Engine

05.08.20

Mr Chamberlain’s Orchids – Matt Westbrook

Matt Westbrook received an Engine Micro Bursary to show his project ‘Mr Chamberlain’s Orchids’ at the International Orchid Conservation Congress at Kew Gardens and the RHS International Orchid Show in Malvern. Read more here.

Media

03.08.20

Henry Moore Foundation awards £60,000 in rapid-response to artists across the UK amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Birmingham-based artists Joanne Masding and Stuart Whipps are among 40 artists awarded grants from the Henry Moore Foundation in light of Covid-19.

Engine News

03.08.20

Art Technician Emergency Fund by Taz Lovejoy

Taz Lovejoy reflects on the progress and success of the Art Technician Emergency Fund started with two other art technicians as a response to cancelled work amid Covid-19. Taz was awarded an Engine Micro Bursary to help support the administration and marketing of the initiative.

News

31.07.20

Is UK arts rescue package too little, too late for grassroots?

Cash aims to revive struggling sector, but smaller venues that support vulnerable people fear they will have to shut anyway. A focus on The Hive in Shrewsbury as well as the sadly now closed Artrix in Bromsgrove – via The Guardian.

News

31.07.20

The Contemporary Art Society acquires 106 works by 16 artists for museums and communities across the UK through its Rapid Response Fund

The Contemporary Art Society’s Rapid Response Fund has bought 106 works of art for 16 museums across the UK, financially supporting artists and helping museums reach out to new audiences as they beginning their re-opening programmes as coronavirus-based restrictions ease. This includes acquisitions for The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum and The New Art Gallery Walsall.

Engine

24.07.20

Demi Nandhra: In Defence of the Neurodivergent Artist

Demi Nandhra was recently awarded an Engine Micro Bursary. Demi reflects here on the experiences of being a neurodivergent artist in a new piece of work described as a manifesto / rant / message / support / solidarity.

News Opportunities

22.07.20

AD:Vantage Leadership Programme

We are delighted to be partnering on the AD:Vantage Leadership Programme, a development opportunity for Coventry-based d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent people who work in arts, culture or heritage. Deadline: 12 noon, Monday 17 August 2020.

Interview

17.07.20

From a Small Island

Alvaro Martinez interviews Andrew Jackson about ‘From a Small Island’, his experiences as a descendent of the Windrush Generation, and the difficulties to find his identity reflected in English institutionalised history – via Loupe Mag

Feature

16.07.20

Laura Pannack’s best photograph: four teenagers on a Black Country wasteland

Photographer Laura Pannack writes about her year-long project in the Black Country commissioned by Multistory for ‘My Best Shot’ in the Guardian.

News

15.07.20

False Memory

Rugby Art Gallery and Museum reopens on 6 August with ‘False Memory’, an exhibition seeking to challenge our perception of being able to accurately remember moments from the past, as well as considering the relative ease of creating false memories. The show features the work of New Art West Midlands alumna Grace A Williams.

Media

13.07.20

The Guardian view on arts freelancers: they must not be forgotten

The government has stepped in to protect the UK’s cultural infrastructure, but has neglected the people who make the art – via The Guardian

News

10.07.20

Where are the black voices in visual arts?

We must address the absence of black and minority ethnic artists from our public museums and galleries, writes Gilane Tawadros – via The Guardian

News

10.07.20

Forgotten heroes: when the Empire went to war

Chloe Austin considers the work of Barbara Walker in her piece on the forgotten heroes of war within the context of Black Lives Matter. – via Art UK

News

09.07.20

Grand Union celebrates Jamie Crewe receiving £10,000 Turner Bursary

Grand Union is celebrating artist Jamie Crewe’s selection for a Turner Bursary, having been nominated for their sister exhibitions: ‘Love & Solidarity’ and ‘Solidarity & Love’ at Grand Union, Birmingham, and Humber Street Gallery, Hull. Earlier in the year Tate announced that it would award one-off bursaries of £10,000 to 10 artists in place of this year’s Turner Prize, as a way to support a large selection of artists through this precarious and uncertain time.

News

08.07.20

The great reopening – how Britain’s galleries Covid-proofed themselves

From London to Llandudno to Dundee, museums are back in business. So is it now safe to view art – and how will they cope with the drastic drop in numbers? – via The Guardian.

News

08.07.20

Works by Barbara Walker acquired by the Contemporary Art Society

The Contemporary Art Society has recently acquired two works on paper by Birmingham-based Barbara Walker for Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

News

06.07.20

Fair & Equitable

Like the rest of the sector, we were both surprised and delighted at the news announced late last night by the Government of a £1.57 billion investment to protect Britain’s arts and heritage institutions.

However, without artists, there is no art. All regions and venues of all sizes should be accounted for in the distribution; no-one should be forgotten.

News

06.07.20

£1.5bn lifeline to keep UK’s arts sector afloat

Britain’s arts and heritage sectors have been promised £1.57bn of help in a long-awaited rescue package described by the government as the biggest one-off investment in UK culture – via The Guardian.

News

03.07.20

An Open Letter to the Chancellor

The Contemporary Visual Art Network (CVAN)’s Open Letter to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak Secretary to the Treasury Kemi Badenoch MP and DCMS Secretary of State Oliver Dowden about the impact of Covid-19 on the Visual Arts and how to save an art form that plays a central role in the UK’s economy and society.

News

03.07.20

Coventry City of Culture to commence year-long programme in May 2021

Coventry City of Culture Trust has announced that it will officially commence its programme in May 2021. Co-created with national and local partners, and grassroots organisations across the city, the programme will include major international artistic events, world premieres and commissions across theatre, music, dance, literature, comedy and visual art.