So, in mid January this year, our studio landlord issued all the studio holders with two month’s notice to leave! Didn’t see that coming.
I was just getting settled into my new studio space (of 3 months) when I was on the move again. There was the possibility of staying but it involved endless meetings with local ‘supporter groups’ and the local council (who owned the building), without any security that the building wouldn’t get boarded up on eviction day! It was all very stressful and not a conducive environment for running a business.
I started looking around for alternative spaces, of which there was surprisingly very few. But after making some enquiries, a couple of options did come up and I went along to look at them. The second space I saw seemed like a real possibility: the space was bigger; had heating (a major plus!); had it’s own kitchenette; and there were similar small businesses on site.
It was a difficult decision to make as it meant leaving the other artists behind and moving to a studio nearly 10 miles away. But the security the new space offered was the decider.
We moved out in March 2023, the end of an era.