We are absolutely friggin delighted to announce that all of our studio spaces are now full! The final piece of the jigsaw is artist Toby Lloyd whos Re:Roll exhibition you may have seen at our February launch event. Here is the low down… Toby Lloyd uses photography, video and performance to examine the self and its relationship with its surrounding environment. His work has been described as banal in the best possible sense and masochistic as he takes the everyday object or action and pushes it into the absurd For more info on the rest o.

We are about to launch our first ever life drawing class at Empty Shop HQ, the first of many to come Beginners Life Drawing Classes Empty Shop presents a 10 week series of life drawing classes led by artist, FreeBird and teacher Abi Barlow. Starting on Wednesday the 5th May, you can learn or brush up on your art skills in Empty Shop’s unique and friendly atmosphere. Each week Abi will cover a key dimension of figurative drawing in an informal and engaging way whilst also offering unstructured/untutored time to put these skills into practise.

Are you looking for a chance to create a unique one-off piece of art in an exciting and vibrant city centre space? We are offering northeast based artists the chance to create an exciting work in our Stairwell Gallery, as part of a residency and exhibition at Empty Shop headquarters in Durham. You can use any medium you wish, all that we ask is that your work is original and is in direct response to the space. As usual we can be flexible and negotiate regarding timescales in which to develop your work, through visits to the space to generate i.

All this week artist Hannah Marsden is using the Workspace here at HQ to develop some work for her upcoming show at The Durham Art Gallery. It’s great to have someone else in the building bouncing ideas and bringing a new creative dynamic. The Workspace is a large room available to use for a whole range of things. To learn more, including how to book The Workspace click here She is around all week and will be updating her blog in the lead up to her show In June where you can also find out more about her work – click here Details Ex.

We are about to start our long awaited life drawing classes – yey! We initially asked for life drawing models over a year ago but never found the right time to launch the sessions, with us moving into the permanent HQ however, we are finally putting them into action. The exact start date will be announced soon but likely before the month is out, before that though we are looking for some life models. We have a list of previously interested people but in the interest of fairness and opportunity we are putting the call out here too. If you .

Last week saw new additions to our studio group leaving us with only one space left. Paul Gibbs is an illustrator and Meinir Wyn Jones is a ceramicist adding more depth and range to our already varied group. We now only have one space left and are on the lookout for someone who can embrace the Empty Shop ethos and become a valuable member of our group. Details - £100 per month - Venue Empty Shop HQ, Durham City Centre Would all interested parties send an email detailing why you think Empty Shop HQ studio spaces are right for you. Please atta.

The fourth post in a row with a title that ends in ‘Durham’. what can I say, there is just a lot of stuff happening in Durham at the moment! Anyway, for all you music fans here is a heads up for a bit of punk of various disciplines heading your way. Once again at The Fishtank with a mix of local, slightly less local and definitely not local bands to make your ears smile and your brain think. What else are you going to do in Durham on a Thursday night? Exactly – see you there… IMPERIAL CAN (USA) http://www.myspace.com/im.

Well, that’s hopefully got Google’s attention so now to the point… Our main room at HQ is now available to book as a usable workspace. It can be hired on a half day or full day basis and is suitable for a variety of uses. It’s a chance to give your cultural events or creative ideas a home slap bang in the middle of Durham’s arts hub. Get your creative juices flowing and book your place now! Go to the ‘Workspace’ page under the ‘Empty Shop HQ’ tab for more details, or click here a2a_config.

I went to an awesome house gig last year at which Brook Pridemore played. He was a bloody nice chap and the gig was brill. Anyway, as the title suggest he’s back and The Equestrian Collective are once again presenting a great show, this time at The Fish Tank. These guys do some genuinely exciting stuff on the D.I.Y music scene and for £4 you can’t go wrong – I will now quote the line up… The Equestrian Collective Proudly Present: Brook Pridemore (USA) www.myspace.com/brookpridemore www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLlqHhuuID0&a.

A few weeks back Nick and myself went to see comedic genius Tim Vine when he played Durham and it was amazing – so amazing in fact, that we pestered him afterwards about Empty Shop and the possibility of booking him in future. He was very nice although I can imagine that he was very weirded out by the whole thing,  or just wanted us to stop talking to him. Anyway, This picture pretty much sums it up. Maybe we should do all our marketing this way from now on… isn’t Darius coming to Durham soon? For those interested the pens i.