Birmingham City University’s School of Art in Margaret Street is to be the new home for a regional strategic group set up to promote visual arts throughout the region.
Turning Point West Midlands (TPWM) is a consortium of organisations and individuals who will work with the visual arts sector to develop a visual arts strategy for the region.
The group will be coordinated by visual arts consultant Wendy Law and chaired by the head of the School of Art John Butler.
Part of Arts Council England’s national regional network, TPWM aims to strengthen the visual arts and promote greater collaborative working for the benefit of artists, arts organisations and audiences in the region.
Ms Law said: “I see a great deal going on in the visual arts across the West Midlands, and it is very exciting, a huge and diverse area with many smaller and distinctive regional contexts.
“I am very fortunate to be based at the School of Art, not only a stunning building, but fitting too, as a place that nurtures the professional artists of the future, and supports public exhibition spaces, International Project Space in Bournville and Eastside Projects.
John Butler, head of School of Art, said: “This will be the first time such a challenge has been attempted and is very appropriate in a time when Birmingham is bidding for the nation’s City of Culture and planning for a new Museum of Contemporary Art, all of which will help reposition the region as a major international centre for creative well-being and practice.”
