The ‘Brighton Book’ (working title) will comprise interviews with 15 Brighton and Hove-based artists from across art genres interviewed on their perspective of being an artist resident in the city.

I will question these artists on their relationship to the city, its arts infrastructure and community, to uncover the relative strengths/weakness, positives/negatives, surpluses/gaps in the Brighton and Hove arts scene.

The book will also comprise evaluative essays and comment pieces that will propose provoking questions of the Brighton and Hove arts scene stakeholders with an aim to supporting and developing a sustainable, ambitious and healthy arts infrastructure in the city. There will also be university, sector and public plenaries to discuss the issues that emerge from the book, as well as a blog of the writing process here and in arts media.

My aim is for the book to act as an informative document in the wider UK arts scene, pertinent as the book is to arts policy and practice for both emerging and established artists; the relation between artists and place; relation between artists and their immediate audiences located in their place of residence; the relation between artists and funders, local, regional and national policy-makers; and the relation between a regional creative hub and its region.

Funding dependent, the book will be published in hard cover form, which will be distributed to stakeholders, and online, for wider sector and public dissemination.