Case Study: The House Arts Collective
Who are The House Arts Collective?
Originally started by a group of students graduating from Glasgow School of Art who wanted to continue using a shared studio space, The House Arts Collective is an artist led collective carrying out community focussed events, exhibitions, talks and screenings.
Based in Maryhill, Glasgow, they provide affordable studio, workshop and gallery space to members.
The House Arts Collective is run non-hierarchically and is registered as a Community Interest Company.
Why did The House Arts Collective come to us?
The original members of the co-op all knew each other from Glasgow School of Art however as time passed and members were thinking of moving away, the group needed to think about the processes of joining and leaving membership, as well as whether it would be possible to ‘sublet’ studio space if someone was away for a while.
This also led to questions about how the group wanted to run, and whether this matched what it actually said in their governing document.
We decided that the support priorities were:
- Reviewing their governance document
- Discussing decision making procedures
What work did we do?
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Facilitated in person session with members to break down their governing document, and get feedback on any changes the group wanted to make
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Deliver a session to explain sociocratic decision making and how it might help
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Bring out and capture action points for individual members to take forward actions discussed in our sessions
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Signpost to local co-op networks and other support organisations
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Follow up support around submitting accounts and finalising governing document
Member, The House Arts
Collective
Thanks again for all of your help through this process… YOU ARE AMAZING!!
Brian Morgan, Co-operate Scotland
It was an absolute pleasure to work with this committed group of young artists, who could clearly see that by co-operating – rather than competing – they are better placed to meet their own individual creative goals