ARTISTS TALKING

Bringing you updates and announcements on a-n people, partners and projects.

Working with artists

Delegates at the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers (NALGAO) annual conference, held in Brighton in May, benefited from a special interest workshop on dialogue and exchange around working with artists. Code of Practice for the Visual Arts researcher Lee Corner, and a-n Director of Programmes, Susan Jones joined forces to lead the discussion that focused on good practice matters, including negotiation, contracts and rates of pay. The workshop was specially devised to address evaluation from the 2003 event, when arts officers reported that knowing about good practice was a core requirement in their work.

Studios Toolkit

The unique Studios toolkit, freely available on www.a-n.co.uk, is attracting praise from artists needing to know how to establish their own spaces. "The seven members of Valley Artists have read the Studios Toolkit on www.a-n.co.uk and have found it invaluable. We are referring to it to compose our application forms and constitution, and also to help inform us regarding the landlord and tenants license/lease." Suzanne Worrall, Bacup

Compass published

Compass: directions for art and design graduates, a new free publication containing tools for professional practice teaching was published in May and will be available to subscribers and partners in the HE sector, and in the Artists Professional Development network as a tool for professional practice teaching. Consultant Julie Crawshaw worked with a special HE advisory group to develop selected material, drawn from practical guides on www.a-n.co.uk. This was augmented by advice from arts and education consultants and experts to demonstrate how this guidance can be used within professional practice modules with undergraduates. The publication is part of a set of new materials from a-n that supports arts training and professional development.

United Net-Works on the Road

United Net-Works, one of a-n's international partners, is bringing its mobile archive for contemporary artists, artists' groups, curators, researchers and independent arts professionals to the UK this month. Following stops including Stockholm, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Minsk and Vancouver the project will be in Newcastle upon Tyne as part of International Artfayre at Waygood Gallery, 24-26 June.

Now numbering over 300 hardcover binders, the archive is open to all interested artists, groups and organisations that wish to submit documentation. Submission guidelines are available at www.unitednet-works.org or contact Waygood Gallery on 0191 221 1712 or see www.waygood.org

Two new residencies are in the pipeline for artist, writer and recent new a-n staff member Cathryn Jiggens.

From June until August she will be the first artist-in-residence at the Courthouse in Otley – a Victorian magistrate's court recently transformed into a community resource centre by hard-working local volunteers. The venue, which opened in May is managed by the Arthouse and residency funded by the Esmee Fairburn foundation.

From September onwards Cathryn will be resident at the Shipley Gallery in Gateshead where she will be interacting digitally, through performance and writing with its large collection of contemporary crafts and old master paintings.

For more information on the Courthouse visit www.courthouseproject.org.uk or go to www.morethan12.net to see some images of Cathryn's work.