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British Summertime I was a developmental commissioning scheme arising from The Elephant in the Room, an Arts Council England, West Midlands report produced by Hybrid in 2007.

The ‘Elephant in the Room’ research recommended developing the provision of training and mentoring support to artists and to hold critical debates to address issues of cultural diversity and the visual arts. British Summertime I scheme was devised to do both of these through a series of developmental commissions and critical dialogues. It aimed to provide beneficial developmental experiences to artists interested in applying for commissions at all levels of experience. It enables artists to reflect on how to further their careers and to inform and challenge thinking within the creative, business, and community sectors.

The Developmental Commissions: British Summertime I

The developmental commissions picked upon - but were not constrained by - the roles of identity, ethnicity and aesthetics within the visual arts sector.

There were five visual artists who worked with four West Midlands venues. Andrew Jackson (Multistory, West Bromwich), Feng-Ru Lee (New Art Gallery Walsall), Rita Patel (Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford), Saranjit Birdi (Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford) and Shaheen Ahmed (Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton).

The commissions encouraged and reflected the diversity, talent and excellence of visual artists working in the West Midlands and the challenges they face within this sector.

The Critical Dialogues: Happiness, Social Responsibility, Diversity

The critical dialogues stemmed from research for Arts Council England, West Midlands which explored the Asian, African and Caribbean visual arts sector in the region (download 'the elephant in the room' at http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications/publication_detail.php?rid=8

<http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications/publication_detail.php?rid=8&id=608&page=2> &id=608&page=2).  The research fed out of the publication of ACE's national strategy for the visual arts Turning Point (2006) alongside ACE's Race Equality Scheme. 

Hybrid carried out an extensive evaluation of BST I.  This evaluation is availble here.