A few of you may know that 10 years ago I used to run and own Secta Studios in Nottingham.
Secta Studios was the first independent leading visual arts centre in the East Midlands.
Secta acted as a hub for visual artists to practice and exhibit there work. We had studio space to rent for painters and musicians as well as studio space for hire.
Secta also had a fully operating photographic studio and probably the only open photographic dark room available for use in the East Midlands.
Courses were run on photoshop the use of photoshop for photographers as well as one to one tuition.
Help and advice was given to photography students from Nottingham University as well as South Notts and many of then held their first exhibitions in the gallery space at Secta.
Secta featured a studio of 12 apple mac computers as well as high end film scanners and printers, we were probably the first independent studio to offer these facilities to hire on an hourly basis.
Here is an original article written at the time by the electro magnet team of MA students from Nottingham Trent University
An innovative Web site enhancing the employment and business prospects of East Midlands’ artists and cultural businesses was launched last night by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Cllr. Dennis Jones. The site includes an on-line gallery. It is the initiative of arts, business and technology centre Secta Studios. Lynn Hanna, speaking on behalf of Secta Studios, says the Web site itself will help artists to “turn their talent into cash.” The centre, which was opened in November last year by owner Gabruel Van Ingen, also welcomes the general public as it doubles as the only Internet Café in the city centre.
The convergence of new media, the arts and science was described by visiting speaker and Professor of Cultural Policy Studies at Nottingham Trent University, Colin Mercer, as being “the cutting edge of the cultural industry in this country.” Lord Mayor Cllr. Dennis Jones hopes that Secta’s project will help to make Nottingham the capital of e-commerce and of the cultural industries. He called the Internet a “terrific medium to start up a business at a very low cost.” Professor Mercer also revealed that the cultural industry is worth £60 billion nationally. So he hopes that universities, training agencies and businesses alike will take up the unique opportunity of using Secta’s facilities.
The Government is keen on this type of project. It has agreed with the UK’s EU partners at the Lisbon summit to link all European educational establishments, particularly schools, to the Net. Lord Mayor Cllr. Jones emphasised the government’s commitment to e-commerce. Yet Professor Mercer was more critical. He said: “the government is not putting enough money into the development of converged skills.” He believes that students, in particular, need to learn more about everything from the arts to marketing and technology. Secta Studios offers this opportunity.Photography students from The Nottingham Trent University are amongst those exhibiting their work in the site’s on-line gallery. The gallery includes the work of some of Loughborough College of Art’s students.
Professor Mercer is the former chief executive officer of Australia’s Corporate Media Centre (1995-96). He compared the project to one he established in Western Australia. He explained how a similar centre in the town of Geraldton, enabled an illiterate 14 year old aboriginal boy to develop his own Web site about his region, his tribe, his culture and his family. The site included text, video, graphics and audio and was designed using a “high-end” Apple Macintosh computer with geographical information (GIS) software, Macromedia and other software tools. He believes that this is akin to print in the 15th Century with the development of Caxton’s printing press. He said it has a new “social and cultural logic”, which provides a “new form of expression, affiliation, and celebration.”
He believes that the convergence of business, the arts and technology is extremely self-empowering. The Internet is ‘distinctive’ in the way it provides a “different relationship between producers and receivers compared to other media”. Professor Mercer added that the Internet is “democratic” in the way it allows a high level of interactivity. The increased level of free expression was also cited, although this might be curtailed by the successful libel action against Demon Internet. He said that the Geraldton, project was “an impressive arrangement” and one that struck him. It made him realise the new special relationship between the “new [technological] industries and the cultural market.”
What Professor Mercer emphasised most was that Secta and the Geraldton centre, provide the impetus for e-commerce and not local or national governments. He went on: “Secta stresses the creative fusion between the arts and technology, providing a basis for the knowledge-based economy.” The imperatives, he suggested, above all were to promoting employment and culture. Secta itself is keen to promote new partnerships with other businesses and with education.
It is therefore linking up with other sites, including The Nottingham Trent University MA student’s independent monthly on-line news’ magazine, Electro-Magnet. Secta.net otherwise includes a bulletin board for artists, art organisations, software programmers, graphics’ designers, photographers and video makers. The board is in line with Secta’s commitment to encourage the development of new employment opportunities. The bulletin board, and the site itself, is a global advertisement for Secta’s clients. Employers too can advertise new vacancies on the Web site
Photography has enriched my life for the past 20 years be it through traveling, educating or photographing weddings which are the only professional assignments that I now accept.
I am still involved in educating other photographers as well as organising exhibitions and continuing my own love of Landscape photography and continuing the practice of traditional photographic techniques. Information on upcoming seminars and workshops can be seen on the new workshop and Seminar blog.
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