In The Meanwhile: Bath Spa Students showcase the project
Over May and June of this year, residents and visitors enjoyed a vibrant programme of creative activity at 17/18 Milsom Street and Milsom Place in Bath as part of a project called In the Meanwhile.
In the Meanwhile. Organised by Bath Spa University in partnerships with Studio Resident Little Lost Robot working with B&NES Council, brought temporarily redundant shop spaces into productive use. The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic crisis has seen a large number of shops in the city centre become empty. In the Meanwhile supported the council to reinvigorate these spaces with art, working with local creative talent to repopulate vacant spaces with activities that are open and more meaningful to the people that exist here. Following the success of the project, additional funding has been secured through Bristol+Bath Creative R+D to support this project further.
In October, a group of Bath Spa Creative Media Practice students were tasked with creating a film showcasing the In the Meanwhile Project. The focus of the film was to capture the vision and values of the project, namely, the vision to make the creative ecology of Bath more visible and accessible. Ruby Sant, Creative Director of In the Meanwhile, says about the process, “It was such a pleasure to work with the BSU students to make the video and to discuss with them the issues around highstreet ecologies and the lack of creative spaces. We are looking forward to more such collaborations in the future.”
Taylor Sidwells, one of the students involved, enjoyed being part of a project that has such an important impact on society,
“I and my group thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work with In the Meanwhile and Little Lost Robot, as helping envision such an organic and coherent foundation of a much needed creative industry really allowed us to express our charisma toward such a project through the visuals we produced. I and my group really look forward to where in the meanwhile could grow in the future and just how many doors and opportunities it could open. One thing I can say is if you don’t know In the Meanwhile / Little Lost Robot yet, do your research because they’re doing a really great thing for the communities around them.”
In the Meanwhile are currently in the process of planning the next phase of the project, so look out for further installations at Milsom Place. You can also find upcoming In the Meanwhile events here.
In the Meanwhile is supported by: Little Lost Robot, Arts Council England, Bath Spa University, Bath School of Art, Bristol + Bath Creative R+D, The Studio, and BSU Careers and Employability Team, B&NES, Milsom Place and The Centre of Cultural and Creative Industries.