Before we were called Bring Colour we were going under the name Bring'in Colour and in the summer of 07 we worked in partnership with Coventry Arts collective Dialectic Arts and did a project called "Misleading Appearances" in an empty shop down Spon End Arches.
The driving force behind Dialectic Arts, Artist Kyla Craig had worked her magic and convinced the owners of the building to let us use it as art studios whilst transforming the venue into a space that we could use to have an exhibition.
The building had previously been a furniture shop but was now being used to store tyres, so it was filthy! We got the keys to the place, moved in and made a start.
We worked 24/7, shifted all the tyres, tore down the ceiling, ripped out decaying walls, replaced the loo.......
.........Cleaned the place from top to bottom, Sorted the Roof, Painted everywhere,..........
.......had new lighting and a new circuit board fitted. The place was ready to be used!!!
Artists moved into the space and started to get creative.
The place was being used as a studio space and creative hub. What we had intended! Then the plans got under way to organise the exhibition.
The owners of the building were paying increased attention to what we were up to as we had clearly highlighted the hidden potential of there building.
After transforming the building, setting the date for the exhibition and speaking to the owners about when the project will end and they can have their building back and sorting a date for that, we closed up shop and went to Bristol for a break.
On returning from Bristol the owners of the building had changed the locks, we tried speaking to the owners to see what was going on, but all we got was his employee saying he wanted his building back.
Annoyed, Disappointed, Angry, Frustrated and Upset are a few words that spring to mind!
We managed to get them to open it up for a short while so we could get our belongings back but that is how the project ended!
Still gutted about how messy everything ended, but you learn from your mistakes and there are plenty more empty shops out there! So keep your eyes peeled because we might pop up in your local empty shop!
