FAQ

What is Empty Shop?
Empty Shop is a progressive, grass roots, independent arts organisation based in Durham. Our main objectives are art, regeneration and collaboration. Founded in 2008, we are a registered Community Interest Company and officially a non profit organisation.

Why are you called ‘Empty Shop’?
A main focus of the organisation is using empty shops, buildings and unused spaces as art space

Are you part of the ‘art in empty shops schemes’ that are popping up all over the country?
No, we actually predate that Government Initiative by quite some time.

Are you part of a ‘pop up shop scheme’?
No. Although part of what we do is temporary in nature, we are completely independent from any pop up shop schemes – this is all us.

Are you funded?
No, and this is intentional – we have not applied for any funding and don’t plan to. We are completely self sufficient and sustainable at every level, Empty Shop exists in it’s own right.

How does Empty Shop work?
Empty shop works through hard work, dedication and a genuine interest in what we are doing. We aim to provide the community we serve with creative resources and opportunities and to bring more depth to the cultural environment in County Durham and beyond.

The basic structure is to acquire art spaces on a temporary basis and allow them to be used creatively by anyone – each one of these temporary premises are called ‘Empty Shop’ followed by a number (e.g Empty Shop 1, Empty Shop 2 etc)

How do I use an ‘Empty Shop’?
It’s as simple as asking, if the date is free then you can use it – Check out our ‘Current Venues‘ section on this website to see what is currently available. We don’t always have an ‘Empty Shop’ but check back regularly as the next one should never be far away.

How much does it cost to use an ‘Empty Shop’?
Each Empty Shop requires you to pay a small fee to help cover costs (we are unfunded remember) and this is totally dependent on the space. As a guide previous Empty Shops have cost around £7 a day.

I have an empty shop/building/space,  would it benefit me to let you use it?
Yes, there are some great reasons, including commercial and financial incentives, to allow our organisation to use your unused space. If you want to talk to us about this please email thefolks@emptyshop.org and we will be in touch.

So what happens when you don’t have an ‘Empty Shop’?
Whilst the temporary Empty Shops are a main focus of the organisation it doesn’t end there, we have developed into all kinds of areas and we always have things going on. We have a permanent building in the Centre of Durham which houses the organisation and acts as our Head Quarters – In HQ we have a bunch of creative resources for the community including studio spaces and a large space for hire. To learn more about HQ – click here

How do I find out what is going on at HQ and with Empty Shop in General?
The easiest way is to visit our website regularly – we use a blogging platform to post news and updates. You can also subscribe to our RSS feeds which will give you these updates instantly making it easier to stay in the loop.

In addition to this we post news and updates on our Facebook profile, on Twitter and we send out occasional Newsletters to announce the big news.

Subscribe to RSS feeds – click here
See our Facebook profile – click here
Follow us on Twitter – click here
Go to our homepage and ‘Bookmark’ it – click here
Sign up to our newsletter – use the sign up box on the right hand side of any page
Go to our homepage and ‘Bookmark’ it – click here

What are RSS feeds and how do I use them?
RSS feeds are a simple way to be notified and receive new website content without having to visit the website. If you follow or subscribe to an RSS feed new content will be sent to you in a simplified format as soon as the new content is published. For example, if we post a new event in our news section, you will be sent the story instantly.

You can subscribe to RSS feeds using a news reader, a piece of software which checks the feeds and gives you the option to read them. These can come in the form of  downloadable readers which pull the information from the internet to your computer, or online readers which display the information in your browser. You can in some cases follow RSS via email too.

Popular choices include Google Reader and Feed Demon. Browsers such as Firefox pick up on RSS feeds automatically and display the icon in the toolbar making it easier to find feeds.

Once you have set up your desired reader all you need to do is click the orange RSS icon of your choice on any website that has this feature. For example at the top of our page you can subscribe to ‘Posts’ and ‘Comments’ or a general Empty Shop feed which covers everything.

You can learn more by reading this Wikipedia article – click here

Can Empty Shop help me with an idea?
Very possibly! We are a really open organisation that loves to work with other people. Drop us an email with your idea and we’ll see if it’s something we can help with.