TROVE have worked with 146 local, national and international artists who have created, exhibited and performed as part of their programme over the last three years.

Situated in the Old Science Museum on Newhall Street, TROVE is an independent art gallery who have worked with Fierce Festival, Hereford Photography Festival, Hedge Enquiry, Minnie Weisz Studio, Museum of Lost Heritage, Birmingham Architects Association, Birmingham City Council, Clarke Gallery, Birmingham City University and Crowd 6.

For their third birthday they are celebrating by throwing a party – At Pop! Bang! Wallop! there will be presents, piñatas and pass the parcel, artworks and cards from past TROVE artists and even a bouncy castle. 

Pop! Bang! Wallop! – TROVE’s 3^rd Birthday Party – 12^th October 2012 5pm – 9pm.

It’s in memory of Kathleen Dayus, a writer whose books were set nearby. The BBC and Birmingham Mail have more info.

I like the sound of their 3D printing workshops.

Digbeth v the JQ (via @EleanorWi)

Ooh, good one – the battle of the so called ‘creative quarters’ – this could be fun. I’ve just moved from working in Digbeth to working in the Jewellery Quarter and Eleanor knows this, hence the request. FIGHT!

I shall now go on to disappoint with a bland appraisal of the two taken from my own point of view. Your experiences of the places may vary.

I’m enjoying the Jewellery Quarter. It’s nearer my house so cycling in is easier, there are useful amenities (there’s no need to get excited about cash machines around these parts) and there are some decent enough places to grab a drink after work.

The nightlife thing’s interesting. I’ve never been keen on St Paul’s Square as a place to go out but, with UAB book-ending things (with The Red Lion at one end, The Lord Cliffden at the other) and places like Vertu, The Vaults, The Drop Forge and soon The Rose Villa Tavern in between, I reckon we could start to see more people around here of a weekend. There are restaurants here too.

As for the creativity/arts/culture angle, there’s a bigger emphasis on heritage over this side of town, while a a lot of the current activity feels hidden away and goes on behind closed studio and workshop doors. Other than AE Harris (which I love) there isn’t much by way of a decent venue – there’s The Asylum and The Blue Orange Theatre but neither currently has a schedule of events that grabs me. Also, everything over this side of town seems quite managed and smoothly polished (which isn’t necessarily praise but is definitely a contrast).

Digbeth is rougher round the edges but it wears its distinctiveness quite proudly on its sleeve. It’s more performative. It feels like the art and creativity spills out of Eastside Projects, Grand Union, Vivid, Boxxed, Fazeley Studios and onto the streets. It’s a place for music and visual arts to tumble towards. If you want a night out and you like your music then Digbeth, with the Institute, Air, Space 2, The Rainbow, Irish Centre, Adam & Eve and others, can’t be beat.

Space must be cheaper there. That brings in the artist collectives, the gallery spaces and the graduates looking for their first studio space. It’s a shame a shame the developers have made such a mess of the place over the past few years though – too many decent places bulldozed leaving large swathes of cleared, fenced off land.

For a while, the Custard Factory drifted into becoming a nightclub which I’m not sure was a good idea, but maybe that was a result of trying to pack lots of activity into a fairly small area. It seems to be moving away from that again. Besides, Digbeth is sprawling away from the Custard Factory these days and that’s no bad thing.

Both sides of town suffer from a bit of a visibility problem – directing people to either from the city centre is no easy task.

So, to ramble to a conclusion – horses for courses, innit.

Comedy in Birmingham (via @RosieHighlight)

I’m going to duck this one slightly and refer back to the post I wrote a few months back about comedy in Birmingham. Although I’ve asked Ian and he’s reminded me about the Fat Penguin, Cheeky Monkey and Laughing Cows nights in Kings Heath/Moseley that are often overlooked. I’m not sure I mentioned The Drum as another venue for that sort of thing either.

The upshot of that previous conversation was that there’s a reasonable amount of stuff going on although we’re not quite world-beaters, there could be more and it could do with being more visible. Couldn’t that apply to pretty much anything we do here?

Burning Ham (via @LouisHudson)

Louis is presumably referring to EXYZT’s contribution to this year’s Fierce Festival. I wasn’t around Birmingham when most of the events were going on down there and this round-up made me a bit regretful of that. It’s good to see that they’ll be back to work on a new site for the next festival.

Bunnies (via @Ravonski)

With the whole arts funding situation having settled down somewhat and no more cuts looming in the immediate future, I haven’t had much cause to lighten a gloomy post by finishing with a picture of a bunny.

That said, I expect there’s still bad news to come as the effect of the earlier cuts comes to be felt. There’ll be a few more leaving parties, closed signs, permanently-out-of-office messages and euphemistic talk of ‘transitioning’.

So on that downbeat note, cue bunnies:

(Photo by captainsubtle)

Design Space is a programme supported by the Birmingham City Council and the European Regional Development Fund that gives a select group of emerging jewellery artists free studio space and business classes for one year: in exchange, the participants must commit to work at least 30 hours a week developing their own design led business.

This year Design Space supports eighteen designer-makers, with participants from the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and the United States. The programme is highly sought after, and the eighteen participants were chosen from a large pool of applicants who were interviewed over the summer. In the years Design Space has been running, it has helped many new designer-makers establish themselves in Birmingham. Many of the jewellers who have relocated to Birmingham for Design Space would not have come here if it wasn’t for this scheme. Lynsey Pluck says, “I relocated to Birmingham from West Sussex solely because of the place I was offered on Design Space. Through this opportunity I have discovered the advantages of being based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and am making plans to continue living and working here.”

While free studio space in the Jewellery Quarter offers a huge jumpstart for the new jewellers, Design Space also offers a plethora of other benefits. Participants gain admission to the School of Jewellery’s studios and equipment, and this year’s participants are also being given 30 hours of access to the Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre (JIIC) to help them develop a new range of products using state-of-the-art equipment. Business courses and professional practice classes are held once a week and participants are also given one-to-one tutorials with mentors who are well-established in the jewellery field and free summer short courses at the School of Jewellery to further their training.

Since beginning the programme in September, there have been several opportunities for group exhibitions: Design Space currently shows work at the exciting new We are Birmingham shop. During the Christmas season they took part in Brilliantly Birmingham’s Open Studio event and Angel Craft Fair in Islington. In April all 18 members will be exhibiting brand new collections at the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate (stand #295).

You can see photos of pieces produced at Design Space, as well as links to individual makers’ websites, by visiting http://designspacejewellers.blogspot.com/

Visiting the Design Space studio is highly recommended: enjoy a cup of tea while getting a rare behind-the-scenes look at every stage of jewellery production. The display cabinets in the front room showcase the jewellery collections of all eighteen participants, while the adjacent studio gives you a unique opportunity to see these highly skilled makers at work. To arrange a visit, please contact Katherine Campbell-Legg or Kerry O’Connor: 0121 551 9071 or design_space@hotmail.co.uk

If you are interested in being a part of Design Space, please see Birmingham City Council’s website for information on applying. The programme runs for 12 calendar months, from October to September every year.

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By Miriam Rowe

American jeweller Miriam Rowe now lives in Birmingham and runs her business from the Jewellery Quarter because of Design Space. Take a look at her work at http://www.miriamrowe.com

Fluid Space Arts launch a new exhibition, SEEN, on 17 December, in their new Jewellery Quarter residence at 32-35 Water Street Birmingham B3 1H.

Aiming to expose upcoming artists and designers, with the opportunity to network with local artists and share talent, the launch also offers an opportunity to buy original art pieces at their first artist market which takes place from 4pm – 8pm.

The official launch will take place from 6pm – 8pm, with a live art performance by Tru-Street Dance.

More info via Screen WM.

TROVE’s next exhibition Show of Science presents four artists, including a.a.s., Victoria Jenkins, Lee Stowers and Luke Williams, exhibiting in the Jewellery Quarter’s old science museum. Here’s what TROVE have said about it:

All pieces hint at the historic, at first glance there is nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary, though with closer inspection there is something odd about the works. The double take allows this Show of Science to move from a series of simple objects of science to pieces that make you question its use, its reliability as official face and of the make believe.

There’s a preview of the exhibition on Friday 30th April, 6 – 8pm and the exhibition will be open from 30th April – 16th May by appointment. If you want to check it out, contact Charlie or David at TROVE.

(Photo by Pete Ashton)