Rita – Because they have policies and a board you know, I mean
the great thing about this is that you can just do it.
Chemaine – That’s the reason why the Playhouse
exploded creatively because there wasn’t that
glass ceiling. When I was in Newcastle I saw so many
artists leave because they didn’t feel loved by the
home that was meant to house them. So they left,
myself included. That’s my rant.
Douglas – So lots of people ranting dissidently together?
Rita – Exactly!
Douglas – What fascinates me about this city is that it’s a melting
pot. If you can get that group.. and get that group.. and pull
down that wall.. and that wall; even though it’s Bradford it’s no
different from Paris in the 1920s, New York in the 1960s, you’ve
got to be romantic about it!
Rita – Yeah! Yeah! I joke around but when we first came here I
was like, ‘My space is going to be like the Judson Church, I mean
why the fuck not?’ This is what was happening in New York, it was
just an abandoned loft.
Douglas –Why not reframe and re-envisage Bradford? Create a
new frame and a new way of seeing. Jean McEwan is doing it with
‘Make ugly beautiful’.
Rita – People are going to be writing history books about this! – it
was a FUCKING ugly building, with fucking ugly ceilings!
Sam – But is it the people or is it the place? It’s the people. The
fact that you have a space here is crucial, but what it looks like
is not important. We got spoilt when we had the Playhouse as our
home, it was a spiritually powerful place, a beautiful temple. So
for us to come to a place that was built 37 years ago with cold
clinical corners.. but it’s NOT what it looks like, it’s what you
make happen in it.
Rita – It’s the people who come to it.
This is a big dream - Rita and her company are at home now
with dreamers in a city that makes things happen. We have
an invitation to explore, learn, play and make; the people of
Bradford are the kind of people who can and do make ugly
beautiful.
Sam Musgrave,
Douglas Thompson,
Chemaine Cooke.
To find out more please visit:
theartfarmers.blogspot.com
strawhousecreative.blogspot.com
