Our Story
By Steve Rogers, Founding member.
The very moment that ROAR was born was about eighteen months after we had set up Open Minds Theatre Company. I was at a Creative Networks meeting, in 2005, organised by Lizzy Alageswaren, RMBC Community Arts officer at the time. These were monthly meetings of Rotherham artists, sometimes just to socialise, sometimes to hear someone speak about their artistic life!
It started with a conversation with Nick Harder who ran the visual arts supplies shop in Rotherham - Nick spent his life supporting visual artists, and was a fine frame maker himself. Talking with Zahir Rafiq some time later when I said that I had not seen Nick for several weeks. “Oh he will be somewhere helping some artists!”
Nick was bemoaning what he saw as an artistic drain out of Rotherham. Young people went away to different universities to study Fine Arts and other related courses. They graduated, returned home to practise their art and looked for studio space. In Rotherham there were none so they moved to Sheffield, to Manchester, to anywhere. It was heartbreaking.
I was bemoaning the lack of a proper space for OMTC. We were massively supported by the Unity Centre but it was not the same as having our space with built in lights, sound, mirrors etc. I also was expressing frustration that Rotherham schools were buying in drama workshops from outside Rotherham which we could do a lot better!
“So, why don’t we set up an infrastructure organisation with three basic aims?” I said.
1. To establish an independent Arts Centre with studio and rehearsal space.
2. To support professional and emerging artists who live and/or work in Rotherham.
3. To provide a one stop shop for schools, community organisations and others to access the services of professional Rotherham artists.
And so we did.
The name? We quite wanted to call it The Real Rotherham Renaissance but felt that was just a bit confrontational. The Open Arts bit was in our hearts as quite clearly we wanted the Arts to be central and accessible to all.
We set up a Company Limited by Guarantee in 2006 and a board which comprised of solely practising artists which might have been a mistake at the time but seemed right. Certainly the passion was there!
The first board consisted of:
Steve Rogers: Artistic Director of OMTC. Chair
Tim Wooliscroft: Director of Swamp Circus North
Zahir Rafiq: Visual Artist
Karen Mulcahey: Theatre Director, Singer/Songwriter
Nick Harder: Owner of Basic Arts
Taiba Yasseen: Director of The Kashmir Project (OMTC)
Sandria Gilling: Visual Artist
What a joyful group of people.
The huge breakthrough happened when we got an organisational grant from the Arts Council in 2008. We were off!
At last we could employ people and really get moving. Up until then ROAR had been run by the above group of volunteers who were all professional artists and had demanding commitments to their own companies and practice. In December 2008 We appointed Karen Sherwood from Cupola Gallery as our first CEO.
We moved ROAR into OMTC’s spare office at The Unity Centre. We had set our hearts on developing the empty St Ann’s building at The Unity Centre as our Arts Centre. It was a wonderful old school building which was in a parlous state. In fact two of the original Board had gone there as children.
We were successful in getting funding from Creative Exchange to secure the building with extensive repairs to the roof and new doors and metal gates to stop it deteriorating further.
We had such dreams but St Ann’s turned from a dream to a nightmare.
In the meantime, Karen had got the Council interested in us taking over Westgate Chambers in the middle of town. It was at the top of the old Co-op building. Ah the negotiations with the Council:
“We would like a year’s free rent while we make it inhabitable.”
“Steve, the Council never gives a year’s free rent. It is not normal! Perhaps six months?”
“ ROAR is not a normal tenant! What we offer to Rotherham is far from normal. It is exciting and different and the answer!”
We got a year’s free rent. Hurrah!
It was more drawn out than that but that was the gist.
A bizarre and delightful application from Tair Rafiq, then a board member, to the Peoples’ Millions got us shortlisted for a place in the TV vote off. We lost but then got the grant as the loser with the most votes!
And more help from The Arts Council, bless them, we refurbished and moved in. And then in 2012 we became the first Arts Council NPO in Rotherham!
It has been a privilege to be part of ROAR and I am delighted that it is in such good hands.
