Art and design fairs / Estate of the Arts
Next affordable arts fair at BS3’s Estate of the Arts
Estate of the Arts (EotA) is a new art space in an old industrial estate in South Liberty Lane on the borders of Bedminster and Ashton, complete with workshops and studio spaces for 46 innovative artists, makers and charities. And later this month, Bristol’s art lovers and Saturday strollers can get a good look at all the creativity buzzing away inside, at the venue’s latest open studios and affordable art fair.
“This site is a constantly growing, buzzing, creative community, facilitating as many kinds of arts as it can, with everything from screenprinting and painting to metal work and puppet animation,” explains manager Rosie McLay. “Through our studios and events programme, such as our summer Arts Fair, we are inviting a wider audience to come and explore what is made here day-to-day, and to celebrate the work of many other artists and musicians in our huge, rough-around-the-edges outdoor yard space.”
Inside the artists’ studios at Estate of the Arts
Back in spring 2017, Rosie and her good friend Seb Reed (EotA’s director) were both after somewhere to grow their art practices and small businesses. “Seb runs The Little Framing Company and I’m an artist, and we just couldn’t find anywhere! We started scouring through available studio and workshop spaces and nothing was quite right. Where were all the art spaces for the many artists of Bristol? We’d also been residents at The Island for over four years and couldn’t bear the idea of not being part of a bigger creative project like this amazing one we were about to leave.”
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Rosie and Seb started asking friends and reaching out to artists online to see whether they were experiencing similar problems and – and would be interested in alternative studio space. “We got so many excited, positive reactions, that we determined to find a space that could facilitate this,” Rosie recalls.
Bristol music collective The Midnight Zu performing at EotA’s previous Arts Fair
“We were so surprised to find our industrial estate so quickly, and really didn’t expect to find one so close to lively parts of the city, or quite as big as this! Our site, which we’ll have for up to ten years, is perfect: we’re only five minutes’ cycle ride from North Street, yet we’re in an industrial bubble of production and activity that feels so other to the rest of the city we knew well. It’s a good contrast to get to work now from where we all live, there’s an air of ‘let’s get things moving!’ in this street of ours.”
Artists Kelly Ballett and Heather Christie in their studio at EotA. Pic: Jana Rumley
In January 2018, after lengthy building work, the first artists moved into Estate of the Arts. “Around the workshops and warehouse you’ll smell the oil paint of the painters, hear the thumping of the sewing machines, feel the piles of sawdust under your feet and see the cogs spin on the print presses. What makes our space different is that each tenant is a part of what the space is, there’s so much flexibility here, it’s all much more informal and friendly than your standard workspace, which contributes to the creativity that bounces around.”
On July 21 EotA will be hosting an open studios event, with many of the resident artists opening their studios and workshops for the day, plus eight live performances from some of Bristol’s most exciting musicians. You’ll also find 23 visiting artists selling their work, plus activities for all including screenprinting, face-painting, workshops. Pizza and beer will be available too. Rosie and co. plan for the event to become a regular affordable art fair for Bristol.
The art market is being curated by The Bristol Bazaar, who run markets and pop-up shops celebrating Bristol’s artisans. Performances have been curated by Stacked! Promotions, who provide PA hire and rehearsal space at SPHQ studios. Decor and support come from interactive theatre company Compass Presents.
“Our aim is to eventually build an events and workshop programme that takes advantage of the many skills and facilities here on site, both for external artists and the public,” Rosie explains. At the moment we host tri-monthly open studios and fairs that do this, with many workshops and demonstrations to do our bit to minimise the concern we all have, that certain skills and crafts are dying out, as well as providing creative time to children who may have had their school art lessons cut.”
The summer Arts Fair takes place on Saturday, July 21 at Estate of the Arts, 6 South Liberty Lane, Bristol, BS3 2SG from 12-10pm. For more info, visit www.estateofthearts.co.uk
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