Art Across at Manifest Arts Festival 2019

'Artists Studios: Myths, Stories, Lives'

17^th July 2019

‘The announcement “I am going to the studio” can mean the going to: the living room, a bedroom, the basement, the attic … the classroom of a vacant school that has been turned over to artists by enlightened city officials …’

Storr, R. (2010). A Room of One’s Own, a Mind of One’s Own.

Romanticised and demystified, represented and researched, interpreted and imagined, the artist studio holds a fascinating aura for the public, while being a necessity, sometimes bearing very little charm, for those involved in the creative practice.

Developed as a response to the vast array of open studios that Manifest Arts Festival showcases, this event resulted in an inspiring possibility to discover more about and reflect on the studio, in its practical and metaphorical complexities. An overview of the transformation of the space of the studio, from the medieval artisan workshop to the romanticised sanctuary of solitary creativity, and then the post-modern rejection of this notion, was enriched by the presentation of the voices of Manchester's own artistic community, collected through an online survey, sharing their experience of the space.

The full recording of the event is available to watch below, with thanks to Roger Bygott.

Read the review of the event here, by Manifest Arts Festival blogger in residence Rachel Connor