Axisweb Sign Up Information

Conjunctio Toads (photographed 26th Feb, 2020) and Ascension, 2020, Tin, steel, gold.

We have increased the Public and Product Liability insurance included with membership to ?10 million and for no extra charge!

Insurance cover is part of our Network Associate membership and Membership Bundle.

As a charity we put artists'' first. We're the only artists' membership organisation that provides this level of cover as standard.

It offers greater peace of mind to artists, curators and creative freelancers who may be undertaking more ambitious projects.
 

Tate protests, August 2020. Courtesy Tate United

''Why Artists Must Demand The Impossible'', by Turner Prize winner Tai Shani, is an article on resisting the art world''s rightward drift in an age of COVID-19 cuts and censorship. 

"In July, I experienced something that made me worry even more intensely than usual about the troubled relationship between artists' work and the institutions that 'support' it."
 

The Axisweb Hardship Fund is now temporarily closed. Over the last few months we''ve helped support 110 artists with a combination of money diverted from our Awards programme and also our GoFundMe page. The level of demand has been very high and we''re sorry we can''t help more of our members. We''re still collecting donations however and will open up further rounds when funds permit.

So far we have raised ?3,305! We''d like to thank everyone that has applied and everyone who has donated to this important cause. The sense of community and support amongst our membership and from external friends and partners has been extremely humbling to us. #ArtistsSupportingArtists

"I donated because my career has been in the visual arts, in different roles. I am an artist and I see artists as my community." - Axisweb Member 

The more donations that we receive the more rounds we can facilitate to help people in need. Please give what you can. 

Support your community here >

About our Fund: 
Any member facing financial hardship and who are unable to work, disabled, a career, on low income or freelance is eligible to apply. 
We don''t ask you to explain why, but ask that you only apply if you need the money. 
We initially made available a fund of ?5,000, this has been added to since totalling at ?11,000. For eleven weeks we have distributed 110 x ?100 awards. 

Learn more about our Hardship Fund here >

Need something new to listen to? 

Live Out Loud is a collection of art-related conversations with artists and creative practitioners. Hosted by the lovely Lucy Wright. 

This content is now available to listen to on our Axis website, Spotify, Sound Cloud, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Be sure to give us a like and follow! 

Current Live Out Loud podcasts: 

• Practice in Isolation with Beth Davis-Hofbauer and Chantal Powell > 

• Social Art in the Time of Social Distancing with Rupi Dhillon, Sophie Bownes and Natasha Alexander >

• Notions of Care with Lady Kitt, Amelia Hawk and David Robinson >

• Radical Wellbeing with Radha Patel and Suzanne Dhaliwal >

• Parenthood with Emily Speed, Lauren McLaughlin and Robyn LeRoy-Evans >

• New World Order with Elsa James, R.M. Sanchez-Camus and Sian Williams >

Our latest Art Highlights of the week includes Helen Acklam, Adam Stone, Linda Norris & Patrick Caseley.

Read full article here >

''River of Life'', 2020 by James Eddy 

For #Five2Watch this week we''ve selected five artists who have explored collaboration within their work: James Woolley, James Eddy, Robyn LeRoy-Evans, Gloria Ronchi and Lyndall Phelps.

Read full article here >

The Art House and Outside In are seeking proposals from individual artists who would like to develop and progress their practice through a residency at The Art House's purpose-built studios in Wakefield.

This opportunity is open to Outside In artists working in any medium. This opportunity is only open to those with an Outside In online gallery or who fit the criteria for the charity. One artist will be selected for the residency.

The residency offers:

• An artist's fee of ?1500
• A materials budget of up to ?750
• Travel expenses of up to ?250
• Accessible self-catering accommodation in our flat, within the Art House building
• Studio space in The Art House
• Access to The Art House print studio
• An opportunity to show either a new body of work created during the residency or work in progress in one of our exhibition spaces
• Up to nine days of 1-2-1 mentoring and support during the residency period
• Flexible support from the Art House programme team in producing, developing, and discussing your work and critical practice. We will talk with selected artists prior to the start of the residency and work to develop a programme of support which suits your needs.

Deadline: 12/09/20 See Opp here >

• Fee of ?4,000 paid directly to the Fellow, to cover approximately 40 working days across 10 weeks.
• Production budget (covering both residency and final outcome) of ?2,875
• Additional travel expenses available up to ?375 (for research visits and final presentation)
• If Fellows invite other practitioners to develop a work or project, their fees should be paid from the above totals
• Accommodation provided when on site, with an additional ?25 per diem
• We will invite Fellows to join us in Liverpool to participate in a conference during Summer 2021: a fee, travel and accommodation will be available for this additional visit
• Additionally, we have a discretionary budget to address any specific access requirements, to ensure the residency is flexible and it's outcomes are as inclusive as possible

The Axisweb Hardship Fund is now temporarily closed. Over the last few months we''ve helped support 110 artists with a combination of money diverted from our Awards programme and also our Gofundme page. The level of demand has been very high and we''re sorry we can''t help more of our members. We''re still collecting donations however and will open up further rounds when funds permit.

We''d like to thank everyone that has applied and everyone who has donated to this important cause. The sense of community and support amongst our membership and from external friends and partners has been extremely humbling to us. #ArtistsSupportingArtists

The more donations that we receive the more rounds of our fund we can facilitate. Below are some testimonals of artists, freelancers and creative pracitioners explaining what receiving this fund has meant to them:

"My work has stopped since public spaces were locked down. In the middle of panic and anxiety, this Axisweb Hardship Fund Award gives me hope. Thank you for showing me a light at the end of the dark tunnel." - Axisweb Member

"I have sustained my creative practice for 25 years and in normal times I struggle financially as my artist income is very erratic and is often at a loss. In these unusual difficult times, having lost all my current freelance income, and having the uncertainty of whether I will get that work back in the future, receiving the award from the Axisweb Artist Hardship fund (without the added stress of demonstrating my need and providing proof of past income), has given me an immediate financial lifeline and a heartening boost for my practice. I am extremely grateful for this - thank you very much Axisweb". - Axisweb Member

"As an artist working in the community, the current situation is devastating, both emotionally and financially. This award helps to provide relief, reassurance and recognition." - Axisweb Member

Support your community here >

About our Fund: 
Any member facing financial hardship and who are unable to work, disabled, a career, on low income or freelance is eligible to apply. 
We don''t ask you to explain why, but ask that you only apply if you need the money. 
We initially made available a fund of ?5,000, this has been added to since totalling at ?11,000. For eleven weeks we have distributed 110 x ?100 awards. 

Learn more about our Hardship Fund here >

• Anti-racism resource list
• Black Lives Matter (UKBLM) Fund
• The Minnesota Freedom Fund

Practice in Isolation with Beth Davis-Hofbauer and Chantal Powell > 

Social Art in the Time of Social Distancing with Rupi Dhillon, Sophie Bownes and Natasha Alexander >

Notions of Care with Lady Kitt, Amelia Hawk and David Robinson >

Radical Wellbeing with Radha Patel and Suzanne Dhaliwal >

Parenthood with Emily Speed, Lauren McLaughlin and Robyn LeRoy-Evans >

We know that many of you (like us!) may be struggling to balance the desire to stay occupied with serious levels of screen fatigue. In these uncertain times it's often hard to turn away from our computers, televisions, phones and the continual stream of social media posts and news reports. In response, we've created Sunday Sounds, a collection of sound art, music, podcasts, readings, performances and conversations from our Members which now all avaliable on our website. #SundaySounds

Listen here >

Applications for Sunday Sounds are now closed. See other episodes on the Sunday Sounds homepage. Many thanks to everyone who applied.

Previous Sunday Sounds content: 
Kin (Cultura Plasmic INC): An Inward Outlook-Radiophrenia 
AJ Stockwell: in the midst of her elemental composition 
What is woke, is rap beef relevant and is Africa Hip Hop''s future l I Am Hip Hop Podcast 
Benamin Rostance: I Have The Tools
Mark Parry: The Sea and the Moon

As 2020 draws to a close we want to take the opportunity to look back on some of the positive things that have taken place in the last 12 months. This has undoubtedly been-and continues to be-one of the most challenging times in recent memory and we are so proud of the resilience, fortitude and kindness of our members and partner organisations across the sector in the face of myriad obstacles.

We hope we can continue to build on these positives in 2021 and beyond.

During 2020 Axis has:

• Offered much needed financial support during the pandemic to over 100 artists through our Hardship Fund

• Offered subscription breaks to those members most in need so they can continue to focus on the important aspects of their creative practice in spite of losing some or all of their income

• Profiled 12 incredible Artists of the Month, drawn from our membership

• Supported over 150 artists and their work through our Vacant Spaces 

• Funded 60 projects through our Awards and Bursaries

• Showcased projects from 150 artists, producers and writers in our Social Art Library

• Featured over 500 of our members in Five2Watch, Highlights and Playlist features

• Started work on a Diversity Action Plan to ensure inclusivity and equity are at the forefront of our planning and commissioning

Our Members are at the heart of what we do and we'll continue to support them as we head into the new year. As always, we'll be promoting their activities on our site and through our social media channels, profiling them in our regular features and announcing more awards, bursaries and residencies to support important and necessary projects. We'll also be launching a couple of exciting new projects, including the Social ARTery project-a collaborative networking platform for artists to share, connect and support each other whose mission is to provide an alternative to mainstream social media sites.

We have been so grateful for your support across the year, whether through donating to our Hardship Fund, sharing your work in our directory, or engaging with our social media posts and we hope you will continue to work with us in 2021: as many of our Members switch their focus to web-based activities, it's good to know the ?10 million Public and Product Liability insurance that comes with our Network Associate membership also covers digital and online projects.

Wishing you a very happy (and safe) seasonal period and a happy new year ahead!

melissandre varin, a living space, 2020

Our Artist of the Month feature is a little different this month. In a change from our usual format we've created a podcast interview with melissandre varin as part of our Live Out Loud series. Our Programme Producer Harlan Whittingham talks to melissandre about a range of topics including collaboration, parenting, identity formation and the problematic whiteness of cultural and educational institutions. Live Out Loud is introduced by our Social Producer Lucy Wright.

We'll shortly be announcing the winners of our Axis Digital Residency. We've been very impressed with the quality of proposals that have been submitted and are in the midst of lengthy discussions to decide the two successful recipients. The residency seeks to support artists who require additional resources and support to develop and disseminate new work over a three month period. The successful artists will receive ?1,500, a bespoke package of support, critical engagement from a writer, use of our digital platforms, as well as opportunities to engage with our content and members.

Still from 'lostandfound'. Image credit: Darshana Vora.

Lost and found in Lockdown - this week in Social Art Library

How has lockdown 2.0 been treating you? This video artwork, lostandfound by Darshana Vora was created during the first lockdown from people''s stories of physical and emotional losses-and some unexpected gains-of the Covid-19 crisis so far. First shown as part of the Online Alternative Arts Education Marathan on in July 2020, you can now watch an abridged version of lostandfound here. Let us know what you think, by tagging us @Social_Art_Lib on Twitter, or @social_art_library on Instagram! We love to hear from you.

As always, we''re still on the lookout for new submissions to the Library. If you are an artist who works with people - or you work with artists who do - please do join us by sharing your own projects via the Social Art Library submission portal. It's our ambition to create the first really comprehensive archive of documentation and stories from and about social projects and we're feeling really excited about the quality and breadth of projects we've been able to include so far. 

To find out more, check out our FAQs or get in touch if you have any questions: librarian@socialartlibrary.org.

Artist Quilla Constance continues to reveal her lockdown experiences in episode 2 of #NAVIGATING_NEW_NORMAL Follow link to read all about it and catch QC''s BBC IDEAS interview for How Limits Can Boost Your Creativity.

Find out more > 

Social Works? Live, Manchester School of Art, 2019

As the prospect of life returning to some kind of normality seems ever closer, we're looking forward to attending more physical events in 2021. With that in mind we've come up with a handy guide for anyone planning on hosting an event and who wishes to document it properly. Read our imaginatively titled How to photograph and art event for some useful tips and advice.

Haarlem Artspace Crits

Haarlem Artspace Crits is a peer-group meet-up for creatives to share their work, receive feedback and develop their thinking. It's open to anyone who would like to attend, contribute constructively and participate in a mutually supportive forum.

Haarlem Artspace Crits will be hosted on Zoom, from 8-9pm, on the first Wednesday of every even numbered month, so will occur on the following dates:

Wednesday 3rd February (3/02/21)

Wednesday 7th April (7/04/21)

Wednesday 2nd June (2/06/21)

Wednesday 4th August (4/08/21)

Find out more at https://haarlemartspace.co.uk/whats-on/haarlem-artspace-crits-1-3