Comments on: A Â£1m stepping stone

By: Boy Wonder

Boy Wonder — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:52:57 +0000

I agree with Pete. Curzon Street station should be a photographic gallery and home to the world class Birmingham photo archive; it is frankly a travesty that this is hidden away in basements and boxes. This should be the priority, lets build on what we have, our local distinctiveness, not solely on what we aspire to have. In fact Iâ€™m not convinced that we do need a contemporary art museum just because it is expected of us to have one. Our region has some very important galleries showing contemporary work with significant collections old and new. Walsall, Wolverhampton, Leamington, BMAG and the fantastic Compton Verney, add to this nationally significant collections of ceramics in Stoke and Glass in Dudley. Mr Watkins should perhaps look to increase the attendances at his own gallery before launching on expansion plans. Frankly the Ikons 117,000 attendances (6 of which over a year will be me) is pretty poor for a gallery in the UKâ€™s second city when you consider New Art Gallery Walsall gets over 200,000 and Compton Verney gets 110,000 most paying Â£7. (Figures taken from some research, general enquiries and reliable sources)

By: Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:44:48 +0000

I'd also add that Curzon St Station isn't actually that big inside. Thanks to the columns it looks huge but it doesn't go that far back and is mainly a staircase. And I personally like the idea of it being a photography gallery - it's about the right size for that. More info here.

By: AGAIN

AGAIN — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:42:06 +0000

In my opinion Curzon Street is to far away from anything. To be realistic the major funded art institutions need to be close to each other. For two reason, In Vouge with the Pre Raphaelite Idea of keeping cultural buildings close. IE Margaret street school of art, Muesum and art gallery and the Central Library.
Furthermore a big percentage of art vistors would come off the street and the Municipal Bank is prime location.

Having this in place would create more artists coming/staying in Birmingham. Therefore more artist-run spaces would hopefully be creative in other less affluent areas in Birmingham.Such as the Digbeth,However the regeneration of Digbeth may send the costs of such projects un-achievable.However there are still places in the City these artist run spaces could work.

By: Nick Booth

Nick Booth — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:39:59 +0000

I wonder if Curzon Street could work for this and whether it has been considered.

By: Stef Lewandowski

Stef Lewandowski — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:01:48 +0000

Fantastic – a stepping stone in the right direction perhaps?