Arlington House, GEEK festival) as they share their approaches to engaging with their local communities before opening up the debate to the audience.

FREE event but booking is required

First Friday - What we have in common
6.30pm-8.30pm
Marine Studios, Marine Studios, 17 Albert Terrace, Margate. CT9 1UJ

Established in 2009, this monthly event brings people from the Isle of Thanet together around a topic or theme. This month, it’s ‘What We Have in Common’. Led by Sophie Jeffrey, we’ll sum up two days of workshops, debates and talks, identify shared resources, discuss the idea of the commons, and look at what we can do next to support artists on the Isle of Thanet.

And we’ll do it surrounded by some interesting examples of past work artists have made in the area - with the chance to add significant moments to an Isle of Thanet arts timeline and the launch of a new Isle of Thanet Arts Archive, collating material to form a specialist research archive in Marine Studios’ open library.

Whilst you’re in the area you can also pop into Pie Factory for their Private View of ‘Legacy’ an exhibition of work by Julia Rogers and Vivienne Yankah exploring responses to and reflecting upon the passing of time through ceramic form, photography, installation and video.

6.30pm - 9.00pm, Pie Factory, 5 Broad Street, Margate. CT9 1EW

You can drop-in anytime but please register your interest by booking via Eventbrite.

FREE event but booking is required