Update 5 re DAN - Disabled Artists' Network CIC - BAME artists and officially opening the gallery.

 Well - it's nearly time to open the gallery.  A lot of effort has gone into getting us ready to open.  This is what the venue looked like in January 2021.  We made gradual changes and ...

This is how our art space looks now...we have transformed into a digital gallery.

We'll be opening the gallery officially with a small ceremony.  A local person will be cutting the ribbon for us.

One of the things that I've always been mindful of is that there are many hurdles for people to overcome if they want a career in the arts.  When you consider how much it costs to frame a piece, pay a fee to exhibit your art or give away a big chunk of the sale on commission.  There is another hurdle though which relates directly to the BAME community.  Ever since I can remember, the lowest paid workers in the UK have been those from Black Asian Minority Ethnic households.  I feel that is one reason why people of colour are under-represented in the arts here professionally.

We'll be starting off a positive action session in Tesco Bulwell Extra to work on this issue when the current lockdown is lifted, we will be looking to provide support to potential artists from the BAME community.  There will be no geographical boundary though, people will be welcome from anywhere.

The gallery will be opened on Wednesday 26th May 2021 at 7:30pm.  The screens are active now and showing the current content of art, animations, crafts, poetry, photography and videography, so pop in anytime and have a look.

Please bear in mind that anyone can exhibit with us ... and that the Fridays night sessions will be starting up again too.  You can find the application pack here.

I'd like to say a big thank you to all the corporate supporters that have helped us get this far and to the general public for their donations too.  It's been a huge team effort.  Let the shows begin.

All the best

Villayat 'Wolf' Sunkmanitu
DAN CIC