Art Space Exhibitor Testimonials
"For the month of July 2010 Cheam Woodturners Association occupied the Sutton Community Art Space in Times Square, in the centre of Sutton. Our aim whilst in the shop was to promote our club and hopefully encourage existing and would-be turners to join us. We put on a display of our work which showed a variety of abilities of clubmembers and also how potentially waste wood could be used to good effect. We were not allowed to sell items from the shop under the terms of our occupancy.
We opened the shop on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 11:00am and 2:00pm. During these periods, although not overwhelmed, we did have a steady stream of people who were genuinely interested in what we did and how we did it. A number of people expressed an interest in joining our club and many have visited us already on a club evening and indicated they will become members. Although woodturning may traditionally be thought of as a male only hobby, a surprising proportion, I would say around 60%, of expressions of interest came from women keen to take up the craft. This is something which we would want to encourage as women often make better turners than men.
Overall the project has been a success for Cheam Woodturners and I am certain we can look forward to new members joining us as a result of it."
Jeff Cordery, Cheam Woodturners Association, Events Organiser.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Thank you, as coordinator, and the Sutton Town Centre and Times Square partners for making Unit 63 shop space available to display some of my work during March 2010. It would be great if other empty shops could be used this way to brighten up 'dead' areas.
The prime function of artwork is that it should be viewed as widely as possible to be enjoyed by others - or at least interest them. Dedicated exhibition space is limited and often too expensive for artists. Many of whom regard sales as a 'bonus' and certainly can't make a living from it - even when they are quite talented.
The system you organised in Times Square was so straight forward - Security put the lights on in the morning and off in the evening, so that much of the work can be seen even when the shop is locked. The exhibiting artists simply collect the keys to open up for when they can be present and then return them when they leave. The security staff were very friendly and helpful
Now I've removed my work, I will be very interested to see how the next artists get on where they will use the shop as a live studio in addition to just displaying work - bound to create even more interest. The work you regularly do (during each exhibition), showing children (and others) how to produce work on silk, is clearly very popular - I found it a delight to see how much the participants enjoyed it and how their parents were amazed at the results.
I understand that other boroughs are operating or considering similar initiatives - I don't think they could find a better model than Sutton's. It all seems like that rare thing "Win, win" Keep up the good work and let me know if I can be of help sometime."
DAVE TRIBE, ARTIST
