Last year I had the pleasure of being involved in a great art event. SpaceAid. It was an exhibition and auction to raise money for Queen Street Studios.
      The vision for Queen Street Studio is to be a recognised and sustainable arts service and facility that provides a platform of support for the development of arts practice.
      Managed by independent artists Sam Chester and James Winter, Queen Street Studio exists to support its membership of emerging, independent or established artists or organisations by building community and encouraging artists to produce new work through the provision of a space that is affordable and accessible.
      The policy on rates for the studio has been designed to subsidise unfunded artists from fees generated through funded, commercial and non-arts hirers.
      Income generated through the studio goes to paying the rent, electricity, and maintenance of the studio.
The facility is staffed and managed by volunteers.
The studio receives no funding or subsidy. The studio is sustained solely by the income generated through the hire of the facility.
SpaceAid‘07 (http://www.queenstreetstudio.com/spaceAID/2008/artwork.html#christopher) was curated by a great friend of mine Reg Lynch. Twenty Seven Australian Artists submitted work to support their local performance artists. SpaceAid‘08 is presently under discussion. I will keep you posted.

Samantha Wright (http://samselectr.wordpress.com/)

SpaceAid 08 will be held on Saturday 17th May, and once again I have put an entry in. I've done this for two reasons  One, Sam Wright is my daughter and two I think that if other people can get of their backsides to support a venture like this, I can too.
      As I have gotten older I have realised that the core of any community is the support given to it by members of that community. The Queen Street Studio is not a mainstream activity and doesn't attract outside funding and I admire the hard work that the people involved in the centre are putting into it.
     I am also impressed that they didn't wait until they retired to start putting something back as I did.
Christopher Wright