Over the last 10 years we have had over 15 temporary spaces for artists across Tees Valley and County Durham, ranging from office to retail spaces. These spaces have provided regular studio space for over 100 artists in that time and exhibition and event space for many others.
Some of the spaces have been quite short term and we’ve had them for a few months – others we’ve had for much longer, including our current HQ Dundas House in the centre of Middlesbrough since 2011.
We work in partnership with East Street Arts and Hammond & Associates to support artists through this use of temporary space. We use these spaces whilst they are still up for commercial let and although temporary in nature (a 2-4 week notice period on most), many have been unused for some time and are often in a variety of conditions when we take them. This can vary from ‘Grade A’ office space to long term empty properties in need of renovation before being commercially viable.
Working with ‘temporary’ spaces allows us to offer much needed opportunities for artists and those working to support arts and culture, to access space to make and show their work.
We carefully manage our studio spaces, which includes making sure that necessary health and safety measures are in place to ensure a safe working environment for artists. This includes First Aid kits at all site and nominated studio holder First Aiders at some locations. We offer annual PAT testing of studio holder electrical equipment.
We support artists to take responsibility for their own health and safety and offer support and advice around risk assessments and public liability as part of our ongoing support to studio holders.
We are often able to offer studio bursaries and programmes of support to existing studio holders and artist who may not already have a studio with us. See our Artist Support page to find out if we have anything currently available.