R U an artist?

R U an artist? was a presentation about what it’s like to live & work as an artist in Plymouth in 2006

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Who helped to make this

R U an artist? was made in response to B+B’s ArtSchool (Sophie Hope) and Plymouth Art Centre’s invitation to make a presentation about what it was like to live and work as an artist in Plymouth.

Where this work has ended up

This project started to highlight (to us and to others) the need for improved artists networks in Plymouth (and by extension in Devon & Cornwall). This need has gone on to inform all of the artist-led projects we have undertaken since 2006, and the work we do to advocate for,  and actively support the development of, artist-led artist development in our local area and region.

R U an artist?

In October 2006, almost 1 year after making the decision to move to Plymouth, LOW PROFILE were invited to make a presentation at Plymouth Art Centre about what it is like to live and work as artists in the city. 

At the time, Plymouth seemed to be a city with an all but invisible arts community. It proved difficult to know who the artists were or where to find them. In this context, we developed a number of alternative strategies in order to track down the hidden network of contemporary artists living or working in the city that had become our home.

These strategies included posting ads in lonely hearts columns, newspapers, magazines, newsagents’ windows and supermarket notice boards; a city wide covert stickering campaign; holding ‘golf sale’ style ‘R U an Artist’ signs in the city centre; handing out flyers; talking to strangers; searching on google; asking a policeman and looking in the yellow pages. The presentation tracked our progress in finding, meeting and befriending lonely artists in the city as a way to suggest improvements in the development of the arts community.