Guest blog post: update on Hereford’s newest arts collective

For those of you who don’t know, Market Arts Studios is an exciting new venture that launched this year. Driven by graduates and undergraduates at Hereford Arts College (HCA) the collective has watched ‘storage space’ at the top of Hereford’s newly relaunched Buttermarket be slowly transformed into a complete set of studios and exhibition space.

This guest blog post is written by Phillippa Anderson, director of the project. As part of HCA Launchgrad, it’s been a huge pleasure to work with her this year, watching the group go from strength to strength and forge a unique collaborative identity. It’s no mean feat, managing a project from the very start, and Phillippa has my huge respect. I can’t wait to see what happens next. If you’re interested in following the collective in their journey then watch this space as they are currently developing a new website and planning for an open studio launch! Over to Phillippa to tell you more.

Herefords newest art collective is now at full capacity, with 8 studios and 11 artists! Our members work is an exciting mix of practice and diverse concepts.

It has taken 7 months of hard work from conception to realisation. To reference group dynamics (Tuckman, 1965)  in simple terms: We have formed and stormed and are now waiting for ‘norm’. After that, we hope to perform very soon!

We are planning a soft launch to be held on the 27th of July and a hard launch on the 12th, 13th and 14th of September. Please keep your eyes peeled for further information in that respect.

We would really like to thank the people who have supported us in with advice and guidance during our formation. Sarah Crowson from Hereford College of Arts (HCA) has been piloting a‘ Graduate Launchpad’ initiative and  we have been extremely lucky to have worked with Sarah, she has been invaluable, steering us gently from stormy seas to calmer waters! Sarah is a fountain of knowledge and a champion facilitator and she gives both with generosity.

Thank you also to @HCA for allowing us to hold our monthly meeting on their premises as we didn’t have any chairs to seat 11 people (still don’t actually!) Thank you also to Rebecca Farkas from Meadow Arts for giving up time to meet with us and for promoting our existence.

We look forward to seeing you all very soon at our open studio launch, Philippa Anderson, Director.