International recognition for Slackspace Colchester (From Gazette)

International recognition for Slackspace Colchester

4:18pm Thursday 26th November 2009

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THE best ideas are often the simplest ones. This has certainly proved the case with Slackspace Colchester.

It started with the notion of turning an empty town centre shop into a space where artists and performers could showcase their work.

The project quickly won national acclaim and interest from artists and performers from far and wide. Now it has gained the attention of the world’s media.

Since it opened its gallery space in June, Slackspace Colchester has hosted a different exhibition every fortnight and even ran its own mini-music festival earlier this month.

Based in Rosebys’ old shop, in Long Wyre Street, Colchester, the project has drawn more than 7,000 visitors in its First 83 days.

The mini-festival saw as many as 120 people crammed into the shop to watch a five-part female harmony group, Lady Bird and the Larks.

Slackspace was started in February by 37-year-old Colchester film-maker, Will Wright, who launched it via a special page on the social networking website, Facebook.

After a week, he had recruited a dozen people interested in getting involved with the scheme.

He said: “The initial thing for me was to have somewhere to make films.

“I was aware Colchester didn’t really have anywhere for local artists to show off their work.

“I knew there were a lot of film-makers and artists in the town and at that time, there were a lot of empty shops. Woolworths had gone and so had Zavvi.

“I started the Facebook group, as a way of putting a call out to people in the area. We photographed about 40 empty properties, all in the Queen Street, Head Street, High Street and St John’s Street part of town.”

The Gazette also had a hand in spreading the word about the project.

Mr Wright said: “The publicity really helped to get things moving.

“After word got out, we had to push for our first proper meeting. I had to start looking for a suitable property, contact organisations and look for a way of getting things off the ground.”

Eight local artists were at the first meeting in March, and all are still involved.

By May, the team had the keys to its first venue, an empty shop in Long Wyre Street and a £4,000 grant from the arts organisation, Firstsite.

Slackspace secured a low rent from owner, the East of England Co-op, and a heavily-discounted business rate from Colchester Council. Four weeks of hard work transformed the premises into the space which opened in June.

Mr Wright said: “I’ve still got scars from all the work we had to do – it was serious hard graft.

“The old shop was a bit like the Marie Celeste – it had just been left. The previous owners had just closed it up, taken the stock they wanted and left everything else, including the shelves and the fittings, so we had to strip the whole place out.”

Since then, the shop has been used for exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and live performances. Volunteers recently learned the project had been nominated for a prestigious arts award, the New Statesman Upstarts Award.

And this week, a Korean TV crew paid a visit to learn the secrets of Slackspace’s success.

Mr Wright said: “No one is making any money out of it. The project has come a long way with a very small amount of funding.

“Other projects starting at the same time in other parts of the region have had Government grants of £50,000-plus, but have yet to achieve as much as Slackspace.

“It just goes to show the enthusiasm of the people involved is more important than any kind of cash injection. As soon as money is involved, everyone wants a piece of it.

“But the success of it is not only down to the amazing commitment of everyone involved, it is also down to the interest of people in the town. Without them, the project would not work.”

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