Commonground is a multi-arts space, which has been at Fargo in Coventry since 2021 (print manufactory, our pervious space since 2018).
We have hosted a range of exhibitions since opening in the summer of 2021 – with an emphasis on high quality contemporary practice. This has ranged from painting through to photography with our most recent exhibition ‘Migrating Dreams and Nightmares’ The images and text from the book A Seventh Man by John Berger and Jean Mohr. We have also provided space for live acts, art installations, DJ nights as well as offering a full screen printing set up within our workshop space. We work closely with our neighbours, Art Riot Collective to help offer an accessible space where everyone feels welcome.
We are now under threat of closure. Since we opened, founders, Kate & Jon have used their own savings, personal loans and the sale of food and drink to pay for the overheads associated with running a space of this size without taking a wage. But this year has been tough with people, understandably, not spending as much and not having any reserves left after COVID, they are struggling now to pay the day to day costs. Making money has never been a top priority as long as we could pay our staff and our bills whilst providing high quality art and a safe and enjoyable space, however losing money is not sustainable so we’ve reached out to the community of artists and creators to help us find a way to be less reliant on our commercial operation to fund our art practice.
There is now a plan for the new year, new funding options and an exciting programme of events, however we won’t make it to 2024 unless we can raise a significant amount of money to cover our costs now.
Again, our community has come to our rescue and offered artworks for us to use as incentives to donate. We have a series of limited edition prints of some incredible work from:
Dave Gray, Nigel Hopkins, Richard Sadler, Ashley Spindler
John Yeadon, Stewart Easton, Polly Merredew, Adele M Reed, Jason Tilley
Simon Green and Art Riot Collective
Turner prize nominated artist, George Shaw has also provided us with artwork which we are incredibly grateful for.
So please use this wonderful opportunity to acquire some incredible artwork by these amazing artists as well as supporting us through to the next year.
"Commonground is a beautiful inclusive space for people to come together around food and music to experience, make, or share ideas, culture and arts. From cafe to live music venue to gallery to dance floor, to print manufactory. It is a warm and safe home for a growing ecosystem of artists, culture and incredible events. A place to connect and collaborate or just enjoy. A platform to develop and share your art form or experience other's. Catch up with a coffee and cake in beautifully lit space amongst the plants. Or watch some incredible jazz. Or put on a film night. In a city struggling for cultural spaces, Commonground is an invitation to anyone and everyone to gather, collaborate and share in joy in challenging times." Tom Simkins
"Commonground is one of the only accessible spaces in Coventry where you can access high quality art. Art Riot Collective, which is a supported studio in Coventry thrives from the connection and accessible environment Commonground offers. We often hold our network events in the space which not only offers access to high quality art but great healthy food and drinks, events and opportunities. It has become our home from home and without it some of the most marginalised groups of people in Coventry, disabled and neurodivergent artists and supporters would have no where to go and connect with other artists, see inspiring work and feel part of the wider artistic community". Kyla Craig - Art Riot Collective.
Please note that as artwork dimensions & styles vary between artists there will be borders/cropping on some prints. They will be as near to the A4/A3 sizes as possible. If you require exact sizes for the purposes of framing etc... please just let us know and we can send the exact sizes of your print.