Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre

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Before booking, please read all of the below information, as well as our values and principles to consider your alignment with the practises and values of BOARC.

Accountability Agreement

Whilst we assume people have good intent, as an intersectional space with feminist principals we need to emphasise the obvious things that can’t be tolerated: Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Transism, Ableism, Classism, Ageism, Xenophobia - in fact, any kind of ‘ism’ or ‘phobia’ where superiority over others is assumed. We promise to hear you out if your behaviour is questioned, but will ask you to leave if you intentionally inflict these forms of aggression against other people.

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TOGETHER LETS:

- Be conscious of how we take power or use privilege in the space.

- Be tolerant and make no assumptions about others.

- Speak up when others over step our boundaries.

- Be mindful that we all have blind spots and the ability to learn from them.

- Find ways of speaking for injustice, that doesn’t shame or judge others.

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While transgressions may occur when different types of people meet, we want to use them as opportunities to learn. This means questioning the behaviours of others in a non-judgemental way and being open to hearing the viewpoints of others if your own behaviour is questioned.

Those running the space welcome being called in or out if our behaviours or aspects of the project cause discomfort. We recognise this is necessary for our learning and growth. We are grateful for the courage it takes to do this and have practices in place so we can reflect and make changes when needed.

Accountability Process:

Should you need to address anything during your stay here there is an accountability process in place. If you raise an issue with a member of the BOARC team, we’ll first let you know the steps of the process, and ask out how you’d like to proceed.

You can either speak with a member of the team, or send an email to enquiries@bidstonobservatory.org

If you’d prefer to be anonymous, there are a number of email account providers which you can register with, without your name attached. We can also receive letters to: Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre, Wilding Way, Prenton, CH43 7RA.

Main staircase

Communality

BOARC is an experiment in communality. Most often, you will be sharing the building with others, and use of work and living spaces is to be negotiated.

Please be considerate of others in your timings and usage of spaces. Blocking off specific rooms isn’t generally encouraged, and might incur extra charges.

To keep the space low cost, BOARC has minimal staff and no cleaners. It’s up to everyone to contribute towards the upkeep of the building, spending 20 minutes a day (or more!) cleaning and giving care to the space where it’s needed. Please care for it as you would your own home and leave it in the best possible state for the next person. There are cleaning stations on each floor and a laundry room for washing your sheets before leaving.

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Rooms/facilities available are:

- Large basement space & sub-basement

- Movement / body-based practices room

- Meeting space

- Radio room / recording studio

- Wet studio

- Media Suite

- 2 Domes

- Open roof & weather cabin

- Library

- Large kitchen & main dining area

- Small back kitchen & sitting room

- Courtyard

- Car park + fire pit

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BOARC typically has comfy beds for 24 stayers (or 30 if double beds are shared.)

Arrangements can be made for additional beds if necessary.

Rooms range from private double rooms, an accessible ground floor room, family rooms and 3-8 person dormitories.

It is possible you’ll be sharing a dorm room with others. However, all have privacy curtains and we bear work needs in mind when room plans are necessary.

Room allocation is on a first come first served basis unless there are specific access needs. Bedrooms are non-gendered, but if you have particular preferences, we can work out arrangements together.

Duvets, pillows, sheets and towels are provided.

There are accessible bedrooms and an accessible bathroom on the ground floor. Please click here for more information on accessibility.

BOARC is self-catering and is well equipped to cook for large numbers. There is a small corner shop close by and a large 24-hour supermarket within a 20-minute walking distance or 5-minute car ride.

In the main kitchen, mealtimes are often gatherings, with stayers sometimes choosing to cook and eat together. There is also a second, smaller kitchen, which is usually a bit quieter and a pantry space where stayers can keep their food stuff.

Dependents & Pets

Children are welcome at BOARC. However, as this is primarily a work site, guardians must take full responsibility, clean up after themselves and negotiate sharing the space with others. If you have other dependents, please see our access page.

If you want to bring your dog let us know in advance. Unfortunately, we can’t have cats onsite. Due to allergies, only support dogs are permitted in most of the bedrooms. BOARC has one regular canine visitor who is very friendly and in general pretty well behaved. If you are allergic/uncomfortable around dogs, please let us know.

Booking & Paying

Nights

Our nightly rate is £30 per person.

If you are able to pay more, or an institution/funding body is paying for your stay, the rate is £40 a night.

If you are experiencing financial hardship we have a subsidised rate of £20 a night. This is to improve access to the space. We have a no questions asked policy but please consider carefully where you sit on this scale. This rate is to support those in real need who could not come otherwise.

We also offer some fee wavered spaces for all of our in-house events. Please get in touch to apply.

For long stays, there are discounted rates.

For 3 week stays there is a 10% discount on all nights.

For four week stays there is a 15% discount on all nights.

For children under 16, the rate is £7.50 per night. Children under 5 go free.

Donations for dogs are appreciated at £5 per night. This doesn’t apply to support dogs.

Days

Our daily rate is £10 per person.

For individuals - we ask that you book in a block of 6 days for £60, to reduce our tiny team’s admin.

For groups – you can book multiple people in for 1 day (or more!). This is often used for away days, rehearsals and working visits.

It’s possible for groups to combine people staying over night and day visitors.

BOARC just needs to know who is on site and when.

To Book

Please email enquiries@bidstonobservatory.org and provide us with your preferred dates, number of people, and a couple sentences of what you’ll be working on.

Please note, when booking we require 48 hours-notice before arrival.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an artistic research centre?

In the arts, just like in the sciences, research is conducted in the process of making or experimenting. Practitioners take time, and focus attention on the way that they conduct their practice – however it fits into a discipline, or sits outside many. The process of doing research in the arts varies greatly, and there is no one methodology which applies to all. This artistic research centre is a space where people can come to explore different methods of working, have time for reflection, and get feedback from other practitioners.

What do you mean by self-organising?

The stewards are here to support the building and its resources. The building and its resources are here to support you and your work. While the project is all about trying to make things possible, stewards are already fully occupied with administration and practicalities and can not be expected to support the needs of your personal practice too.

Why is it only possible to stay for a minimum of two nights?

It’s not possible for people to stay for one night only, as this tends to take away from the community’s resources rather than add to it - not to mention the extra laundry costs!

Why is it only possible to stay for a maximum of one month?

In order for this resource to be shared by multiple different groups and individuals, stay is capped at one month. This keeps the space flowing and stops areas becoming territorialised unintentionally. As this is a study site, it is not possible to just live here, though we understand study takes many different forms and doesn’t always appear “productive”.

Why is there a sliding scale?

Many of the decisions we make here at BOARC focus on keeping this resource available for practitioners. The sliding scale helps us to offer a subsidised rate to people who would benefit.

Why is it important to read the values?

through the values carefully and make a decision for themselves about whether they feel aligned. It is not important to share all of these values exactly as they are written, but you should be aware that this is an actively anti-racist, anti-ableist, intersectional feminist site, and there are accountability guidelines in place here for users, stayers, stewards and organisers alike.[Link to values here]