2024-01-01-annual-report

Orchid Studios. 44-46 Corporation Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 3DE [e-mail]

Dated: Sep 5[th] 2024

TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING 1[st] JAN 2024

Orchid Studios

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 1[st] January 2024. In Compiling this Report the Trustees have had regard to the Northern Ireland Charity Commission’s Public benefit requirements statutory guidance.

Objects

The Objects are to promote and support the advancement of Arts, Culture and Education through supporting visual artists and promoting the value of arts and creativity to the general public, locally (in the greater Belfast area), nationally and internationally, by:

a) establishing and maintaining good quality artist studios that will provide affordable studio and workspace for visual arts and professionals in a studio environment;

b) providing access to appropriate and secure visual artists studios in an accessible location in order to enable and enhance professional and public networks on a local, national and international level;

c) providing facilities for the production of high quality, ambitious art practice across a range of media;

d) promoting the work of artists via a range of forms such as exhibitions, artist talks, public performance, education events, public commissions and publications;

e) cultivating creativity and learning through dialogue and exchange, within and beyond the studio, in order to promote the visual arts and the importance of their role within the development of a rich cultural environment.

Public benefit statement

a) The direct benefits flowing from this purpose include the much-needed provision of affordable studio spaces for visual artists to create artwork, thus also supporting the development of artistic practices and the professional public careers of artists.

b) The direct benefits flowing from this purpose include the enhanced ability of artists to develop networks locally, nationally and internationally through the provision of wellmaintained and professionally engaged and networked studios.

c) The direct benefits from this are that members are provided with good quality studios and facilities that support the development and production of high quality and ambitious artworks, thus supporting art practices across a range of media. The longer-term benefits are that these practices and artworks, through exhibition and other public contexts, enhance the richness, diversity and experience of cultural life in Northern Ireland and beyond.

d) The direct benefits from this purpose include the increased visibility of the visual art activities of our members through public outputs such as exhibitions, projects and workshops. These platforms and events contribute to the enhancement and richness of art, culture and community in Northern Ireland.

e) The direct benefit from this purpose is the enrichment of the public’s experience of the visual arts and creative practices through their encounters with artists and their practices via the context of open studio events, public exhibitions, public talks and community/public engagement events such as the Open Studios. E.g., The Open Studios are an opportunity for the public to engage directly with the artists within the studio environment and to get an insight into their working practices. These public events encourage an enhanced educational and public awareness of visual art creative practice and a deeper understanding of the arts and their role in exploring and communicating a wide range of subjects and ideas.

Through regular studio meetings, feedback, and reports the benefits from these purposes will be demonstrated via;

a) members’ successes in their artistic practice as demonstrated via exhibition outputs, awards, prizes, public projects, commissions, achievements, recognition at local, national, and international level, and through their career development.

b) invitations and studio-visits from local, national, and international networks of curators, interested wider public and art critics.

c) promotional materials relating to members’ artwork and exhibitions, highlighting the development of innovative work, showing the recognition received within art networks and in the wider public realm.

d) members’ public facing or educational activities, such as workshops, open studios and talks that lead onto further opportunities.

e) the diversity, reach and quality of activities, enhancing visual art awareness, value and education within, and to, the wider public and cultural environment.

There is no harm arising from any of the purposes.

The charity’s beneficiaries are visual artists, the visual arts community and the wider general public.

There is no private benefit that flows from the purpose of the charity other than the incidental benefit to visual artists having adequate affordable studios to work in, which is necessary in order to achieve the direct and wider benefits of the charity.

Activities / Performance Report:

Studio provision

In the period from Jan 2023 to Jan 2024 we have been able to maintain and provide nine good quality, secure, affordable studio spaces. We have been able to increase this number from eight by adding an additional studio space and enabling another artist to become a member and avail of studio provision. We have also been able to provide workshop space and communal areas.

Activities enabled by studio provision

The quality studio provision allows for and enables a wide range of members’ art practices that contribute to membership and public benefit. As part of this it also enables the development of its members’ careers which it supports through providing a vibrant studio environment, professional networks and peer supportive ethos. This provision allows for members’ activities to thrive and develop and contribute to the wider public and to the advancement of arts and culture and education in and from Northern Ireland. Temporary studio provision is provided from time to time to artists who are not members.

Examples (Period 2[nd] Jan 2023 to 1[st] Jan 2024):

Solo exhibitions include:

Gospel of the Swamp Things – ABRIDGED projects. CCA Derry/Londonderry online. For this, in collaboration with France based artist, a boat, Sheebang was built and launched as an artwork for real life. Sheebang featured in the National Museums Ireland blog discussing at maritime heritage and boat design.

ha ha Syzygetically Speaking. Cathedral Quarter Art Festival. Commissioned public artworks (specially produced flags for seven public sites) for Cathedral Quarter Art Festival, Belfast.

Ha ha Syzygetic Summit Stammers (Bearnagh) . Green Room / Black Box, Belfast. Exploring a pata-perceptual space to understand and celebrate the stammer.

An Instinct, A Continuance. GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art), Waterford, Ireland. Based on archival historical photographs from WW2, installation of photographic prints, text works, and video artworks made with NI film-maker Siobhan Mullen, commissioned by Jenna Whelan.

Shutter: close to the close. Solo performances at the Queen Elizabeth Hall site, curated by Marina Abramović and the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI). Commissioned by the Southbank Centre, London.

Léaspáin. Culturlann, Belfast . Body of artwork exploring the intersection of psychedelic sensual experiences in nature with traditional Irish folklore. Solo exhibition of new video works.

Right to the Night. An ongoing project addressing the impact of light pollution through advocacy and artistic means. Curated by Household & supported by Belfast City Council. Exhibition, screenings, workshops, talks and walks.

Druthaib’s Ball . Exhibition as part of Array Collective (this studio member is also a member of Array Collective) at Ulster Museum, Belfast. Included exhibition tours for Here NI as part of Belfast Pride, NI Rural Women’s Network and Save Our Sperrins.

Group exhibitions / projects include:

The Undead Archive: 100 Years of Photographing Ghosts. Gallery 1C03, University of Winnipeg School of Art Gallery, University of Manitoba.

The Art of Resistance Save Our Sperrins fundraiser at 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast.

RUA 142nd Annual Exhibition Royal Ulster Academy, Ulster Museum. Belfast.

In Among it All, collaborative performance, FIX Performance Art Festival; 2023, Catalyst Arts at Portview Trade Centre, Belfast.

Tinfoil, Changing Show , and Mixed Media three group exhibitions at the Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast.

Amalgama at ADEMA Escuela Universitaria / Fundacion Barcelo. Palma, Mallorca. Spain. Exhibition project involving artist, educators and students from around Europe.

The Distilled Eye with Belfast International Festival of Performance Art (BIFPA) at the Ulster University Gallery, Belfast.

Untitled performances as part of PODO Performance Art Festival at the Studio Im hochhaus and Grüntaler9, Berlin, Germany.

TWIST Residency based project, involving the production of video artwork entitled: Estrangement , site-responsive performances entitled: Ration, public talk, and forthcoming publication. Commissioned by curator Dr Mary Knights for the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania.

Self Determination , as part of Array Collective contribution to the group exhibition of Irish and international artworks at IMMA, Dublin. The exhibition focuses on the nation-states that emerged in the wake of the First World War, exploring the role of art and artists in relation to the expression of national identities, nation-building, and statecraft.

Súitú. AEMI (Artist Experimental Moving Image) international touring programme of moving image artworks travelled to Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Malmö, Stockholm, Dublin, Sligo and Belfast.

Talks / Events include:

ADEMA Escuela Universitaria public talk on art education and art in public space / Fundacion Barcelo. Palma, Mallorca. Spain.

Women’s Stories , a screening event and dialogue with architect Susan Dunne (Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris-Malaquais) and Hélène Alfaro-Hamayon (researcher in Irish studies at the Université Gustave Eiffel) as part of the ‘Cité des Dames, Créatrices dans la cité’ project hosted at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, commissioned by CCI and Universite Gustave Eiffel.

RUA 142nd Annual Exhibition Educational talk for the Royal Ulster Academy Annual exhibition, Ulster Museum. Belfast.

Difficult Conversations , a panel conversation and book launch as part of the Good Friday Agreement 25[th] Anniversary Celebrations, hosted at Ulster university in collaboration with University of Canberra and supported by the British Council, Belfast.

Right to the Night, Exhibition and public talks Girdwood Community Hub, Belfast as part of N.I Science Festival. Includes: Project launch, talk and film screening, Duncairn Arts Centre. Bat Walk with Wild Belfast in Belfast Castle grounds, looking at the impact of light pollution on urban nocturnal species. This resulted in Belfast City Council (BCC) putting filters on the castle exterior lights at Christmas to make the lighting more dark sky friendly. Cavehill walk with the Roy Walkers for stargazing despite Belfast skyglow. Night Row with Lagan Currachs looking at light pollution from the river. Walks identifying and photographing light pollution in North Belfast. Meetings with departments within BCC including representatives from Community Development, Landscape Architecture, Parks Dept, and Lighting Dept. & meeting individuals for advice on setting up advocacy group including astronomers.

No good ideas and no full solutions, just a necessary stupidity . Art, Imagination and the Planetary Crisis. SECA (Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action) SECA QUB, Belfast. Artist presentation discussing modes of creative practice that engage public ecosocial activism.

Druthaib’s Ball . Artist-led exhibition tour at the Ulster Museum for Here NI as part of Belfast Pride, NI Rural Women’s Network and Save Our Sperrins.

Workshops include:

Facilitating free public woodland drawing workshops with SECA (Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action) as part of an ongoing ‘drawing as nature’ programme as a way to engage local greenspaces and creativity. As part of the SECA programme also presented at a public panel discussion on how creativity might be used to respond to the Planetary Crisis.

Organising the Rewind Fast-forward Record Queer Histories and Masks workshop and performance at Ulster Museum, Aug 2023. Cross-border project for LGBTQIA+ creatives.

Facilitating the Creativity + Conflict symposium, as part of the Belfast International Festival of Performance Art 23 BIFPA (Belfast International Festival of Performance Art) organized with Siobhan Mullen, Brian Connolly, Zara Lyness, Thomas Wells, Brian Patterson, Sinead O’Donnell, hosted at the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

Publication includes:

The Art of Ectoplasm: Encounters with Winnipeg’s Ghost Photographs University of Manitoba Press, 2023. Editor: Serena Keshavjee.

Landscape and Environment in Contemporary Irish Art

Churchill House Press, 2023. Author: Yvonne Scott.

3-D Experimental VR and Art Practices: Untangling Another Dimension Intellect Books, 2023. Author Rebecca Hackemann.

TALK: Issue 4 Handmade screen printed publication by Small Night Projects, Ireland Editors: James Merrigan, Alan Phelan, Laura Fitzgerald

Troubles Art. National Museums NI. Project exhibition catalogue

Exploring traditional boats with visual artist... National Museums Ireland. Ed. Noel Campbell. Author: Dan Shipsides. Our Heritage Life Blog.

Studio visits include:

Visits from external parties to Orchid Studios are invaluable in generating networks and opportunities:

There have been studio visits, meetings with curators or organisations such as: Household, UPHOLD, Temple Bar Gallery, and CCA Derry-Londonderry, VAI (Visual Artist Ireland), Freelands Foundation, AN (Artist Newsletter), Beagles and Ramsay, SECA (Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action), BA Fine Art students from the Belfast School of Art, MFA students from the Belfast School of Art, Catalyst Arts, Black Box, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, ADEMA and various other independent curators.

Commissions include:

Sheebang. A boat part-commissioned for Abridged Projects. Featured in National Museums Ireland blog on Maritime Heritage. The boat, as a way to engage with public water spaces will be a feature of other public art and community-based activities throughout the coming years.

ha ha Syzygetically Speaking. Cathedral Quarter Art Festival. Commissioned public artworks (specially produced flags for seven public sites) for Cathedral Quarter Art Festival.

Self-Determination Array Collective were commissioned by IMMA to produce work for this group exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

Gintliocht , Video commission from the Ulster Folk Museum responding to heritage craft.

During the reporting period members have been working towards the forthcoming exhibitions:

Stones from a Gentle Place . CCA Derry/Londonderry. An exhibition of video, audio, sculpture, and installation examining the mechanics and significance of storytelling in Irish culture. Objects, sound, music, video and research materials relating to the geology and mythology of Ireland.

Fuaim Faoi Cheilt/ With Hidden Noise. Cultúrlann, Belfast. Three pieces referring to a 1913 work by Marcel Duchamp, titled With Hidden Noise.

Drawing as Nature REACH Festival 2024: Arts and Sustainability QUB. Public participatory drawing workshops, panel discussion and exhibition of participatory artworks.

Testimonies:

As stated, we collect feedback from members as to value of the studio provision at Orchid Studios. Here are some testimonies from the recent period:

Having a studio at Orchid is invaluable to me and fulfils many functions for me. It allows me to have a space to think by making. I use it to develop and explore concepts, musings and narratives. I have the space and freedom to play with materials and workout ways to communicate ideas. These ideas can be with a view to building a body of work for show or can be passing wonderings that may lead to future development. Although materialisation of passing wonderings often seems insignificant, these creations often become refined over time and form finished pieces which are publicly exhibited. The studio allows me not just the physical space but the mental space to look, analyse and understand my own practice.

Being part of the studio group and a community is important for me. There is room for discussion, critique and the recognition of a shared purpose. The knowledge of it being there as my creative place to return to, does provide a security and peace. It also is the base where work develops before eventually reaching the public.

To have a studio to store work and to lay out new work in development is really important when it comes to getting studio visits from curators, peers or mentors.

It is extremely valuable to be in a studio group. Art making is a solitary process and can be very isolating. It is amazing to go to a studio where I will bump into other artists, we will talk about what we are working on, or just say hello. Our studio is centrally located, the building has a lift, large windows and large spaces. All of this enables my work to flourish.

Having a studio at Orchid has been invaluable to me. Since joining in May 2023 I have had the space to physically immerse myself in my sculptural practice as well as continuing an ongoing body of drawing work. I have also continued my public projects raising awareness of the nighttime environment and light pollution. The working environment with other artists has been invaluable. I have also been able to bring students from the BA Fine Art (where I teach) to see the studios which give valuable insight to working practices of artists.

In my studio I have been working with works on paper and mixed media pieces – which is made possible by having large and adaptable workspace. The studio also allows me to construct storage possibilities for existing sculptures and framed works as well as

documenting some of them for a website that I am preparing. Older and large work is something that is needed to be stored, so they can be publicly seen in future opportunities and as key to the legacy of an artist’s activities.

The studio is an essential place for creativity – it offers space, facilities, networks and most importantly space for things to happen. It is a strange place – unlike most other places of work – where new ways of thinking and new logics can emerge. This means it’s also a diverse place – and all the artists in the studios have very different practices and ways of working – and different experiences – so there’s a great sense of possibility. Everyone is also involved in finding ways for their work to reach the public in many different and pertinent ways – so the sense of public engagement and social relevance is very real. I think this generates the possibility for exciting and challenging and ambitious artworks.

Working over many years and exhibition a lot also means a space for storage and the administration of an art practice is important. Much of my work is large and some of it fragile and so the ability to build and store crates is vital – so that the work can travel of other places to be seen

My studio Orchid Studios gave me space to develop work for an ambitious solo exhibition. I was able to recreate elements of my studio in the exhibition. The workshop facility in our studio enabled me to experiment with more sculptural elements.

Financial Review for year 2[nd] Jan 2023 / 1[st] Jan 2024

EXPENDITURE (£)	2nd Jan 2023–1st Jan 2024
Rent	9.600.00
Building Management Fees	4,200.00
Electricity: Light and Heat	322.75
Website Hosting	115.14
Fire Safety Maintenance	88.80
Sundries	29.49
Total Expenditure (£)	14,356.18
INCOME (£)	2nd Jan 2023–1st Jan 2024
Member Rent Contributions	13,375.00
Member Contributions to Electricity	315.00
Total Income (£)	£ 13,690
Balance 02/01/2023 (£)	4,537.24
Total Income (£)	13,690
Total Expenditure (£)	14,356.18
Total Cash Flow (£)	- 666.18
Balance 01/01/2024 (£)	3,871.06

There have been no salary payments. The management and administration duties of Orchid Studios are undertaken by members of the association on a voluntary basis – this is in line with the ethos of the association. There were no payments made to Trustees during the reporting period 2nd Jan 2023–1st Jan 2024.

Funds in Deficit, Funds Materially in Deficit

As of 1st January 2024 the association had no funds materially in deficit.

Reserves Policy

The Reserves Policy of Orchid Studios is to maintain sufficient and appropriate reserves to enable continuing operations in the event of any potential risks that may arise.

Structure Governance and Management

Governing Document

Orchid Studios is an Association. The Charity is governed under a constitution and is managed by the trustees of the organisation. The office bearer roles are elected on an annual basis.

Appointment of Trustees

The Trustees were appointed on 14th Dec 2023 in accordance with Orchid Studios

Constitution, with exception of Yvonne Kennan who was appointed 5[th] Sep 2024. Another trustee, Susan Hughes is planned to be appointed in Sep 2024.

Reference and administrative details

Name of Charity: Orchid Studios

Other names used by the Charity: None

Charity number: Registered Charity in Northern Ireland: NIC 108914

Principal Address:

Orchid Studios 44-46 Corporation Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 3DE

Points of Contact:

Orchid Studios 44-46 Corporation Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 3DE

Email: [e-mail]

FB: https://www.facebook.com/orchidstudiosbelfast/

List of current trustees (as of 5[th] Sep 2024):

Dan Shipsides (Chair)

Susan MacWilliam (Treasurer)

Alison Fitzgerald

Colin Darke

Yvonne Kennan

This report was approved by the Trustees on 5[th] Sep 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Chair Dan Shipsides

Treasurer

Susan MacWilliam

Trustee

Alison Fitzgerald

Trustee

Colin Darke

Trustee

Yvonne Kennan

Independent Examiner's Report Sep 2024 Ind•p•nd•nt Exarnln•rf• R•port to th• truit•• of Or¢hld Studlo {Ih• COm￿ny) I report io the charty truslee8 on my examination ol ￿ accounts ol the Company for the year ended 01 January 2024. R•sp•ctlv• r•$ponlbllltl•s of charlty trust••A and •xamln•r As the charlty's trusiees you are reS￿nsIble for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with tho Charities Acl (Northem Ireland) 2008. H8vlng Satisfied myself that the a¢counts of Orchld Sludlo are not required to be audlted under Part 16 of the 2006 Acl and are elwible for independenl examination, I reFx)rt in respect ol my examinallon of your chanty's accounts as camed out under section 65 (2) of Ihe Charltles Acl (Northem IfelaThl) 20081.the 21x18 Act,). In carylng out my examlnallon I have followed the Olrecllons given by Ihe Ch8rlty Commisslon lor Northem Irel￿d under sects'm 65{9llbl ol lh8 2008 Aci. Ba•ls of Ind•p•nd•nt •xamln•rf• •tat•m•nt I have examSned your charity accounts 88 required under section 6S ol the Charities Acl and my ex8mlnatlon w8s carded out In accordance with the general Direclj'ons given by Ihe Charlly Commisslon for Northern Ireland under se¢tlon 65(9)(b) ol the Charities Acl. My examiiatlon Included a revlew of the accounting records kept by Ihe charity and a comparlson of the 8ccx)unts pre5enled wllh Ihose records. It also Included conslderatlon of any unusual Items or dlsdosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as ¢harlty trustees concamlng any such matters. My role Is to slate whelher any materlal matter3 have come to my attentlon glvlng me cause to believe that: 1, 8¢Muntlng records wern not ke(rt In re8pe¢l ol Orchld Studb as required by sectlon 386 01 the 20C* Act: ( 2. the accounts do not 8CeOfd wlth Ihose records; or 3, the accounts do not comply with Ihe accountlng requlrements of sectlon 396 of the 2006 Acl other than any requirement Ihal the accounts give a Irue and falr view, which Is rKIl 8 matter consldfrred as part of an independent examinatbn,. or 4, the acC￿niS have not been prepared In accordance wlth the methods and prIn¢i￿e9 ol the Statement of Recommended Practlce for a¢countlng and reportlng by ¢haiities lappllcable to charibes preparing thelr aCc￿nIS In accordance wlth the Financlal Reporting Siandard 8ppIic8ble In the UK and Republlc of Ireland (FRS 102)]. I have compleled my examinatlon and have no concems in respect ol the matters (1) 10 14) Ilsted above and, In connedon wlih loll¢)wlno the Directs'ons ol the Charlty Comrnisslon for Northem Ire18nd, I have found no maiters that requlre drawing lo your attentM>n. Pelér Mutsthlèr 1 Cregagh Parf( Bellast BT6 9LF 11 Sewrthr 2024