The artists breathing new life into listed building

A disused, listed building has found new purpose in recent months as a group of artists have transformed it into functional studio space.

Founded in 1896 by Rev William Henderson, the Shankill Mission aimed to address the spiritual and physical needs of the area’s impoverished residents.

The building closed in 2009 after serving as a community hub for more than a century, however its latest tenants are now hoping to welcome local residents back to the space.

Vault Studios are hosting an open day in the heritage building on Saturday, following an 18-month refurbishment.

Formed in 2017 as a community driven, non-profit charity, Vault’s initial intention was to transform neighbourhoods by breathing life into disused buildings and providing affordable artist studio space.

The collective – made up of musicians, circus performers, visual artists, dancers, and more – were previously based in a former college in east Belfast, which accommodated more than 100 people, but that site was closed for demolition last year.

Vault artists are now split between a former office and the Shankill Mission building, Albert Hall, with a guaranteed nine-year lease for the latter.

“Arts organisations very often come in and begin the process of regeneration and then gentrification happens and they get priced out,” building manager and artist Neal Campbell explained.

“Our other building, Marlborough House, it’s great. We have 70 artists there in a city centre location but from November of this year effectively we’ll be month-by-month. It’s going to be redeveloped at some point, we will be moved on.”

The former Presbyterian Church-owned mission building is being leased to the group by Argyll Business Group, who have also part-funded its initial restoration.

Up to 30 people will be based in the building with both single and shared studio space available.

“This building we see as a really good benchmark of what could be done when arts organisations work in partnership with property owners who have actual vision and ambition and can see the value of arts in the community beyond monetary value,” Mr Campbell said.

The site required “significant work”, including a roof repair and upgrade, however, much of the restoration was carried out by the artists themselves with several “heartaches” along the way as the group tackled major leaks and dry rot.

“They made these real improvements in their own spaces,” Mr Campbell said. “There is this real shared vision for the building and there’s a great ambition for what it can be.”

Alongside the artists, Belfast Tool Library – a community initiative that allows members of the public to borrow whatever they need for their DIY projects – has also relocated into the mission, adding another offering to the Shankill area.

“We are really interested in how all this sits with the heritage of this building. There’s an older generation of people around the Shankill who have incredible memories of this building, of coming in when they were children for Sunday school,” Mr Campbell said.

“There’s that real affectionate link, but the younger generations have no connection to the building, they just know it as a place where the shutters were always down and we’re really pleased to change that.”

Among those making use of the space is textile artist Emily McIlwaine from Killinchy, County Down.

She joined Vault in 2018 and her new studio accommodates two large wooden-framed looms which she hand weaves on.

The artist recently used the space to complete a commission for the Belfast 2024 programme, creating an art piece to be displayed as part of the 9ft in Common project, which sees the city’s alleyways transformed.

“[Shankill Mission] is great. I love it, I’d like to get in more, I’ve a toddler so he keeps me busy,” she said. “I just feel like we’re so lucky to have got this space.”

“If you’d seen my last studio you’d see how much of an upgrade this is,” street artist and illustrator Ray Bonner (better known as Francois Got Buffed) said.

He’s been with Vault for the last six years and said there is a social element to working in a shared space.

“When you chat to people you can generate new ideas and bounce ideas about, there’s that collaborative element of having people around you,” he said.

During Saturday’s open day, Omagh-born scriptwriter – and co-creator of BBC Radio 4’s Parish is Burning – Mick McCullagh is inviting visitors to take part in an interactive screen read in the mission building’s attic.

He has been in the building since last March, taking on what was a former wood working room, which is now kitted out with a green screen, cameras and sound equipment.

“It was just covered in debris, rubble and old tools, it took about two weeks to just get everything out,” he said.

“I was looking at videos, we were trying to grab some footage of when we moved in, and the way it looks now, you forget how much we’ve already put into it.”