Tag: Ardwick

Studios Available – join our waiting list

We offer 5 self contained studio spaces to artists of all backgrounds who become Associates and pay a license fee for use of the space.

Cost starts at £160/month inc wi-fi and 24hr access

Please contact us for details and join our waiting list. We usually have one or two vacancies each year, but currently no studios available (December 2019)

 

You may also be interested in using our large studio for meetings  , one off workshops etc for a small fee. Contact us to discuss


Your Truth is not My Truth: Pool Arts respond to the Life and work of William Blake

Some of the work from our Blake exhibition October 2019

 

 

Preview Thursday 3rd October  5-9pm All Welcome

Exhibition Dates:

3rd – 12th October 2019 (Weds/Thurs/Fri/Sat) 2-6pm

Workshop: Make your own lino print date:

Thursday 10th October 4:30-6:30pm (please contact to book, places limited)

The Horsfall, 87 Great Ancoats Street, Manchester, M4 5AG

 

The poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827) lived his life in poverty and received very little recognition during his own lifetime. He was considered at best an eccentric and at worst a madman by the critics of the time. However, a few dedicated followers preserved much his prolific work and he is now considered one of the most important British artists of all time, influencing art, literature and music from the Pre-Raphaelites to Patti Smith. 

For this exhibition at Horsfall, Pool Arts researched the life, work and influence of William Blake and wondered what relevance he might have to our own experiences. Certainly we live in a time of political change and upheaval. Blake saw visions throughout his life that influenced his art but he was also an Enlightenment radical who contemplated the American and French revolutions; questioned religions and challenged dominant ideologies that he felt stifled imagination and the human spirit.

In this exhibition, our artists have looked at Blake’s biography, his art and poetry and from there created new work. What is Truth? Blake searched for a spiritual truth and found it rooted in imagination. Then as now, the fight between different Truths shaped the world. The exhibition features thoughtful responses from the Pool Arts artists, including; Alan S’s large scale painted installations, Paul Richards’ sensitive works of visionary mythologies and Roger Howard’s work exploring current political concerns. Becky Mary’s print “Quotation” perhaps sums up how difficult it has been to really understand the work of William Blake, deciphering a history through second and thirdhand research, viewing one of the Fathers of the modern age in art, from the perspective of a Post-Truth age.

Contributing Artists include: Another Adele, Akinyemi Oludele, Annette Ebanks

Becky Mary, Alison Kershaw, Alan S, Simon Mawdsley, I. Baron, Lee Hadfield, David Speers, Ruqia Artiste, Roger Howard, Eddie Price, Tess Lomas. 

 


Ardwick Built for #ManifestArts17

The Ardwick Built exhibition saw Pool Arts and our Associates creating an open studio show that explored the local area around our new studio. Work looked at aspects of the social history, architectural and historical context. We visited the Ardwick Archive at GMCVO, based at Ardwick Green and this gave us lots of additional information. Visitors from as far afield as Korea saw the show which coincided with Manchester International Festival #MIF17 and was part of #ManifestArts17, which is an artist led initiative to showcase contemporary arts spaces and studios in the city every two years. One of the highlights of the weekend was a table top interactive model of the area, where visitors could take part in creating buildings made of scrap materials. Some of the iconic buildings that they crafted were 1930s modernist The Apollo and the castle-like Ardwick Barracks. On the Sunday, urban geographer Morag Rose led an alternative tour of Ardwick Green , one of the first suburbs of the city.

 


Dropping Anchor studio launch


The studio launch was a great success. £200 funds were raised, art works exhibited, and visitors came to meet Pool Arts and take part in the event celebrating the new studio! Thanks to everyone who helped to run the evening and set up. More photos coming soon

 


Dropping Anchor: Pool Arts new studio launch event

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding a launch event for our new studio in Ardwick. This new sustainable studio model means that we are now hosting Associate Members, professional artists who will work alongside our members’ shared studio space. At the launch we will be showcasing our self contained Associate spaces, showing work by members and generally celebrating the voyage of discovery that Pool Arts has been on