Transforming Spaces @firstsite

Saturday 17 March, 9.30am – 5.15pm
firstsite, Lewis Gardens, CO1 1JH

£32.40 incl. VAT, lunch and two refreshment breaks.

A great event hitting Colchester in March. Slack Space in partnership with firstsite are hosting a regional conference on the use and transformation of empty shops and disused spaces. The event will look at the current spaces and combine an interactive focus on case studies and success stories with practical advice and contextual understanding.

This event is suitable for artists, community groups, arts and regeneration professional as well as landlords and developers.

Partner Profiles

Slack Space is one of the premier ‘empty shop’ organisations in the UK and has been successfully putting art and performance into empty shops for over two and a half years.

firstsite is a contemporary visual arts organisation based in Colchester with a mission to make contemporary art relevant to everyone.

Artside is a CoExist project featuring two weeks of art and interventions in Southend High Street. Artists work directly with venues to create site-led work.

TAP is housed in a converted waterworks. Currently, it houses CoExist Galleries and Studios, The White Bus, MEET, Solug and Open Arts.

We are Bedford is a community collective. The group put on the Castle Quay Weekender in March 2011, an arts festival in seven empty shops, and run various other successful community events.

Meanwhile Space is led by the Development Trusts Association as part of the Advancing Assets programme, with support from the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Empty Shops Network is the national network for organisations and individuals working in empty shops and other disused spaces.

3Space offers a brokerage service between landlords / developers with empty space and charities or other organisations wishing to use that space.

There are 50 spaces free available. To apply please download the booking form here and return to firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester CO1 1JH or email.  

Deadline date to apply for a free space is Wednesday 15th February.

For more information and outline of the day visit the firstsite website.

Tickets can be collected from firstsite or posted for a £1 fee. The Box Office for this event will close on Thursday 8 March 2012.

Pop Up Shop opportunity in Clacton

Another opportunity directed to us via Slack Space. A retail shop is available in Clacton - rent and rates free for 3 months.

To help small independent retail businesses get started, Tendring District Council has a shop in Jackson Road, Clacton which is available from 3rd February – 27th April.

A ‘Pop Up Shop’ initiative ran very successfully in Dovercourt last year, and the council opened the shop in Clacton in November 2011, with its first business trading as ‘The Emporium’.

The shop is now available for its second business and comes equipped with free broadband, a cash register, pricing gun, glass display cabinets and telephone – all ready for a business to move into. (The 3 months in the shop is worth approx £2,000)

So, if you are already perhaps running a business from home that you would like to try in this shop, or would like further information, then please contact Rachel Fryer, on 01255 686149 or email for an application form. A form would need to be filled in and returned as soon as possible.

Don’t forget the Colchester based ‘Pop Up Shop’ scheme the Hidden Kiosk Project is looking for new applications. Read more and apply to take over the space in February. Nothing wrong with a pop up shop take over.

Vintage Pop Up!

Get down to Lee Thomas’s gallery space just off head street for a bit of vintage retail therapy. Tomorrow is the last day so make sure you pop in for clothes, homeware, pictures and even vintage spectacles!