Place of Assembly photo batch

A facade of Schoolhouse Studios: 97 Nicholson Street, Collingwood

There's no place like school: Say farewell to Schoolhouse Studio

Place of Assembly was officially opened last Wednesday as a final tribute to the 120-year-old building

Schoolhouse Studios is a local hub of arts community which houses 85 artists from varied arts disciplines.

The place has an orchard garden with swings, a chicken coop and a pop-up bar every Friday night. With a plethora of artists, Schoolhouse Studios is like a—well, a school, with such a warm community that involve in a daily interchange of ideas. Needless to say, this is a paradise for artists. Unfortunately, this haven is ephemeral; the end of 2012 is also an end for this vibrant community.

It started well when Alice Glenn and Elizabeth Barnett leased the property at 97 Nicholson Street. The property has stood for more than 120 years as a tannery, monastery, technical college, and Sophia Mundi Steiner School. Since 2011, it has become an artistic community called Schoolhouse Studios, managed by Glenn and Barnett.

The studio extends across several buildings with bleak classrooms that have been transformed by the resident artists into radiant art studios. “We’re blessed with the site definitely,” shares Glenn. “The people have made Schoolhouse Studios what it is.”

Community is seen as a fundamental element which distinguishes Schoolhouse with other art studios. However, they have to keep in mind that this is just temporary as the site is going to be replaced by new townhouses.

And thus, instead of releasing the property reluctantly, Glenn and Barnett threw out a party to bid the studio farewell. The result is Place of Assembly, an exhibition presented through a collaboration between Schoolhouse Studios’ resident artists and 15 guest artists in association with Melbourne Festival. The exhibition opened on Wednesday 10 October and will continue until Saturday 27 October.  

Both Glenn and Barnett embrace it with optimism. “It’s just a great opportunity for artists to come here and work in an environment that is gonna be pulled down,” says Glenn.

This has somewhat inspired the artists; one of the art installations by Zoe Scoglio tries to link geological instruments with the demise of the site, as written on its placard that it is “intended to prepare the Schoolhouse Studios for its imminent passing from structure to rubble.” This installation consists of four rituals which call for the spectators to participate. One of the rituals invites the viewers to “break-off” a chunk of the studio wall and wear it as a pendant, while the other invites viewers to join in a sound parade to “encourage the ghosts to find new homes”.

Other installments combine multiple arts disciplines: architecture, painting, sculpture, performance, video, and more—all assembled in a one of a kind odyssey that unfolds the reminiscence of the buildings. At least that is what Glenn is hoping from the exhibition, “what I hope to achieve was just an exciting sort of adventurous place where people could come … and also been exploring the building and the site itself.”

“Hopefully people would come away with a sense of ‘how beautiful this place is’,” says Glenn.

And yes, indeed. Sara Josephine, a student whom a jewellery maker in her spare time, undoubtedly thinks so. “I think it’s [the exhibition] very unique and odd,” says Josephine who really admires Glenn’s installation: a collage of more than 300 people cut off from the pages of National Geographic. “It’s quite a rare experience to see such a community and I guess it will be better if they keep the building and keep the arts alive.”

Sadly, there is nothing Glenn and Barnett can do to prevent the demolition. They have been looking in a couple of factories and warehouses to relocate the studio. “We’re hoping to find a site that will house everybody, so that everyone can move together,” admits Glenn.

“Mainly, we wanna keep the community together.”

At the end, the most precious thing that needs to be preserved transcends the orchard garden, the chicken coop, the pop-up bar, and the walls of the studio. Schoolhouse Studios wants to preserve its own community.