Supporting the funding of the key role of Studio Manager for the organisation over a period of three years, this grant gave SPW a period of stability between 2004 and 2007. During this time we were able to develop an annual programme of workshops and activities; we established new and developed existing partnerships and international links and identified and attracted further funding streams.
The remit of the Studio Manager was ambitious and varied and it was Sameera Bjerrum-Bohr (née Khan) who took up the challenging post. Sameera originates from Hunza, Pakistan and was the first female artist to have had the opportunity to undertake a formal art education in Fine Arts from National College of Arts in Lahore. She gained a first class degree and was awarded a bursary from the Aga Khan Foundation to travel to Sheffield Hallam University in UK to enrol on a Masters course in Print Media Fine Arts. Before coming to Swansea Print Workshop, she trained in print studio management at London Print Studio.
Part of her role as Studio Manager was to provide support during Open Access studio sessions, deliver beginner through to advanced level printmaking workshops, coordinate support programmes for artists and to establish best practices for studio working. With such a consistent, knowledgeable studio presence, the Workshop saw a significant increase in the numbers of members and the skills levels amongst the membership. Some of these members became a core group of artists providing regular Open Access support as volunteers and freelance artists who deliver one to one training in printmaking and lead workshops in our annual Workshop and Outreach programme.
Swansea Print Workshop has always supported and promoted opportunities to exhibit printmaking and drawing and the Studio Manager was given the responsibility to take these ambitions forward. During the three-year role, she established and curated our annual members’ exhibitions and developed links with national and international venues, with significant shows in Pakistan. This fed into our aims to increase our profile in the wider world of printmaking.
The Studio Manager facilitated a number of cultural exchanges: artist-members from SPW visited Pakistan and we hosted international artists from Pakistan and the USA. As well as exhibitions initiated through the Festival of Muslim Cultures Print Project, in 2007 Sameera coordinated ’51.34 North 1.46 West’, the first group show from SPW to be seen internationally. Work by twenty artists was shown and well-received in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan. The accompany publication can be viewed in our Catalogues Archive.
’51.34 NORTH 1.46 WEST’ EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Leila Bebb | Lynne Bebb | Sheila Clark | Rose Davies | Elissa Evans | Ayesha Farooq | Alan Figg | Jackie Ford | Sarah Hopkins | Veronica Gibson | Zena James | Rhian Jarman | Aleem dad Khan | Sameera Khan | Robert Macdonald | Lorna Packer | Ruth Parmiter | Carys Roberts | Kara Seaman | Judith Stroud | Alan Williams
The three-year grant was also a significant factor in attracting additional funding including the Festival of Muslim Cultures Print Project and the Projects, Programme and Administration Coordination project funded by SCVS, Better Swansea Compact Fund.
Rheolwr Stiwdio | 2004-2007 | Sefydliad Esmée Fairbairn
O ganlyniad i’r cymhorthdal hwn rhoddwyd cyfnod o dair blynedd o sefydlogrwydd i GAA. Yn ystod y cyfnod hwn, gallem ddatblygu gweithgareddau a rhaglen flynyddol o weithdai er mwyn; sefydlu partneriaethau newydd a meithrin partneriaethau blaenorol; sefydlu cysylltiadau rhyngwladol ac i adnabod a denu mwy o nawdd/ariannu.
This project took place in 2004-2007 and was made possible by funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
