Mik Godley + Primary Studio - Research

Mik Godley

Resident Artist
STUDIO B7   - Primary Studio on 33 Seely Road, Nottingham, NG7 1NU.


Mik is a painter, art-school lecturer, and now also an iPad artist.

Primary is an artist-led space that exists to support creative research and to develop new ways of engaging with audiences. Offering dedicated artist studios alongside flexible spaces, both within and outside the building, where artists from around the world can meet and work in the heart of Nottingham. Primary is a place where artists and the public can share, experiment and learn about contemporary visual art through an ambitious programme of events and activities.

Having secured a thirty-year lease for the former Douglas Primary school site in Nottingham, work has begun to transform the 2000m² building into a social and cultural resource for the city. Primary has been developed by Nottingham Studios Ltd., a charity formed through artist-led initiatives focused on studio provision for the city.

In November 2011, the building opened its doors to the first resident artists: Nadim Chaudry, Simon Raven, Yelena Popova, Rebecca Beinart, Matt Hawthorn, Andy Lock, Simon Withers, Mik Godley, Tether, Frank Abbott, Craig Fisher and Debra Swann. Further recruitment of resident artists has continued in 2012 with an associate artist programme launching later in the year.

Primary intends to provide more than just studio space, by creating an environment that offers effective support for resident and associate artists to advance their artistic practice, and to share this with a wider public. The building will be transformed from the present physical resource to a social and cultural resource, delivering a growing, varied public programme, which will expand and evolve as the building develops. The two large halls at the heart of the building will feature as the main public spaces, with a playground, planned canteen and a live-in residency space providing alternative spaces within the public programme. The aspiration is to work with artists in the building as well as other organisations, developing a varied programme of events, exhibitions and talks, both local and international, to ensure that Primary is a distinctive and integral part of the arts infrastructure in the city.

Primary is located 10 minutes on foot from Nottingham City centre and 30 minutes from Nottingham Train Station.