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From '85 to 87 we put on over 80 shows in the corridors and landings of our top two floors. I'm not going to list them all but show a selection. We were totally self funding and didn't charge the artists anything. We made the invitation card, the artist had to get the work there and pay postage and for any booze at the opening, though often we provided that as well. I wanted to firmly establish us as a going concern. The plan was to go into partnership with Hackney Council, get Government grants to refurbish the building and have a permanent home. It was a nightmare. Dick and I had countless meetings and always, when just about getting somewhere a key player would be off sick. At one time the Council had no Architect for six months, due to illness; Margret Wells seemed to be off every few weeks. It was impossible to deal with them. I was away on tour in the summer, so there was no continuity. Nevertheless I'm quite proud of what we achieved on a shoe string budget gleaned from the rents we paid for our studios. The openings were always packed out, but dealing with artists was very difficult and the rampant self interest of the artists in the building was annoying. Anyone who has dealt with artists and art students will know, no matter what you do for them, however blatantly you help them, they are convinced they did it all themselves.
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