Craven Arts Annual report 2020 - 21 year
AGM May 25th 2021
Chairs Report
Summary
Ann Rutherford took over as chair of both Craven Arts and it’s subsidiary board Craven Arts House from the last AGM. We are grateful to Virpi Kettu for all she has done over the past years - her energy and enthusiasm has given Craven Arts strong foundations to go forward.
It has been an interesting year to say the least. Covid made it impossible to hold the Craven Arts usual programme of events. 2020 saw the annual open studios event cancelled, and the collaboration with Mill Bridge gallery suspended for a year. The exhibition at the Folly, Settle, that so many of our artists were taking part in has also been cancelled to 2022.
On the upside, in between lockdowns, we secured the temporary use of the former TSB building on Caroline Square, Skipton. This proved a great resource through C19 as we were able to open and promote the space for artists and members and even sell from the window space during lockdowns. We retained the studios at 7a Otley St which is occupied with 4 studio holders.
Grants in from CDC
Due to C19 Craven Arts received grants in from Craven District Council. This money has been used to support the opening of the Hub space through the payment of business rates and free use of the studios for several months in 7a Otley St during the period when the public were unable to access the spaces. We have also taken on our first employee.
The Craven Arts Hub
Opened in October 2020 after signing a temporary lease with Douglas Conn the London based landlord. Craven Arts occupies the building on a temporary basis with a 30 day break clause. So far the use of the building has enabled a super residency programme that is still ongoing. At the moment Jonathon Britten occupies the residency slot which continues with an accompanying exhibition.
We are very grateful to Bev Parker who set up her popular studio in the Arts Hub and who has kept an eye on the building whilst providing a reliable unlocking and locking up service for all the artists and the public who access the building regularly.
A big thank you must also go out to all the volunteers who have either painted, kept clean or manned the exhibition space engaging with and helping the public to enjoy the art as they do so.
The Board
We have been happy and lucky to recruit several new people onto the board and we are in the process of merging the two boards of Craven Arts and Craven Arts House. Craven Arts House is now a subsidiary board of Craven Arts.
Craven Arts board members:
Ann Rutherford Carolyn Hird-Rogers Elizabeth Roodhouse Gabriela Boiangiu Claire Lamkin Kerrie Jefferies
Craven Arts House subsidiary board: Ann Rutherford Carolyn Hird-Rogers Kate Beard Virpi Kettu Christine North
Membership
The current membership amount stands at 79
First employee
We have taken on our first employee Robyn Nichol. Robyn started in February 2020 and is our marketing and social media coordinator. She will be with us until September 2021. We are thankful to Virpi Kettu who has been mentoring Robyn through the paid internship schedule.
Craven Arts House
Craven Arts House is gradually turning from a dream into a reality for Craven Arts. Through 2020 the board has been meeting with architects and consultants to progress this large and prestigious project for Craven Arts and Skipton. There is still much work to do and efforts to fundraise for the building’s refurbishment continues. 600k has already been raised from the Heritage Action Zone fund to pay for the refurbishment. Ann Rutherford is working with a project manager James Newbold to secure the remaining funding.
Craven Arts Studios and Exhibitions Report
Mill Bridge Gallery suspended the planned programme of members exhibitions due to the lockdowns, but we did manage a last minute pop-up Summer show with 29 of our members exhibiting work. Mill Bridge Gallery also supported the Craven Arts members Christmas Exhibition with one piece from each artist showing at the HUB gallery on display.
The Otley Street studios remained occupied and the artists were able to work behind locked doors during the second and third lockdowns, in between they welcomed visitors on a limited basis.
In August 2020 Craven Arts was offered the use of the former TSB building in Skipton, for use as a pop-up gallery/studios /artist workshop space. By late September we had the keys, painted the downstairs spaces, put up a sign, mounted the first exhibition, installed an artist, Bev Parker, in her first dedicated studio space and had our first residency artist , opera singer Bibi Heal with her Song Surgery ready to welcome visitors.
On October 2[nd] the mayor came along and officially opened the Hub, Bibi prescribed a song for the mayor and a limited number of visitors enjoyed the atmosphere.
Our plans for November were curtailed by the lockdown so our exhibiting artists mounted a window display which attracted a lot of interest and our second residency artist, Kerri Jeffris managed to work behind closed doors on an interactive film and installation ‘Oracular Theatre’ which was able to be opened to the public for the last two days of the residency. The films produced have been shared on all our social media platforms and Kerri and her collaborator Sophie Chapman were successful in their Arts Council grant application for this project, a first for Craven Arts to help facilitate this.
During December the Hub hosted our annual members Christmas selling exhibition with 23 members exhibiting their work and sharing the stewarding of the space. We had plenty of visitors and the majority of the artists sold work. This exhibition was then extended throughout January and February 2021 lockdown as a weekly changing window display and interest and sales were generated from doing this.
We concluded the window displays during March with a body of work by Adele Froude both 2D and 3D pieces, bringing to life tales of the countryside.
The Hub has now reopened, April saw the re-instalment of the curtailed November exhibition by Joan Newall, Rebecca Carr and Anna Hewlett with the residency space taken by Jonathan Britten.
The Hub is proving to be a popular space, artist led workshops will start at the end of May, Bev is still happy in her studio and the exhibition space will continue to host artists work.
Profit & Loss
The Craven Arts Charitable Trust
Accounting Year 2020/21
| Debit | Credit | |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | 7,337 | |
| Sales | 2,646 | |
| Studio License Fee | 2,585 | |
| Membership Subscriptions | 140 | |
| Arts Trail | 182 | |
| Xmas Exhibition | 1,304 | |
| Hub Licence Fee | 280 | |
| Hub Wall Hire | 200 | |
| Other Income add |
19,432 | |
| Interest Received | 1 | |
| Grant Income | 19,431 | |
| Administration Expenses less |
13,831 | |
| Office Costs | 1,411 | |
| Studio License Fees | 540 | |
| Rent - Studio | 5,880 | |
| Net Artists' Sales | 1,851 | |
| Web Hosting | 185 | |
| Office Equipment | 40 | |
| Mobile Phone | 45 | |
| Advertising and Promotion | 1,088 | |
| Legal and Professional Fees | 2,190 | |
| Subscriptions | 444 | |
| Insurance | 142 | |
| Travel | 14 | |
| Staff Costs less |
193 | |
| Net Salary Expense | 193 | |
| Depreciation less |
30 | |
| Depreciation Charge | 30 |
Operating Profit
£12,715
| less Drawings | £0 |
|---|---|
| less Profit & Loss journal entries | £0 |
| Retained Profit this period: | £12,715 |
| Retained Profit brought forward: | £4,067 |
| Distributable Reserves / Retained Profit carried forward: | £16,783 |