live & work

Apartment

Apartment, artist led exhibition space, Manchester

about: 

Apartment was a site specific artist led exhibition and project space in a one bed council flat in a sixties tower block, Lamport Court, central Manchester. Apartment was run by artists Hilary Jack and Paul Harfleet from 2003- 2009. Artists were invited to exhibit their work alongside the everyday objects in the flat. Paul the then resident continued to live alongside the exhibitions as they occurred. After six years Hilary Jack and Paul Harfleet closed Apartment to pursue their own careers as artists. The final and closing exhibition was a solo show by Giorgio Sadotti.

how is/was it run/structured ?: 

what is/was it's legal status ?: 

  • other

how is/was it funded ?: 

history of the site: 

Apartment was located in a white one bedroom flat in Lamport Court a sixties residential council tower block in central Manchester. Lamport Court is sometimes referred to as "Rock n' Roll Towers" due to the high proportion of artists and musicians living there. Lamport Court was also home to the poetry magazine "Lamport Court" and the musician Lonelady who played a fund raising acoustic gig at Apartment.

exhibitions, events, workshops: 

solo exhibitions, artists residencies, writer in residence, group shows and acoustic performances and events

bibliography: 

Between 2003 and 2009 Hilary Jack and Paul Harfleet facilitated an annual programme of group and solo exhibitions, artists residencies and events for post graduate emerging and established UK and International artists. Jack and Harfleet also curated off site exhibitions at Surface Gallery Nottingham, Cornerhouse Manchester, Axel Lapp Projects, Berlin. They also curated Artranspennine08, a muti site exhibition of over forty artists across the Trans Pennine Way. Details can be seen on our blog www.apartmentmanchester.blogspot.com and www.arttranspennine08.blogspot.com

address: 

Apartment
Grosvenor Street Lamport Court
M1 7EQ Manchester 53° 28' 19.128" N, 2° 13' 59.7936" W
GB

total size in sqm/sqft: 

usage: 

previous usage of the site: 

number of exhibition/project spaces: 

established: 

2003

vacated: 

2009

last known status of the project: 

last known status of the site: 

RUN

about: 

RUN was a non-for-profit curatorial collective based in London, UK. RUN was initially established as a peripatetic project space in Berlin, Germany in 2006. From January 2007 until July 2008 RUN occupied a permanent location on Tudor Grove, Hackney, London.

Central to our mission was the development of projects that fostered partnerships between established and emerging practitioners across disciplines within the wider cultural landscape. RUN strived to facilitate collaboration by operating within a non-hierarchal framework that endeavoured to promote debate, innovation, sharing of information and experience for all involved. RUN projects encompassed different formats such as lectures, publications and record releases in a move to engage with a larger and more diverse audience.

how is/was it run/structured ?: 

what is/was it's legal status ?: 

  • unincorporated organisation

how is/was it funded ?: 

address: 

RUN
24 Tudor Grove
E9 7QL London 51° 32' 20.5332" N, 0° 3' 14.958" W
GB

total size in sqm/sqft: 

usage: 

number of exhibition/project spaces: 

established: 

2006

vacated: 

2009

last known status of the project: 

last known status of the site: 

Acme Studios: Devons Road

David Panton and Jonathan Harvey outside 117 Devons Road, E3 one of the first two Acme houses and first office. Photo: Claire Smith (1974)

about: 

The first properties to be managed by Acme Studios were 105 and 117 Devons Road in Bow, E3, in the heart of London’s East End. These redundant and semi-derelict Victorian shops, licensed to Acme in 1973 by the Greater London Council (for 21 months), marked the beginnings of an organisation which would become the largest provider of working and living space for artists in the United Kingdom. As part of the licence artists were required to carry out extensive repairs in exchange for very low rents (£3 per week) and agreement to hand properties back when required for demolition.

from: 'Artists in East London'
online available at: www.acme.org.uk/download.php?pdf=149
(accessed September 2013)

'Groundbreaking times: the first ten years of Acme' - Jonathan Harvey

Setting up Acme Studios in 1972 was driven by necessity. As a group of recent graduates coming out of Reading University Fine Art Department, it was about thinking: ‘We have to get to London, London is where it’s happening. How on earth does one afford to have a space to live and work there?’

At that time, there were a lot of boarded-up, unused premises in east London – one or two of our contemporaries had made approaches to the Greater London Council (GLC) and had successfully negotiated an odd shop here or an old house there. This alerted us to the possibility and we went direct to the GLC and said: ‘Look, there’s all this empty property that’s just sitting there unused.’ Much of it was destined for major housing redevelopment which was delayed because of the economic down-turn. The GLC responded: ‘Well, you’ve got two alternatives, one is to squat, but we’ll get you out, and the other is to go away and form a housing association.'

It took seven people and ten pounds each to register as a charitable housing association. The GLC transferred two properties in Bow on Devons Road – I had one and my co-founder David Panton had the other. Each had a 21-month life, no utilities, and were in appalling condition, but when you’ve got no money and there’s a lot of space – even though it was short term – we made very good use of them.

I think the GLC was impressed by how quickly we were able to put the properties back into use, so it started to transfer more. We needed five houses for the seven founder members, but when we were offered more and more property, we said: ‘We know so many artists that could benefit from this.’

There was no intention to start an organisation – we sort of stumbled into it – but within a year we were managing about 90 houses and realised this was becoming more than a full-time job. There is still a huge challenge to be able to live in London and practice as an artist. Affording somewhere to live is challenging enough, but then to have somewhere to work – that challenge, or demand, has never gone away. (...)

from: 'Groundbreaking times: the first ten years of Acme'
online available at: www.new.a-n.co.uk/news/single/groundbreaking-times-the-first-ten-years-o...
(accessed September 2013)

how is/was it run/structured ?: 

what is/was it's legal status ?: 

  • charity

how is/was it funded ?: 

history of the site: 

Devons Road:
Earlier called Bromley Lane, the road may have gained its present name from former landowner Thomas Devon. Like most of Bromley-​​by-​​Bow, this area began to fill with warehouses and working-​​class housing from the 1820s and became progressively poorer and more overcrowded as the 19th century wore on. Using funds generated by the sale of the City church of All Hallows Staining, the Grocers’ Company paid for the construction of All Hallows Bow in 1873–4. The church was wrecked by a bomb during the Blitz and was afterwards rebuilt in a style inspired by Early Christian archi­tecture, utilising surviving parts of the original core. The interior has since been subdivided to introduce a multi-​​functional hall. Municipal slum clearance and flat-​​building trans­formed the vicinity of Devons Road over the course of the 20th century – without signi­ficantly improving its aesthetics – but a handful of Victorian structures have survived. Spratt’s Warehouse, beside the railway track in Violet Road, is regarded as one of Britain’s finest industrial buildings. Built in 1899 to make and store pet food and biscuits, it has now been converted into flats and offices.

from: 'Devons Road, Tower Hamlets'
online available at: www.hidden-london.com/gazetteer/devons-road/
(accessed September 2013)

address: 

105 + 117 Devons Road
E3 3QX London 51° 31' 15.5964" N, 0° 1' 9.1524" W
GB

usage: 

previous usage of the site: 

number of studios: 

types of studios: 

  • private

established: 

1973

vacated: 

1975

last known status of the project: 

last known status of the site: 

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