Petition launched to save two arts venues

Two of Bristol’s Key Arts Providers, Trinity Community Arts and Artspace Lifespace, have launched a petition to save SPACE and Arts West Side, arts venues located at 6 West Street, Old Market. The organisations are urging Bristol City Council to keep the premises as a space for community arts in Old Market.

Trinity and Artspace Lifespace are asking people to add their signature to the online petition to keep the building open for community use. If the petition receive 3,500 signatures, the Council will have to discuss the decision at a full cabinet meeting.

The two groups recently applied to the Council to keep Arts West Side for community arts use, but the latter have decided to let the premises commercially, which they estimate will generate £15,000 in rental value. “While this will be a drop in the ocean of an estimated £60m budget deficit forecast for 2019/2020, this decision will have a huge impact on the grassroots community art work taking place along the once troubled street,” say spokesmen from the two groups.

Emma Harvey, Centre Manager for Trinity, said: “We’re surprised by this decision, given the lack of commercial value of the premises and how it seems to conflict with the city’s vision of Bristol as an inclusive city of culture. We opened Arts West Side to support regeneration of the area. At a time when communities in Bristol are concerned that they are being left behind as other parts of the city prosper, it is sadly ironic that the Council themselves are acting as an agent of gentrification.”

Trinity have been running 6 West Street as Arts West Side since August 2011 through Bristol City Council’s Community Asset Transfer Policy (CAT), which seeks to make publicly owned spaces across the city available for community use. Trinity are themselves tenants at The Trinity Centre, a thriving community arts centre and live music venue, based in a converted former church at the top of Old Market – and also owned by Bristol City Council.

Emma continued: “Trinity and Artspace Lifespace have launched this petition in the hope that we can keep SPACE and Arts West Side. Together, we want to make sure that everyone in Bristol has an opportunity to shape arts and culture in our city.”

Artspace Lifespace – the community interest company behind The Island, based in the Old Bridewell Police Station – have been running a series of public and community arts activities and events at Arts West Side, under the title ‘SPACE’. Standing for ‘sound, performance, art, community, engagement’, the events series has included public events, art shows, artist residencies and community meetings.

Dina Ntziora, Project Manager for SPACE said: “Our work transforms neighbourhoods and also brings something fresh and diverse to commercial centres. Making SPACE accessible to a wide variety of creative influences helps to enrich and develop the multicultural identity of this diverse community. We’re really disappointed the Council do not wish us to continue this important work.”

Talking about the joint venture, Dina explained: “The opportunity to work in partnership with Trinity Community Arts has been an invaluable experience for us as an organisation and has been a perfect example of how two Key Arts Providers in the city can come together and work in partnership to develop a new project.”

A programme of events is already scheduled until the end of September, including events as part of PRIDE Festival, Bristol Doors Open Day and the Doing Things Differently festival, centred around diversity and equality in the arts and organised by Bristol City Council and Diverse City UK. The Council’s art team were themselves unaware of the decision to change use and also took part in the recent selection panel to award Trinity a further five-year lease, alongside representatives from neighbourhoods and properties. 

Paul Bradburn, Chair of the Old Market Community Association (OMCA), said: “Old Market has long suffered from a lack of community facilities, so when I was asked to support Trinity’s proposal for the future of the building I was most happy to do so. As the chairman of the OMCA and as a local resident, I would implore the Council to consider their duty to the community and offer the lease to Trinity and Artspace Lifespace.”

The OMCA’s Neighbourhood Plan was recently adopted at a Full Council Meeting in March this year. Among other measures, the plan details a need for “better local facilities to contribute to a balanced and independent economy” and to “seek to protect existing community facilities such as Trinity Arts… and encourage new facilities to service the needs of a diverse community.”

It goes on to explain the need for ‘creation of community facilities’, to balance the growing shift towards a night-time economy and unaffordable private housing emerging in the area.

The groups have until July 31 to show that the community are behind them.

You can sign the petition at http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/community/petition/3620

All pics: Sidz Photography