Amid rising costs and diminishing arts funding, you might say it’s a brave time to launch a new not-for-profit contemporary arts space.
But that is exactly what the Board of Vessel Contemporary – a new, 840 square metre warehouse-style arts space in Fremantle/Walyalup, WA – is setting out to do.
According to Vessel Contemporary co-Executive Director Will Ek Uvelius, who has a background in cultural and creative strategy and has run small contemporary arts space CURRENT with fellow artist and Vessel co-Executive Director Nina Juniper since 2023, the new not-for-profit arts organisation builds on foundations laid down by the space’s previous social entrepreneur tenants, and aims to leverage new avenues of arts philanthropy – including from cryptocurrency entrepreneurs – to sustain its longevity.
25% arts programming to start with
Before its launch last week, Vessel Contemporary – the tagline of which is that it’s ‘a place for dynamic, site-responsive creativity that sparks societal change’ – was known as the heritage-listed industrial-scale events and co-working space called The Naval Store, managed by local social entrepreneurship cooperative, Enkel Collective.
But it wasn’t long before Adam Jorlen, a Board director at Enkel, and Nina Juniper, who has been managing Naval Store since 2022, determined that one of the best uses for the space was to support and present contemporary art.
“It was obvious that whenever there were art exhibitions presented at Naval Store, the public engaged with the space the most,” Ek Uvelius tells ArtsHub.
After realising this potential, Enkel’s founder (Adam Jorlen), a futurist and entrepreneur, teamed up with Ek Uvelius and Juniper, a local artist, to map out a plan to transform The Naval Store into a contemporary arts organisation that could devote more of its energies to supporting the work of early and mid-career artists and curators.
Now, after a two year strategic planning process, Vessel’s Board (which includes Ek Uvelius and Juniper as the two Executive Director Board members, and Jorlen as one of its five non-executive director Board members) created what they believe is a strong business case to shape the future of Vessel Contemporary.
Read: What to expect in the arts from Labor’s landslide win and second term
However, according to Ek Uvelius, Vessel’s public launch last week won’t mean an influx of big-splash arts activity just yet.
Rather, audiences should expect a slower-burn, steady-paced climb of arts programming from the organisation, which will build over the next five years.
“It’s easy for small arts organisations crash and burn by trying to go too big too quickly,” Ek Uvelius explains.
“So, we’re approaching the first few years of our programming as a ‘testing ground’ phase where we will be able to test things out and see what works and what doesn’t.
“Importantly, we need to test and evaluate which parts of our program are most successful and which aren’t as we deliver our first programs,” he continues.
“Being agile and adaptable to change is part of our core.”
In its first year, Vessel will present a solo exhibition by Perth/Boorloo-born and Melbourne/Naarm-based artist Gian Manik, the recipient of Vessel’s inaugural commission.
Manik’s show will open in June, and will feature a series of large-scale paintings the artist is creating with local primary school students in the Fremantle/Walyalup area based on the artist’s desire to spark inter-generational skills exchange and raise the profile of artists and creatives as full-time working professionals.
“Gian was chosen as our first commissioned artist by our artist selection panel.” Ek Uvelius explains, “who recognised his project and exhibition proposal as aligning with our own vision which is, among other things, to forge stronger connections between artists and the local community while encouraging creative experimentation.”
Aside from Manik’s solo show, Vessel’s first 12 months will feature several other public arts events and exhibitions, together with a major collaboration with Fremantle Biennale, however, at least initially, its not-for-profit arts program will account for only 25% of The Naval Store’s overall business activity.
The program will be presented intermittently over three months of the year, with the remaining 75% of the building’s activation (the remaining nine months of the year) focused on generating income via external public events, use of the space by other arts and community groups, and private hire arrangements.
“The plan is to build our not-for-profit artist support activities and exhibitions beyond just that 25 per cent portion of the business over time,” Ek Uvelius tells ArtsHub.
“But that will only be possible when we can start to attract more philanthropic income and hopefully some grant income as well.”
Champion support from Local Government
Another essential ingredient in Vessel’s business model is having strong support from the owners of its historic building – the Fremantle/Walyalup Local Government Council.
The City of Fremantle will assist the new arts organisation by providing it with reduced rental costs for the building, as well as some financial support for its public program, no cost hire arrangements for events equipment as required, and promotional support for Vessel’s events program via its local government marketing channels.
Read: Peak bodies call for greater commitment to live music and visual arts sectors post-election
“We are deeply appreciative of this support from the City of Fremantle,” Ek Uvelius says.
“Fremantle Mayor [Hannah Fitzhardinge] has been a particularly strong advocate for what we are trying to achieve.”
“The way she recognises the value of the arts as a cultural and creative industry is incredibly important for us, and for the wider arts sector in this local area.”
New wave of arts philanthropy from crypto-entrepreneurs?
Aside from its solid Local Government support and its 75%-25% commercial/not-for-profit business mix to start with, the fledging arts space is also planning to attract significant philanthropic support to help it grow.
As Ek Uvelius explains, Vessel’s Board members have identified new potential in philanthropic dollars that could come to the arts by way of tech-entrepreneurs making money in digital markets like cryptocurrency.
“We really want to lean in to this new wave of private philanthropy we see as coming from individual donors,” he tells ArtsHub.
“Our Board member Adam Jorlen has been very successful in the crypto market, and he is someone who really believes in arts spaces like Vessel as spaces of the future, and as spaces that allow people to conceptualise better future visions for their communities, and for the world.
“The other thing about crypto or tech-entrepreneurs, is that I think there is an element of intangibility to that wealth,” Ek Uvelius continues.
“So I think there is a desire on their part to turn that money into something that has a tangible value.
“And with an arts organisation like Vessel, they can turn that money into real, tangible opportunities that will make a big difference to artists’ career in ways that also helps generate meaningful cultural activity in their communities,” he concludes.
Learn more about Vessel Contemporary.
