The Idea

 My name is Miroslav, I am 25 years old and passionate about art in its many diverse forms - drawing, calligraphy, photography, graphic design, silk screen printing, street art. I have always been driven by the need to make art, to experiment and to find new ways of applying different techniques. For the last three years, my dream has been to build a place that would allow artists to gather, work together, get motivated and expand their scope of interests. 

I’ve discovered for myself that remoteness from the fast-paced and consumerist lifestyle of the city stimulates my creative urges. And I believe that there are many other artists around the world who would benefit from having a tranquil, close-to-nature environment to use as a studio. This has been my main objective for establishing NoPoint Atelier Art Residency. 

The NoPoint Project

This project has started three years ago as an idea and since then many steps on the way of making it a reality has been made. 

• We bought the house
• We laid a concrete floor in the atelier
• We found professionals to create a plan for the atelier (you can see below)
• We renovated the common spaces - bathroom, bedrooms, living room
• We maintained the yard and built a small garden for growing vegetables
• Now we're working on the kitchen

All of this so far I have funded with personal finances. What is now ahead is the repair of the old barn - the future atelier. Unfortunately, it needs major renovations before it can run as a residency and welcome artists, including construction strengthening, wet and heat insulation instalment, setting up electricity and water supply, coating and painting of the walls and the roof, as well as the floor, which will need an additional coating.

And although I am dedicated to doing everything myself, this huge renovation requires way more than I could provide alone. That's the reason why I decided to run this Indiegogo campaign. Right now, simultaneously with it, I am organizing an exhibition in Sofia, also dedicated to the project. All the money earned from it are going to add up to this project and would be used for equipment and fundamental art supplies, such as a table, a sink, chairs, stands, lights and others. 

The Believers

Many have already believed in the idea - my parents who were very supportive and played a huge role in finding the house; my friends who are with me on this project; my graphics professor Rosen Andreev, who donated to the future art residency a lithography and etching graphics presses with all their supplementary equipment. Right now they are situated in a garage, waiting to be put to use into the atelier. His gesture gave a strong push to the project, as this equipment is a highly valued rarity in Bulgaria and holds strong potential.

All these people and their support during the last years make me confident that I am on the right path. And right now, facing this huge challenge, I need more people to believe in it and help us with the final step. All of you can help and any help would be of great importance to this project!

The Atelier renovation

The future atelier needs serious and precise repair works that we cannot do alone and without a special equipment. That's why we have already found professionals to execute the whole renovation. A freshly graduated architect with several years of experience in this field has already created a project with all the needed measurements and calculations, including a concept visualization. 

The total cost for the project amounts to $12,000. The funds raised during the campaign are going to be used, as it goes, for:

• Strengthening of the main structure with steel - $3,900
• New cross-beams and rafters - $1100 
• Polymer floor coating - $1,400
• Wet and heat roof insulation - $900
• Window panes - $1,600
• The needed materials for the walls (bricks, thermal insulation sheets, ground coat, paint, brushes, rollers, and other materials) - $1,200
• Work (Setting up the woodwork of the building; thermal insulation and ground coat applying, building a wall on the west side of the building, that is now made only by wooden planks, wall putty, setting up the windows) - $1,900
• All funds raised above this amount would add up to equipment and supplies that would allow more artist to visit and work here.

The support

I fully understand the scale of this project and the amount of support needed. That's why I have put a serious thought into figuring how to say "Thanks" to all of you, who would decide to become part of it and donate for our campaign. As I am working on starting an art residency, I found it best to give back a personal gift of a handmade silkscreen work, that I made here in Balani village. 

Of course, I have taken into consideration the possibility of not reaching our goal with this Indiegogo campaign. In case this happens, I would use the raised funds for the most demanding improvement: the roof.

The Potential 

Once the atelier is ready and set, NoPoint is going to become a member of the Worldwide Network of Artist Residencies (www.resartis.org). This way, artists from all over the world would be able to find out about it and come to work here throughout the year. I am going to organize one main event with several artists, applying with portfolios, who are going to work on a specifically picked subject. The main point of this event would be to provoke artists to work with the surrounding environment (in the village, or in the town) on solving different sociology, psychology, communicational or other issues.

At the same time, NoPoint will stimulate a cultural exchange and mutual education between the locals and the visiting artists. While the artists can submerge in the authentic local culture, the locals will get familiar with the artists’ pieces and methodology. Gabrovo residents could observe the working process of the creators during “Open Door Days” of the atelier, open lectures and workshops. 

The past winter I organised a calligraphy workshop for beginners that was visited by about 15 Gabrovo residents. All of them got involved in a collaborative process to focus on calligraphy-related problems that do not bother them in their day-to-day life. Familiarising people with the peculiarities of a creative process in a cosy, friendly environment encourages them to follow their creative impulses and build on their skills. Educational events hosted in the NoPoint Atelier can enrich the culture and aesthetic critique in certain artistic fields that can nurture long-term improvements in common visual culture.

How can you help? 

There are many ways for you to contribute to this project and each of the possibilities would be of great help!

• BACK our campaign - You could choose to donate to this campaign by clicking the BACK IT button at the top of the page and become part of making it reality!
• Share it - You could also share this page by using the Indiegogo share tools and help the project to reach more people!