APNews: Arts Council England (Arts Council England) has updated its policies, warning that 'political statements' made by individuals linked to an organisation can cause 'reputational risk', breaching funding agreements (1/5)

REMINDER: TOMA open call closes 6pm on 12 Jan 2024! We are looking for 15 new artists to join in May 2024 for 18 months in Southend-on-Sea 🌊 We are an artist run indie art school born out of precarity, supporting artists to survive, make and do. Info: toma-art.com/education-prog…

Final open events if u wanna find out about TOMA prog for 2024/25!

Online sesh w/ TOMA prog leader emma edmondson / 6.30 Weds 6 Dec

Drop-in open day / Sun 10 Dec The Old Waterworks w/ TOMA artists & Lolly Adams 1-5pm for including drop-in monoprinting workshop. Check bio 4 links.

NEXT WEEK ~ Come 2 our open eve on Thur 16 November 5-8pm The Old Waterworks & chat to TOMA artists & make a risograph poster on the in house riso. 🖨️ 🎨 emma edmondson & TOMA artists will be around to chat about the programme! Tkts eventbrite.co.uk/e/toma-open-ev…

This afternoon I dropped into Emma Edmondson's exhibition IN STASIS at The Old Waterworks.

Emma has taken her frustration with political interference and delays to her project 'Made from this Land' and channeled it into these ancillary pieces.

I particularly liked the limerick.

LAST DAY today ~ open from 1-6pm The Old Waterworks drop by & say hi!

What a genuine pleasure to attend Emma Edmondson's fantastic IN STASIS (land agency is pretty fragile) exhibition at The Old Waterworks tonight. 🧱

I love this space. Yet another jewel in the crown of Southend's Arts & Culture crown! 🎨👑

TOMORROW!

Calling all Project Managers...we’re hiring! 📣 We’re looking for a creative, flexible & organised Project Manager to join our Southend team. The role is full time & you’ll be based at Chalkwell Hall. Closing date is 5pm on Sun 3 Dec. Apply: bit.ly/3s30blr

Well worth checking out comments on this Arts Professional article by Dr. Chrissie Tiller - wondering if Arts Council England will add an explanatory response?
artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/artic…

This is totally symptomatic of imbalance in the funding system between freelance workforce and institutions Arts Council England. Paid university staff being funded to conduct a survey while freelance workers are expected to give their valuable time, energy and insights for free! 🥲

Save Our Art Schools! Great Article … my mother studied at Sidcup art school in the 1930’s theguardian.com/artanddesign/2… The buildings were a sign of civic pride’: anger as art colleges around the UK close their doors | Art | The Guardian theguardian.com/artanddesign/2…

IN STASIS (land agency is pretty fragile)

An on pause, works in progress show.

OPENING EVE with drinks & cake
The Old Waterworks
Friday 3 November
6pm - 9pm

More info soon ~ save the date!

So I read this piece by Lucy Wright community.axisweb.org/c/from-axis/ca… yesterday eloquently setting out the sheer lack of awarenesss/thought by #arts commissioners inc ref £ needed for #artists to actually conduct practices and develop *careers* over time, & not just scrape by 1/3

📢 Changes to Project Grants from Nov 📢

-Different app forms for under £30k + over £30k
-More space to talk about the work (lol)
-No q's about Let's Create outcomes for under £30k
-Touring will focus on Creative Communities + international

Guidance coming in Sept 👀

NEW reading groups with Jade de Montserrat: We Are 'Nature' Defending Itself: Entangling Art, Activism and Autonomous Zones ~
bit.ly/44Y5aSa These FREE sessions are part of an ongoing collab w/ Pluto Press The Old Waterworks for our The Reading Room project. Starts August.

Researching TOMA (The Other MA) at Southend am learning more and more that the engine of social & (art) educational justice isn't solidarity (which is just an outcome) but friendship & love. And not squishy love but a love in the Bell Hooks sense of action rather than sentiment.