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Brixton Urban Art Fair has now been permanently cancelled

This nation of philistines is determined to kill any kind of creativity. At one end, you've got this, with local authorities attempting to fleece money out of any kind of creative and enriching enterprise, because it's all just about the bottom line.

And at the other, you've got festivals like the Laugharne Festival, and various music festivals elsewhere in Wales whose futures are in doubt because of the withdrawal of Arts Council funding. We're becoming a nation of mercenaries, only interested in anything if there's a chance it will turn a profit.
 
Total pisstake by Lambeth council. £8k for some art folk to put up a few paintings on the railings they should GTF.

Price increases are always to be expected, but 3000%. Er, no. I'd have told them to shove it too.
 
This is a real shame. It was a genuine highlight of the year. I've bought a few artworks there from really fine artists.

I have to say that it has never been clear to me whether this is a commercial event or not. I know that the artists give a good chunk of their sale prices to charity but if it is otherwise a commercial profit making event, I guess that it will be charged commercial rates. Was that the problem here?

Whatever the issue, I hope that a way can be found to keep it going in one guise or another.
 
This year Lambeth Council are intending charging Urban Art around £8,000 to use the street. This is nearly three thousand percent more than 2019.

We have offered to pay a maximum of £1,000, but so far this has not been accepted.

Despite our non-profit status and fund-raising (a record £6,000 last year) Lambeth are insisting we pay a commercial rate with minimal reductions.

As a local resident please tell the following people what Urban Art means to you?…


Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP <bell.ribeiroaddy.mp@parliament.uk>
Helen Hayes MP <helen.hayes.mp@parliament.uk>
Councillor Sonia Winifred Cabinet Member for Equalities & Culture <SWinifred@lambeth.gov.uk>
Claire Horan Lambeth Senior Events Officer <CHoran2@lambeth.gov.uk>
Olivia Pearcey Event Operations Manager <OPearcey@lambeth.gov.uk>


Tim Sutton
(Event Organiser)
 
Not a local Lambeth resident, I live in an adjacent borough... But I've enjoyed it in the past and this rent rise is absurd and greedy! :(
 
Compare and contrast with the support that Lambeth has given to Pop Brixton and various 'hubs' or whatever. The Urban Art Fair brings a huge number of people into the area, is a useful outlet for local artists and is something the borough should be proud of and get behind.
 
I messaged Lambeth council and they said it’s not confirmed, they are ‘in discussions’ and they can’t discuss it with anyone other than the organiser
 
Manter said:
I messaged Lambeth council and they said it’s not confirmed, they are ‘in discussions’ and they can’t discuss it with anyone other than the organiser
Click to expand...
Colour me cynical, but I always think that this is a lovely way to deep-six any meaningful discussions until the moment has passed, and they can present it all as a fait accompli. I hope that the local representatives are bombarded with representations, in the absence of "discussion".
 
This is dreadfully sad if it holds sway. I remember a couple of years back there was a similar warning connected with the cost of closing the road. In the end, a deal was done to keep the road open - meaning none of the central displays between Apach Road and Helix Gardens were accommodated. We're not talking about the alleged health and safety concerns with fireworks in Brockwell Park or the LCS, but instead a fantastic opportunity for local and regional talent to celebrate their wares that has never seen a scintilla of trouble.
 
Would like to point out that the Council New Labour leadership here said this ( Cllr Jack Hopkins) on the Labour defeat.I posted full text on the Lambeth Cooperative Council thread:

"
Jeremy Corbyn’s assertion that “we won the argument” demonstrates the sort of centralising and patronising “we know best” approach which has characterised his time at the helm. The rhetoric around empowering the membership and being grassroots has failed to be delivered in practice. If control over the party and the political processes is allowed to trump the needs, wishes and aspirations of the electorate then the Labour Party will continue to remain unattractive to those we seek to serve and we will continue to lose elections.

As councillors, our aim and promise is to always be on the side of our residents. Too often in the election, it felt like our movement was instead asking voters “are you on our side?”, and if they said they weren’t then they were told they were in the wrong."

I find it more than aggravating that a long-standing Blairite / New Labour leader of a New Labour Council can say this. Yet this long standing community effort is not supported by these anti Corbyn Cllrs.

This Urban art event is "grassroots" and "empowering". But not for these Blairities who would rather use this language against their opponents rather than it mean anything on their patch.

I know local community minded people who joined / re joined the Labour party because of Corybn. That they felt the Blairite Cllrs who run Lambeth don't represent them.

I do think its worth emailing these New Labour Cllrs about this. To make local community message known.

IMO its a Blairite New Labour Council that is centralisings and patronising not the Corbynites.
 
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I would have thought this event ticked a load of boxes for Lambeth.

Community , car free Street, oh and by the way the Council got.a load of free cash off the Mayor to make Brixton a Creative Enterprise Zone.

So why does it have to charge this event commercial rates?

Perhaps someone should email the Mayor.

love.lambeth.gov.uk

Love Lambeth

The Mayor of London has recognised Brixton’s creative and enterprising spirit and designated the area a Creative Enterprise Zone, supporting creative business and delivering hundreds of jobs.
love.lambeth.gov.uk love.lambeth.gov.uk

If people ( and I will this weekend) are emailing Cllrs they could ask why if Sadiq is giving Council free money for CEZ they have to charge commercial rates to this long-standing arts community event?

Shouldn't they be using some of this free money to support this event?

Or is it just going into Lambeth pet projects ?

timothysutton1
 
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editor said:
Compare and contrast with the support that Lambeth has given to Pop Brixton and various 'hubs' or whatever. The Urban Art Fair brings a huge number of people into the area, is a useful outlet for local artists and is something the borough should be proud of and get behind.
Click to expand...

Yes Pop got the land it occupies for free. The profit share was always a load of bollocks. And now Pop is run effectively by a property developer.

Its not surprising of this neo liberal New Labour Council that something like Pop they will fall over themselves to support yet this community run event has to continually argue to stay even though all its asking is to have the streets closed for a weekend.

Those streets aren't exactly main highways.

And what if a few artists sell some stuff. Hardly the same as property developer run Pop it it.
 
Urban Art brought people here and created a positive community event that appealed to everyone (including, lets face it, the middle classes) back when most people's first reaction to mentioning Brixton was 'Isn't it dangerous there?' It's probably one of the earliest events that started to change the perception of the area. The Council should embrace it! It's a kick in the teeth to the organisers who have contributed to promoting Brixton as a Vibrant(TM) and interesting place, which the council have done very well out of.
 
Lambeth's strategy for some time has been to extract as much profit as they can from their "assets" - parks, or property or whatever. This is understandable, given the tories have cut funding to local authorities by around 50%, but there's a right and a wrong way to do it imo. Especially if you're a Labour Council.

What difference is charging £500 or £8,000 for the Art Fair really going to make the council's finances? Especially if you eventually kill off the event.

The art fair brings loads of people to the area. As well as buying art, people are spending money in the pubs and cafes etc, it's bringing people together, it's a good thing. I reckon that's "worth" more than £8k to the community, both in financial terms and in terms of wellbeing and neighbourly cohesion etc.

A mate I went to school with has been selling his pictures at the fair for a couple of years. He has a "normal" job and he doesn't earn much, and selling pictures at the fair both helps a bit money wise, and gives him a bit of extra purpose and motivation for his art. He'll be gutted about this, as will many other local artists.
 
Lambeth's strategy for some time has been to extract as much profit as they can from their "assets" - parks, or property or whatever. This is understandable, given the tories have cut funding to local authorities by around 50%, but there's a right and a wrong way to do it imo.
Click to expand...


And to add to this point, Lambeth are not sensible about their strategy for "monetising" their property and land. Classic example you may remember is the old toilets in Windrush Square which me and a few other local cafe/bar owners went to have a look at, with a view to renting out. Lambeth wanted well in excess of £50k rent per year, which we told them was absurd.

Four years later and they're still empty. Funds gained: £0.
 
One of the few advantages of the permanently failing Pop Brixton is that it brings people into the area. Well so does the Urban Art Fair FFS - and there's nothing like it anywhere else.
 
Brixton Hatter said:
And to add to this point, Lambeth are not sensible about their strategy for "monetising" their property and land. Classic example you may remember is the old toilets in Windrush Square which me and a few other local cafe/bar owners went to have a look at, with a view to renting out. Lambeth wanted well in excess of £50k rent per year, which we told them was absurd.

Four years later and they're still empty. Funds gained: £0.
Click to expand...

Ive a mate who looked into renting a unit on an Industrial Estate but the landlords wanted an absolute fortune and the lease was a minimum of five years, safe to say he went elsewhere and those units (around 20) sat empty for years. Eventually they were sold off and new landlords introduced flexible tenancies at reduced rates to which they are all now taken. That area was once a ghost town and now is a thriving little business area.
 
catriona said:
TBF it would help if the organisers were a bit more transparent about the finances

OPEN ARTS PROJECT filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

OPEN ARTS PROJECT - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk beta.companieshouse.gov.uk
Click to expand...
I agree with you in principle - but this is the level of disclosure expected since Gordon Brown reformed company reporting fifteen years ago or more.
Did you note this Brixton Buzz post ffrom 2012? Brixton Calling Tim Sutton creator of Brixton’s Urban Art Fair

They've been doing this for yonks. What a shame to pull the plug now. Lambeth is going to the dogs and no mistake.
 
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