NEW ART WEST MIDLANDS

Art Market Project West Midlands

SUPPORTING INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION
Birmingham City University has been successful in its bid for Arts Council funding to support
a new phase of development for an Art Market Project in the West Midlands (2014-2016)
and is now seeking a Head of Art Market Project to work with a network of universities,
museums, galleries, curators and artists for the benefit of the visual arts sector and public
audiences.
CONTEXT
The Art Market Project will be integrated with the work of Turning Point West Midlands
(TPWM) hosted by BCU and supported by ACE and partner organisations to strengthen the
visual arts in the West Midlands.
A TPWM initiative New Art West Midlands is an existing major exhibition showcase of
graduate work that takes place annually with 5 universities and 9 gallery partners. The
existing showcase is a key project and growing brand attracting an audience of around
50,000 pa and will play an important part in new developments.
The heading `New Art West Midlands' (and the current NAWM website) will be broadened to
encompass activity that seeks to develop new audiences including Art Market project activity.
The aims of this new funding and development phase for the region are to maximise
opportunities to make visible quality work and to strengthen relationships between artists,
curators, friends and patrons of museums and arts organisations and to strengthen public
engagement and audiences in the region and beyond.
This will be done by:

Adopting a more joined up and integrated approach to increase the visibility of the
current assets of a geographically and culturally diverse region comprising 5.2million
poeple: assets include the region's major arts organisations such as Ikon Gallery, the
New Art Gallery Walsall, Eastside Projects, and mac, and on its prestigious museum
collections such as those at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, The Herbert Art
Gallery, Mead Gallery, Compton Verney, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, the region's
archives, and artist led spaces such as Airspace, Movement Gallery, Stryx, Grand
Union, and The Lombard Method, and agencies such as Craftspace.

Developing stronger links with artists making work in the region. It is recognised that
museums have an essential role in supporting artists through commissioning and
acquisition.

Supporting the development of collections of contemporary art, commissioning new

writing, supporting new graduates, for example through the New Art West Midlands

graduate showcase exhibition and to increase opportunities for selling at degree

shows.

By building on recent initiatives such as i) the Outset regional initiative and the Art
Fund International acquisitions made by The New Art Gallery Walsall, and
Birmingham Museum Trust working with Ikon gallery ii) the Library of Birmingham's
photographic collection and GRAIN programme, iii) and the nationally renowned
British Ceramics Biennial held in Stoke-on-Trent, and iv) by the work by Division of
Labour and Eastside Projects.

By encouraging the acquisition of contemporary art for public collections and liaising
with national partners such as the Contemporary Art Society.

BACKGROUND
The West Midlands is a large and diverse regional area with a population of around
5.2million. In addition to the well known and reputable galleries such as Ikon, Eastside
Projects, and the New Art Gallery Walsall, and recognised collections like those of
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Library of Birmingham photography collection, and
the Mead Gallery, there is an array of festivals, artist led galleries and groups that are
making a significant contribution to a growing visual arts scene.
In 2008 Sowing the Seeds was commissioned as a major review of the current and
potential markets for the visual arts in the West Midlands by Arts Council, Arts & Business,
Birmingham City Council and Business Link West Midlands. The publication Cultivate,
written and edited by Matt Price, came out of this research.
The consortium sought to capitalise on recent activity in the region including the Art Fund
International collaboration, New Art Birmingham, Visual, and Art of Ideas. Art of Ideas took
place over 3 years and continued the dialogue and thinking through hosting events, selling
exhibitions and debates. These projects were developed in response to the 2004 Taste
Buds Report commissioned by ACE that consulted with 6000 artists, buyers, dealers and
gallerists focusing on how to cultivate the art market examining the ecology of production,
supply and demand. Data and the evaluations of these projects demonstrate that the
market has potential for growth. Research also identified that a long-term, strategic and
partnership approach was required to develop the market.
In addition, organisations in the region have worked in partnership with the Contemporary Art
Society (CAS), The Collective, ArtTactic, ArtProjx, Own Art and commercial galleries to focus
on this area of work and to deliver initiatives in the region.
This activity pointed to a number of regional strengths such as the major regional collections
and public galleries close geographical proximity to maximise partnerships, increasing the
number of artists with critical reputations wanting to stay in the region and the potential for a
collector base.
The challenges identified included the lack of work spaces, visibility and profile for artists and
collections, the lack of a selling space/commercial gallery in the region for critically engaged
work and the need for stronger endorsement models from collecting institutions for artists
based in the region.
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The region is committed to supporting artists, to raising the profile of the visual arts and
reaching new audiences. In 2010 Turning Point West Midlands was set up, hosted by
Birmingham City University and with funding from Arts Council England. A regional network
for the visual arts and part of the Contemporary Visual Arts Network (CVAN), TPWM will
continue to work with organisations on a number of initiatives including the development of
the Art Market Project as part of New Art West Midlands to strengthen the visual arts in the
region.