Artist-led: OSR Projects
An ongoing series profiling artist-led groups in the South West. This month we are celebrating OSR Projects.
Can you tell us about OSR Projects, who you are and what you do?
OSR Projects connects people through artist-led activity. We produce ambitious, playful, critically and socially engaged art projects, including the bi-annual Od Arts Festival that takes place across the villages of East Coker and West Coker in Somerset.
Established in 2011, by artist Simon Lee Dicker and graphic designer Chantelle Henocq, OSR Projects has shifted and evolved over the past 15 years, responding to an ever-changing world whilst retaining a passion for artist-led activity. We celebrate art and creativity as a way to develop rich and multiple understandings of the world around us, and the people we share it with, leading to lasting creative partnerships and meaningful community collaboration.
We believe that artists play a vital role in questioning how we live now, and what the future could look like. Our mission is to support both the (hyper-local) communities where our work takes place and the (local, national and international) artist community that make the work possible.
Can you tell us why you set up OSR Projects and why it is important in the context that you are working in?
Nothing much ever happened at West Coker. No great man was born or lived or died there. No battle was fought near it nor did any constitutional crisis have its rise in its neighbourhood. It was never the centre of great industry nor the source of wide spreading trade. No relic of saint nor monument of art nor scene of natural beauty ever attracted visitors. The Annals of West Coker - Sir Matthew Nathan (1957)
This quote was our starting point. A place in the middle of nowhere where nothing much ever happened. Obviously, it's not as dramatic as that, as Sir Matthew Nathan managed to write over 500 pages about West Coker, but creatively this seemed like a good place to start. A blank canvas.
Our first exhibition Under a new Sun took place in September 2011 and kick started our desire to share contemporary art in a rural context. We continued to host exhibitions and events at OSR Projects, developing creative networks, and embracing all that came with making and sharing work in an area not known for contemporary art.
In 2020 we set up Lockdown Pottery to support our local community through the Covid19 pandemic. Alongside working with local residents, Lockdown Pottery packs were delivered to six schools in South Somerset and guidance, in the form of a video tutorial by our then 11-year-old son, enabled 150 pupils to produce ceramic tableware that was exhibited at Dawe’s Twineworks. This led to setting up Community Clay where we continue to run regular pottery based activities at OSR Projects.
Fifteen years on we continue to advocate for artist-led practice, not as a stepping stone to a career in the arts, but as a valuable independent alternative to the over commodification and commercialisation of the broader ‘art world’ at large.
Can you describe your context - what sort of space you run out of, where you run your project from, and how you operate and are funded?
OSR Projects, formerly The Old School Room of West Coker (hence OSR) was originally built in 1850, and after 26 years, the educational needs of the village quickly outgrew the space and so a new school was built. The Old School Room became a social space and un-official village hall hosting all manner of gatherings over the next 160 years.
We bought the Old School Room at auction (for 65k) and completed renovations in 2011. The building held a special place in the heart of the village over many generations, and we did not want to close the door. As a natural extension of our creative practices, we were keen to keep this as a place of learning, meeting and sharing that, through the filter of contemporary art, was still a place for people to come together.
We registered as a Community Interest Company in 2019 and have an active board of non-executive directors that contribute to the strategic development of the organisation. We also have local committee of eight people that help with the development of Od Arts Festival, and a dedicated team of volunteers and local partners that support our work.
Much of the hidden labour involved in running an artist-led organisation comes from the relatively precarious financial model that involves fundraising on a project-by-project basis. Over the years we have been well supported by a range of public funding bodies, most notably Art Council England (National Lottery Project Grants) for Od Arts Festival, whilst also generating an income through running regular pottery workshops and other activities.
Can you tell us about what you are currently working on and if you have any projects coming up you’d like to share with our network?
We are delighted to announce that Od Arts Festival with be taking place next year from 28-30 May 2027. We are busy behind the scenes making plans, fundraising and building partnerships, and the best way to keep up-to-date with our latest news is to sign up for our occasional newsletter.
To celebrate 15 years of OSR Projects you are all invited to a day (and night) of screenings, performances, dancing, eating and drinking. This will take place on Saturday 19 September and include contributions from lots of the artists we have worked with over the past 15 years. To find out more please follow this link
If you are interested in taking part in any of our ceramic’s workshops, please follow this link to the ‘Community Clay’ section of our website.
