Engine

03.06.20

Ania Bas: Reasons

Ania Bas presents Reasons, a series of digital posters designed by Rose Nordin. The works are taken from a longer text supported by an Engine Micro Bursary.

Engine

01.06.20

Adam Neal: Time on Our Hands

This work has been made by Adam Neal as part of a Micro Bursary he was recently awarded. The bursaries are intended to share how artists are responding to the unprecedented circumstances of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Interview

01.06.20

Interview with artist Glen Stoker

We speak with artist and AirSpace Gallery Director Glen Stoker, about his recent body of work. Tell Me Where To Go is a series of one hour walks performed in Stoke-on-Trent via a digital collaboration during restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Interview

01.06.20

Interview with Raju Rage: Recipes for Resistance

We speak to Raju Rage about ‘Recipes for Resistance’, an interactive multimedia art project. The exhibition at Ort Gallery has had to be postponed for the time being, but this has enabled the conversation around the project to open up in other ways.

News

29.05.20

Impact of COVID-19 on Visual Arts Workers: Survey Results

In April a survey was launched by the Contemporary Visual Arts Network (CVAN) to gauge the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on the visual arts sector. The summary of findings have now been published.

Engine News

29.05.20

Active Reality Research Lab attendees announced

We are delighted to announce the eight artists selected for our forthcoming Active Reality Research Lab, developed by New Art West Midlands, working with Coventry City of Culture Trust, ARUP and artist Simon Poulter.

Interview

28.05.20

Anger and alienation, Stikman comes to life!

Andy Sargent, one of our recent Outside In Engine Micro Bursary awardees shares his experience and vision of ‘the stikman cometh’ as one of Disability Arts Online’s recent commissions of artists in isolation.

News

28.05.20

Government urged to use West Midlands as test bed for early reopening of tourism, hospitality and cultural sector

Regional leaders have called on Government to allow the West Midlands to become a national test bed for an early reopening of the tourism, hospitality and cultural sector.

Engine

27.05.20

Emily Warner: Quit

This work has been made by Emily Warner as part of an Engine Micro Bursary she was recently awarded. The Bursaries are intended to share how artists are responding to the unprecedented circumstances of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Interview

27.05.20

Interview with Hannah Taylor, Director of Asylum Art Gallery on the [ Discursive spaces ] residency project

We speak to Hannah Taylor about the [ Discursive spaces ] residency project which has been developing at Wolverhampton’s Asylum Art Gallery. We find out more about the motivations for the project, the artists’ research and the ways that the project’s content and format has been shaped by the circumstances of Covid-19.

News

26.05.20

Turner Prize 2020 axed and replaced by £100k fund for struggling artists

The Turner Prize to be cancelled this year, instead Tate Britain will give bursaries each worth £10,000 to help 10 artists at this “exceptionally difficult time”. – via BBC

Interview

26.05.20

A Q&A with…Chantal Powell, sculpture and installation artist

The West Midlands-born artist and founder of the contemporary arts programme Hogchester Arts discusses her involvement with Isolation Art School, selling and buying work through Artist Support Pledge, working on project ‘Night Shaking’ with West Midlands-based artist Dean Melbourne, plus the impact of her recent a-n Artist Bursary – via a-n.

Interview

20.05.20

Venice to Wolverhampton and Beyond: Contextualising the Diaspora Pavilion

David A. Bailey and Jessica Taylor, curators of the Diaspora Pavilion speak with Kate Keohane and Catherine Spencer on the curatorial thinking behind the project – via International Curators Forum.

News

19.05.20

Artists Make Change: “Artists need to be more involved in policy decisions”

a-n Artists Council has initiated a 12-month research and development project that will explore the role of the artist in society and advocate for how artists and art organisers can effectively work for change. Glen Stoker, a visual artist and Director of Stoke-on-Trent-based artist-led project AirSpace Gallery, and Rachel Dobbs, an artist and educator based in Plymouth speak to Jack Hutchinson about the project and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their plans – via a-n.

Engine Feature

18.05.20

How to be a Hermit: A Guide to Surviving Lockdown from One who Knows

Multidisciplinary artist …kruse was recently awarded an Engine Micro Bursary. Their piece How to be a Hermit: A Guide to Surviving Lockdown from One Who Knows explores some of the pleasures that lockdown has afforded them as a neurodivergent person and aspiring hermit.

Media

15.05.20

National Highlights – Wolverhampton Art Gallery

In the latest instalment of National Highlights blog, featuring works selected by staff and volunteers at partner organisations, Roma Piotrowska, Curatorial Officer at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, chooses two very different works that both have a personal connection. – via The Courtauld Institute of Art

News

14.05.20

How Flatpack took their festival online

With cinemas closed and social distancing measures in place due to the Coronavirus crisis, festivals all over the world have been forced to rethink their plans over the last few months. The Independent Cinema Office (ICO) spoke to Ian Francis, Director of Flatpack Festival, about how they took their festival online and some of the lessons they learnt along the way.

Feature

11.05.20

Heat and dust: art inspired by Aboriginal identity and nuclear explosions

Yhonnie Scarce and Judy Watson talk about creating work with seductive surfaces and dark themes. Their Ikon Gallery exhibition covered by Jane Ure-Smith – via Financial Times

News

10.05.20

COVID-19 Useful resources for arts professionals

We’ll be updating this list of resources and opportunities as we find them.

If there’s something you think should be included, please let us know via – info@newartwestmidlands.co.uk

Engine News

06.05.20

Engine Micro Bursary Awardees Announced

We recently invited artists and arts professionals living in the West Midlands to share experiences of the current situation – case studies and points of view around practice in these exceptional times. We are pleased to announce the 10 artists receiving support via our Engine Micro Bursaries scheme to share their stories.