VAI on the Galley

The first VAI clinic hosted by Damien Duffy and Laura Graham, our friends in the North, was held on Saturday 4^th June on the Galley. The new restaurant venture by curatorial team Brown &Bri has been described as ‘an ambitious project in shifting a city centre’, and for those who managed to make that shift on Saturday for themselves, there was a chance to see and taste the affordable and ethically sourced food and drink, whilst chatting about concerns in the visual art world.

During the course of the afternoon, topics ranged from how to link into networks, particularly where alternative career pathways have been followed where the benefit of support networks formed through art college are missing, to developing business models encouraging, supporting and benefiting art practice and, why do job centres recognise and offer specialised support for unemployed musicians, but fail to understand the particular needs and difficulties of visual artists, let alone develop specific programmes for them?

We hope to explore these and other questions over the next few months, and start to get answers for our members. But we would like to hear from you and meet you. Our next clinic will be in the North West and will be notified to members and non -members through various social networks nearer the time. On this occasion both Damien and Laura would like to thank Brown & Bri for their hospitality.

The Galley is a lovely venue. Bright and airy with great food and, on Saturday, the views were spectacular, after all where else in Belfast could you stand just above the waters of the Lagan and enjoy a drink, and for some, a smoke!

Laura Graham & Damien Duffy

VAI Northern Contact Points