Frequently Asked Questions
Brief History
CVA was set up in 2011 by Dr Anthony McCann and John Deery as an artist-led organisation to promote studios and artist led activities in the Derry region in the lead up to the 2013 City of Culture. It secured £140K of capital funding from The City of Culture Capital Fund, provided by ILEX, DSD and The Arts Council NI, to refurbish a derelict Inner City Trust building for the purpose of housing studios and the Derry Print Workshop (DPWS). ILEX also funded essential equipment for DPWS. In 2012, CVA asked Janet Hoy and Steve Lewis to take on the project as volunteers, which necessitated the securing of an additional running cost budget, overseeing the design and refurbishment of the building, and incorporating the CVA charity, as Anthony and John had to reluctantly step down, due to other commitments.
The Building was designed, built and delivered on budget through the voluntary efforts of the CVA directors, over the course of 2012/13. It opened during the City of Culture year 2013, with six studios let, and the Derry Print Workshop operating on the ground floor in a bespoke workshop – where they remain to this day. Neither CVA nor DPWS could secure core funding for their activities post 2013, as legacy projects. As CVA did not need core costs funded, and could survive on rental income, it transferred the lease to DPWS in the hope that it would assist them in securing theirs – alas to no avail.
Post 2013, Void closed their artists’ studios as part of their expansion plans. At the same time, The Gordon Gallery failed to secure 2013 legacy funding for their studios on Pump St, and so – post 2013 there were no longer ANY Arts Council NI supported studios in Derry. A group of artists who had lost their studios approached CVA, as an appropriate charitable body, for support in finding new accommodation. This resulted in the ‘Just Hanging On’ PR campaign, an art based series of events that highlighted the lack of affordable studio space in the area. Neither DCSDC nor The Arts Council were able o provide support, but through our own voluntary efforts, we secured a lease with a private landlord and the Bishop Street studios were opened in 2015.
Since then CVA has maintained these studios with no publicly funded support. As we always have a waiting list, we have on occasion looked at other premises. Unfortunately, as we cannot count on any public funds for support, the rental/overhead costs always exceed the potential rental income we think the artists can sustain, and we cannot proceed knowing we may risk our financial stability if we do so. To date, we have not been able to identify any potential building that is financially viable on these terms.
We maintain the current studios on a voluntary basis, and remain very committed to helping any artist looking to find their own creative space in Derry/Strabane, or neighbouring areas.
What is Creative Village Arts?
CVA is a limited company and registered charity, with charitable objectives and legal structures, filed accounts, insurance policies, etc., to run visual artists’ studios. As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, it cannot act as a trading entity (a shop etc.), but is exempt from certain taxes, most importantly rates. This is a significant exemption when it comes to overheads and calculating the necessary rental income to run independently of publicly funded support.
Who owns and runs CVA?
The studio holders. It’s a charity made up of members, the majority of whom are the ‘lease holding’ artists who occupy the studios. We are not linked to any other art organisations (although we do have a close relationship with our mates up at Art Link). We have volunteer Directors (usually they are studio holders) and a Board, but again these change, and no one receives any funding or ‘in kind’ remuneration from the charity. Directors are elected by the studio members.
Decisions are made by a vote from the studio holders. The Directors have a veto on any decision – as they are effectively legally liable for anything that might go wrong. This all sounds very formal – but in practice we operate a fairly relaxed operation, that seeks to maintain its primary goal – as cheap as possible ‘decent’ spaces for artists to pursue their own projects while still making sure everything is legal and safe.
Is CVA the same as Bishop St Studios?
CVA is our official company and charity name. Bishop St is where we are right now. We are not precious about either name, but one has a legal status, the other does not.
Have you any staff?
No. We have volunteers who do all the admin etc. No one is paid in £ or in-kind. The artists are the staff and do everything from the accounts, organising exhibitions, to cleaning the bathrooms.
What’s the purpose of CVA?
To provide the cheapest possible studios to local artists, with as little drama as possible and let folks get on with making their art. We do get involved with other initiatives on occasion, and have helped folks with submissions, grant applications etc.
Is there a membership? Is there a fee?
Studio holders are the members, and they sign a leaseholder agreement when they take up rental of a studio. It is not an onerous document, but we have to had them for legal reasons, insurance, etc. They make all the decisions and organise the day to day of renting a safe, insured building. We have an AGM which anyone can attend, but we keep these small and to the point. The fee is the rent for your studio.
How do I get a studio?
You can apply to our email, talk to a member or through our website. You’ll be more than welcome to come and visit and if it all matches up, your name will be put on a waiting list. We are always happy to meet anyone who’s in the vicinity and just want to chat.
And how much is a studio?
In Bishop St our studios range from £85 to £110 per month based on size, all in. We don’t have central heating, WiFi, and it’s certainly not beautiful. But that’s the nature of trying to keep costs down and being comfortable in our space. We only ask for a month’s notice on rent, as we know the situation most artist face. Rent has to be paid monthly by direct debit, to keep our administration time to a minimum, as we are volunteers.
Do you offer cheaper studios for students etc.?
We would love to offer cheaper subsidised studios, especially to folks starting out, and appreciate £85 pm is still a lot of money – but we do not receive any grant funding and unfortunately rent, etc has to be paid, so despite our desires to support folks unfortunately no. Anyone who had any ideas how we could change that, we would be more than supportive.
Who can rent a studio? Do you need a degree? Is it just painters? Do you need a track record of exhibitions?
We rent studios to anyone who needs a basic space to create visual art. The space must not be used for commercial art practices e.g. a photographic studio, where payment is received on site, or graphic design studio. We don’t ask for qualifications or CV’s. We do ask for evidence of your commitment to your art – we want to make sure that the spaces are used consistently, so we have creative energy in the building at all times. We are open to anyone who wants to create artworks and will make reasonable use of the space.
We are a visual art charity, as that is our background – but we are a broad church – it’s up to the artist. We have some restrictions on what can be housed in a building – eg Bishop St is not suitable for a kiln, and we don’t cater for music, theatre, or dance – but that’s because we have no experience of expertise in these areas, we identified a gap in any provision for visual artists and that’s been our focus. We always welcome the chance to work or assist any other creatives in any form, and are open to all suggestions. I have included the criteria for what we deem are our range visual arts at the end of the document – to stress, these are there because we understand this specific field in terms of risk, need, commercial and tax implications.
Can I sell work through CVA? Do you have an exhibition space?
We cannot operate as a business so, although there is nothing to stop artists selling their work made in the studios, the studios themselves are not a place of business – i.e. we are not a gallery or a shop. This would conflict with our charity status, and our insurance and rates exemption. Artists in the studios do put on collective and individual exhibitions and CVA support them as best we can.
Do you plan to get more studios?
The short answer is no. The longer answer is more complicated. We are all practising artists and that’s what we do. We are not career facilitators, administrators, etc., so we are not actively searching for new premises. We do however keep an eye out for two reasons – we are never completely secure in any premises (in order to get a deal with landlords we have to accept that we can’t demand long term leases – many times we are paying considerably less than they would ‘like’) and second - we are just too busy!
But, the mechanism of the organisation is all there in place, and can be used by any group of like minded people who are prepared to go out and source new premises. We know how painful that is, and it requires self motivated groups of artists who are prepared to do the legwork and take on the work that volunteer staff do to run CVA. And in our opinion. that group doesn’t need to be large – it can be one extra studio somewhere or something grander, the admin structure is in place, the financial accounting is there, and some costs can be shared. We would not venture into anything that we didn’t think is viable, but we bear the scars, know some of the pitfalls, have the financial expertise and we can help work out the risks, we are not a closed shop by any means – we’re just busy making our own art and know how lucky we are to be I that position. If CVA can help more artists do likewise that is completely in our remit.
Do you offer grants or funding?
No. We have no source of funds other than what we pay as ‘rent’. But after many attempts we have decided that we are best being self sufficient and not reliant on outside funds. What we do have is experience, and the facilities to do things like send invoices – so we have helped artists apply for and run funded projects, and are always happy to give advice. We also have a few pieces of equipment that we can loan to artists.
Studio Rental - Art CriteriaOur art studios are designed to support practitioners engaged in artistic exploration, experimentation, and production. To ensure that our spaces meet the needs of artists working in this way, we prioritise applications that align with the following criteria:
CVA was set up in 2011 by Dr Anthony McCann and John Deery as an artist-led organisation to promote studios and artist led activities in the Derry region in the lead up to the 2013 City of Culture. It secured £140K of capital funding from The City of Culture Capital Fund, provided by ILEX, DSD and The Arts Council NI, to refurbish a derelict Inner City Trust building for the purpose of housing studios and the Derry Print Workshop (DPWS). ILEX also funded essential equipment for DPWS. In 2012, CVA asked Janet Hoy and Steve Lewis to take on the project as volunteers, which necessitated the securing of an additional running cost budget, overseeing the design and refurbishment of the building, and incorporating the CVA charity, as Anthony and John had to reluctantly step down, due to other commitments.
The Building was designed, built and delivered on budget through the voluntary efforts of the CVA directors, over the course of 2012/13. It opened during the City of Culture year 2013, with six studios let, and the Derry Print Workshop operating on the ground floor in a bespoke workshop – where they remain to this day. Neither CVA nor DPWS could secure core funding for their activities post 2013, as legacy projects. As CVA did not need core costs funded, and could survive on rental income, it transferred the lease to DPWS in the hope that it would assist them in securing theirs – alas to no avail.
Post 2013, Void closed their artists’ studios as part of their expansion plans. At the same time, The Gordon Gallery failed to secure 2013 legacy funding for their studios on Pump St, and so – post 2013 there were no longer ANY Arts Council NI supported studios in Derry. A group of artists who had lost their studios approached CVA, as an appropriate charitable body, for support in finding new accommodation. This resulted in the ‘Just Hanging On’ PR campaign, an art based series of events that highlighted the lack of affordable studio space in the area. Neither DCSDC nor The Arts Council were able o provide support, but through our own voluntary efforts, we secured a lease with a private landlord and the Bishop Street studios were opened in 2015.
Since then CVA has maintained these studios with no publicly funded support. As we always have a waiting list, we have on occasion looked at other premises. Unfortunately, as we cannot count on any public funds for support, the rental/overhead costs always exceed the potential rental income we think the artists can sustain, and we cannot proceed knowing we may risk our financial stability if we do so. To date, we have not been able to identify any potential building that is financially viable on these terms.
We maintain the current studios on a voluntary basis, and remain very committed to helping any artist looking to find their own creative space in Derry/Strabane, or neighbouring areas.
What is Creative Village Arts?
CVA is a limited company and registered charity, with charitable objectives and legal structures, filed accounts, insurance policies, etc., to run visual artists’ studios. As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, it cannot act as a trading entity (a shop etc.), but is exempt from certain taxes, most importantly rates. This is a significant exemption when it comes to overheads and calculating the necessary rental income to run independently of publicly funded support.
Who owns and runs CVA?
The studio holders. It’s a charity made up of members, the majority of whom are the ‘lease holding’ artists who occupy the studios. We are not linked to any other art organisations (although we do have a close relationship with our mates up at Art Link). We have volunteer Directors (usually they are studio holders) and a Board, but again these change, and no one receives any funding or ‘in kind’ remuneration from the charity. Directors are elected by the studio members.
Decisions are made by a vote from the studio holders. The Directors have a veto on any decision – as they are effectively legally liable for anything that might go wrong. This all sounds very formal – but in practice we operate a fairly relaxed operation, that seeks to maintain its primary goal – as cheap as possible ‘decent’ spaces for artists to pursue their own projects while still making sure everything is legal and safe.
Is CVA the same as Bishop St Studios?
CVA is our official company and charity name. Bishop St is where we are right now. We are not precious about either name, but one has a legal status, the other does not.
Have you any staff?
No. We have volunteers who do all the admin etc. No one is paid in £ or in-kind. The artists are the staff and do everything from the accounts, organising exhibitions, to cleaning the bathrooms.
What’s the purpose of CVA?
To provide the cheapest possible studios to local artists, with as little drama as possible and let folks get on with making their art. We do get involved with other initiatives on occasion, and have helped folks with submissions, grant applications etc.
Is there a membership? Is there a fee?
Studio holders are the members, and they sign a leaseholder agreement when they take up rental of a studio. It is not an onerous document, but we have to had them for legal reasons, insurance, etc. They make all the decisions and organise the day to day of renting a safe, insured building. We have an AGM which anyone can attend, but we keep these small and to the point. The fee is the rent for your studio.
How do I get a studio?
You can apply to our email, talk to a member or through our website. You’ll be more than welcome to come and visit and if it all matches up, your name will be put on a waiting list. We are always happy to meet anyone who’s in the vicinity and just want to chat.
And how much is a studio?
In Bishop St our studios range from £85 to £110 per month based on size, all in. We don’t have central heating, WiFi, and it’s certainly not beautiful. But that’s the nature of trying to keep costs down and being comfortable in our space. We only ask for a month’s notice on rent, as we know the situation most artist face. Rent has to be paid monthly by direct debit, to keep our administration time to a minimum, as we are volunteers.
Do you offer cheaper studios for students etc.?
We would love to offer cheaper subsidised studios, especially to folks starting out, and appreciate £85 pm is still a lot of money – but we do not receive any grant funding and unfortunately rent, etc has to be paid, so despite our desires to support folks unfortunately no. Anyone who had any ideas how we could change that, we would be more than supportive.
Who can rent a studio? Do you need a degree? Is it just painters? Do you need a track record of exhibitions?
We rent studios to anyone who needs a basic space to create visual art. The space must not be used for commercial art practices e.g. a photographic studio, where payment is received on site, or graphic design studio. We don’t ask for qualifications or CV’s. We do ask for evidence of your commitment to your art – we want to make sure that the spaces are used consistently, so we have creative energy in the building at all times. We are open to anyone who wants to create artworks and will make reasonable use of the space.
We are a visual art charity, as that is our background – but we are a broad church – it’s up to the artist. We have some restrictions on what can be housed in a building – eg Bishop St is not suitable for a kiln, and we don’t cater for music, theatre, or dance – but that’s because we have no experience of expertise in these areas, we identified a gap in any provision for visual artists and that’s been our focus. We always welcome the chance to work or assist any other creatives in any form, and are open to all suggestions. I have included the criteria for what we deem are our range visual arts at the end of the document – to stress, these are there because we understand this specific field in terms of risk, need, commercial and tax implications.
Can I sell work through CVA? Do you have an exhibition space?
We cannot operate as a business so, although there is nothing to stop artists selling their work made in the studios, the studios themselves are not a place of business – i.e. we are not a gallery or a shop. This would conflict with our charity status, and our insurance and rates exemption. Artists in the studios do put on collective and individual exhibitions and CVA support them as best we can.
Do you plan to get more studios?
The short answer is no. The longer answer is more complicated. We are all practising artists and that’s what we do. We are not career facilitators, administrators, etc., so we are not actively searching for new premises. We do however keep an eye out for two reasons – we are never completely secure in any premises (in order to get a deal with landlords we have to accept that we can’t demand long term leases – many times we are paying considerably less than they would ‘like’) and second - we are just too busy!
But, the mechanism of the organisation is all there in place, and can be used by any group of like minded people who are prepared to go out and source new premises. We know how painful that is, and it requires self motivated groups of artists who are prepared to do the legwork and take on the work that volunteer staff do to run CVA. And in our opinion. that group doesn’t need to be large – it can be one extra studio somewhere or something grander, the admin structure is in place, the financial accounting is there, and some costs can be shared. We would not venture into anything that we didn’t think is viable, but we bear the scars, know some of the pitfalls, have the financial expertise and we can help work out the risks, we are not a closed shop by any means – we’re just busy making our own art and know how lucky we are to be I that position. If CVA can help more artists do likewise that is completely in our remit.
Do you offer grants or funding?
No. We have no source of funds other than what we pay as ‘rent’. But after many attempts we have decided that we are best being self sufficient and not reliant on outside funds. What we do have is experience, and the facilities to do things like send invoices – so we have helped artists apply for and run funded projects, and are always happy to give advice. We also have a few pieces of equipment that we can loan to artists.
Studio Rental - Art CriteriaOur art studios are designed to support practitioners engaged in artistic exploration, experimentation, and production. To ensure that our spaces meet the needs of artists working in this way, we prioritise applications that align with the following criteria:
- Focus on Artistic Practice – The primary purpose of the studio should be for the creation of visual art, such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, or other forms that engage with artistic expression, conceptual development, or creative research. This can be in any media, paint, clay, textile, video, performance etc.
- Material and Process Considerations – While many artistic practices involve skilled techniques and craftsmanship, our studios are tailored for processes that prioritise artistic intent over functional or production-based work. Artists whose work involves fine craftsmanship, but whose primary goal is artistic exploration rather than large-scale production.
- Distinction from Craft-Based Production – We celebrate the value of craft and recognise its important role in creative industries. However, our studio spaces are not intended for craft-based practices that focus primarily on producing functional or commercial goods (such as pottery for retail, textile production, or woodworking for furniture-making). Those requiring workshop-style spaces for craft-based production may be better suited to dedicated maker spaces or workshops.
- Scale and Use of Space – Our studios are intended for individual artists or small collaborative projects rather than high-volume production or manufacturing. If your practice requires specialist equipment, ventilation, or industrial-scale materials, we encourage you to discuss your requirements with us to ensure the studio is a good fit.
