Yesterday the three trustees of the Dave Pearson Trust - me, Margaret and Chris - met to review things. The exhibition also ended yesterday and we know we have raised perhaps another £5K for the Trust. We agreed that things have gone extremely well for us, and we have been able to pay the rates on the studio; pay for the website and domain name; and pay off all the small bills that have accrued since Dave's death, including the solicitor. We also have enough in the bank account to pay for storage whilst the studio is renovated.
Chris will sell the studio, but the arrangement will mean that we can lease it back and thus it can remain as the main store of Dave's artwork for the immediate future. But before that can happen the building will need to be gutted, and the dry rot treated; woodwork made good; rewiring and plastering done. In other words - an awful lot of work. So the three of us will now concentrate on looking at what storage options are open to us. We've had a generous offer of free storage from a local business, B & E Boys, who have a long tradition of supporting painters locally. But this offer is for the top floor of a mill several miles away, so we need to investigate if there are any other options. Much of the work to be stored are the larger canvases and getting these to the top floor of a mill will be a struggle.
I've also been involved in the planning of an Open Studio weekend which involves all the local artists studios. The Boo will host an exhibition of some of Dave's larger paintings. This will be the weekend of the 6th and 7th of June - and provides another opportunity to keep Dave's work visible.
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