As always, a chat over a brew gave me the opportunity to hear how John Macaulay came to be sitting looking across the Great Northern Ampitheatre from a window at Grit Studios, created by him and his wife Sophie. Where people came from, rather than where they are fascinates me. And these few words don’t serve to give justice to a story. 

 

“I left Stockport to study Polymers at Manchester University. But in those years I just thought I was one of the Gallagher brothers,” John told me with a smile. “But then at that time we all did. Man United and Manchester music were my life…apart from Polymers!” An allergy to plastics – not ideal for a career in polymers – put paid to that career direction and led to work in food retail. “Management work at Greggs took me to some great cities with attitude and personality. Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds. It was a job, but it didn’t inspire me to get out of bed in the mornings.” A return to higher education led John to an MBA in business studies and subsequently a sabbatical which took him to Shanghai, where the germ of an idea came to organise an overseas gigs for his favourite band Puressence.  Gigs also supported by Mani, Pete Hook and Tom Burgess. “It was life changing. I realised that the corporate world was not for me.” 

 

Meanwhile Sophie had completed studies in Art History at Manchester Uni and then returned to train as an occupational therapist, using all of her knowledge and experience in art to provide NHS services. “I was completely into footy and music. And when Sophie and I first became a couple she used to try and get me to go to art exhibitions. To be honest I didn’t get it at all at first. I was used to the noise and energy of music gigs and football. But I began to learn.”

 

And so, in 2013, the entrepreneurial duo created Art Battle Manchester. 10 artists competing to create a work in 30 minutes in front of a live audience who voted for the winner. The first event attracted an audience of 250 on a midweek night at Bar Twenty Twenty Two, NQ. The die was cast. 27 Art Battles on – each in a new venue – is testimony to the success of an idea. The next venue is booked.

 

But then, that dreaded word, lockdown. I can only imagine the twitchiness of both Sophie and John, wanting to progress grass roots art, with Covid standing firmly in the way. But the couple began talks with Stockport Council about collaborative studio space. “They were helpful, but things weren’t progressing quickly enough for us,” John told me. “Probably mainly me and my impatience! And so we bought a derelict building in an industrial area of Stockport. An area of scrap yards, builders, a boxing gym. Sophie knew lots of grass roots artists and they were soon on board. And the locals, after initial raised eyebrows, began to pitch in with helping organise litter picks, whilst Grit artists began to make street art.”

 

There was a grimy, 70metre long, 6 metre high wall near the studio site. The Macaulay’s audaciously invited five Argentine street artists to travel to Stockport. Artists from the legendary La Boca in Buenos Aries, a famous hub of street art, developed in the 1980s using left over paint from the closed and derelict shipyards. “We called it La Boca to La Stocka,” John told me with another smile. “The visitors and Grit artists collaborated with 200 locals to turn the wall into a stunning mural. One of my fondest memories is an old lady who came out of her house facing the wall and said, ‘I haven’t got much money, but here’s £10 to buy the artists a coffee.’”  

 

So from Stockport Grit Studios, to Manchester Grit Studios. Over 30 artists in the Great Northern Warehouse site, where space rental is affordable and flexible. Where an eclectic mix of artists and makers have their own space and collaborate on ideas and practicalities. “Yes, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” John told me, “but our aim is to spread through the 10 boroughs of Manchester, building a huge tribe of artists and creatives. We’re talking to two or three boroughs about possibilities at the moment. It’s all about grass roots and helping each other out. There are lots of co-working spaces in Manchester, but they mainly cater for people with laptops, which is fine. But you can’t get paint on the carpet! I guess wellbeing is a good word to sum it up. And it’s where all of the Grit artists use these things called hands.“