Hindsight, Insight and Foresight with AOP Projects Director Jeff Clark

It’s been a little while since you’ve heard from the team at AOP Projects, so we thought we’d start the year off by sitting down with director Jeff Clark, who will catch us all up to speed on what’s been going on within the world of AOP, and more importantly, what’s to come! 

Give us an overview of who you are, and how you came to fall into the arts, projects and drink world? 

I have been working within the project led business sector for about ten years, but I set out on this particular part of the business a little under two years ago. My work has always been driven with art being the vehicle, whether it be by putting on events, owning a gallery, supporting artists, charities and businesses and by placing people together through partnerships and collaborations. What's become more apparent over the last ten years is that there is a bigger calling than ever to separate yourself from the masses. Not much more than a decade ago, we had a brand led sort of high street art market, and we really wanted to feel the independence hit the scene, not just in the UK but globally. I have spent time watching the art scene develop not just in major UK cities, but in Los Angeles and New York where I lived and worked. The drive was a push to allow the development of indie businesses to flourish, and so to do that they had to create a big shining light on them and what better way to do that then to put it around murals and art events, bringing the people inwards to see and experience in real time what was unfolding. That led me into doing bar activities with cocktails and bespoke events and working with drink partners such as beer makers, the craft market, and specialist people within the spirits and wine area. And then I suddenly found myself collecting people together for a reason. And creating an urgency, or a call to action. And it was something that people wanted to be a part of because it was a collective and an energy you couldn’t deny. Then I realised this was something that was not only a major part of the business, but it was becoming the business and it’s what I really wanted to focus on. I put a microscope on things that needed more importance, using organisations such as Unicef and Amnesty International to make noise and create awareness. Alongside this, I had the ability to have a commercial arm to support the artists, through my gallery and project business. I could work with consultants and be more flexible and move around the country and do the things which I was doing before but without certain restrictions. So that's sort of how I've come to do what I'm doing. 

Tell us about your work in the public art sector, why it’s important and how that’s evolved both for you and your viewership?

Because we have moved a lot into the public art sector, it allows us to shine a light on the differences within an area. It allows us to bring people together who otherwise may have felt isolated. So we do this through high level engagement and by creating noise, not just within an echo chamber, but all around us. This spreads both by word of mouth and through social media and suddenly we have sparked people’s interest.  We look at town centres and think about how we can navigate people around them through urban art and installations. We ask the bigger questions, like can we adjust where there is poverty or crime by bringing light to an area. Can we adjust spaces so as to make people feel safer? Underpinning all of this, we look to the future, and try to make others do the same. We want to invoke positivity, and give people that feeling that anything is possible. And when you start getting people from looking at the ground to facing upwards, you know you are doing the right thing. We now have established somewhat of a legacy so we can see that over the course of the last five years we have had a massively positive effect. And this just feels like the beginning. The larger scale stuff is really coming together in leaps and bounds. Urban art has been a shining light globally across all the art markets. We look at how public art is displayed and how it can amend the feel of an area and spark conversations, whether that be about politics, climate change or pandemics. It draws on similarities to that of the music industry, like how the birth of rap music shook up the universe and really got people thinking, talking and most importantly, taking action. Urban art is no different and it is now accessible through the major high street galleries and it’s becoming much more commercially relevant, which carries with it pros and cons. But the core bones of it are still and always will be artists expressing themselves in a public fashion by casting their visions on walls, bridges, buildings, etc. This relates so heavily to us at AOP Projects as this is our great passion! Aiding and facilitating the delivery of these projects and recognising the harsh reality that there are many pitfalls to a well intentioned mural installation is what we do! The devil is in the details and we are proud of our ability to take the leg work away from the artists and city councils and just be that common thread that allows for the paint to meet the urban surfaces. 

So you recently stepped away from AOP gallery to step into a more project based environment... 

That’s correct. My experience with the gallery taught me a lot and the part of it which felt most successful and enjoyable was the ability to build towards releases and work with world leading artists and putting York on the map for that reason. Of course the other realm of it was retail, which is totally necessary. People just find you on the high street and they come in and engage with you because they want a beautiful piece of art for their home. I didn’t want to stop offering that, but it was never going to be the thing that motivated me and allowed me to grow, so there was a natural break away point for me where I would become Art of Protest Projects and Art of Protest gallery would sit with my previous business partner, Craig. He would still be able to grow that part of the business independently and be happy with it and I'd be able to explore new ventures. I made a commitment to always offer consultations and art curation and delivery to people privately, because it is something I know I can deliver on and will always have a passion for. Also being able to do that through the event and project led industry has been pivotal, allowing me to build partnerships and evolve and expand on ideas by selling bits of history and moments in time. So just to summarise on that, the split from the gallery was a tough decision to make but in retrospect it’s allowed me to flourish in new areas. I have massive respect for my previous business partner as he keeps the gallery alive and I wish him all the success in the world.

What have you gotten up to this past year and what’s lying ahead for you in 2021?

So many projects have been swirling around this year! All very exciting, despite it being an odd and challenging year for every human on this earth! Much of my year has been consumed by working on projects heavily based in Doncaster. AOP has teamed up with Doncatser Creates and DCLT where we’ve been changing around the landscape and delivering major installations and murals. We are traversing different areas of the city to give it splashes of colour and breathe a bit of life back into some of the more tired areas. We were due for delivery on these projects back in September but due to restrictions around Covid we have had to push parts of them back, and they are now on for delivery in Spring. We are super proud of the first phase we completed, which is a mural we delivered with artist duo Static which can be seen at Baxter Park in Doncaster. 

Prior to that we partnered up with Craig Feather, Tim Mosley and Jana Beth and launched a major bar project called Location X. We utilised the AOP brand and placed ourselves within a thriving and eclectic evening culture via a warehouse space where we built an amazing bespoke cocktail experience. We became more than just a cocktail bar as we expanded to include live entertainment shows, putting on music nights with incredible DJs, delivering whisky talks and just generally keeping the vibe and energy going. We learned that it was only as successful as the people who came. Lucky for us we had a wonderful group of people who travelled far and wide, and came back again and again during our several month duration. It was fantastic, and I quickly came to realise that I didn’t want to offer out other bars as part of my previous ventures in event delivery. I wanted to do it in house and make it more bespoke, guaranteeing something unforgettable and amazing. As this was a successful but temporary project, I naturally started putting into motion what could be a more permanent event and culture experience. Many hours have been spent brainstorming and envisioning a new space, working with various councils on delivering this same energy but on a larger scale and to an even higher spec. AOP projects want to give people a place where they can retreat to, a collective or communal space, surrounded by creatives. Somewhere people can express themselves and interact as well as having something which is beyond mainstream bar activities and mediocre drink offerings.  We want it to be something great, affordable but also sustainable. Considering the importance of sustainability and the green sector which has underpinned every step we have taken in planning this new project, we have been working with new partners who have become part of our team to develop a plan that will feed into every avenue of this space, specifically with how the food activities work. For example offering a plant based menu, using zero plastics, sustainable waste solutions, composting, pulling ingredients and resources from nearby locations and even offering a farm to table element. We have made a firm commitment to helping York reach its zero net carbon emission promise by 2030. 

We have some other exciting projects in the pipelines, specifically one in York where we are going to liven up and inspire city goers with what will be known as The Guardians of York. The delivery of this project will work with the wonderful artist duo known as The Postman, as well as some essential key workers that have propelled the city forward during a time of utter chaos and hardship. Individual portraits will be created by the artists which will then be presented around the city of York in the form of what’s called a paste-up. This is a large scale way of applying images to various outdoor surfaces. Within this we will weave an incredible storytelling element within an urban landscape, and with a vision and the wonderment that will encapsulate everybody, from tourists and visitors to the mums and tots that reside in the city centre. 

Want to share any collaborations that you’re working on?

Of course! So as we have two different arms, one working public and one private, a part of the public sector offerings is a consultation with various BIDs and councils around the UK, offering festival-like activities and delivering on major projects. The private arm of it is where we are working more directly with the artists and collaborating with business partners. Specifically for this upcoming project we are merging with the drinks world, working with The Whisky Lounge and setting our sights towards creating a curated bottle. The idea is that we work with our artists creating imagery placed upon collectible whisky bottles containing incredible standards of art, and placed in beautiful, sexy packaging. The culmination of all of these things coming together gives our collectors something new and exciting which will grab the attention of the art world. It’s not the first time it’s been done, it’s a well trodden path in some ways, with Absolut Vodka and Bacardi leading the way, as well as different whisky companies that have worked with magnum photographers to offer amazing collectability. The difference is, we want to make something more affordable, where you pay a little more than you normally would for a bottle or print, but what you’re getting is both. The collectability element means keeping edition numbers low and timing the releases, as well as working with world leading artists. 

If people want to work with you, how should they go about getting in touch?

We are always really keen to hear from people about new ideas, concepts and plans that they may have for their town or business. As we cater from a private to a public point of view, we really are an open book without limitations and have the experience to delegate the enquiry to the right person. If you’d like to learn about ways AOP projects can help actually grow and propel your business forward, please get in touch! But we don’t just want to hear from businesses, we’d love to hear from creatives as well. If you’re an artist or you’ve got an idea that you think we’d be interested in, get it touch! Even if you just want to find out more about what we are doing, drop us an email by clicking below or sign up to our mailing list to keep updated with what’s going on. You can always expect an efficient and creative response within a day of communicating with us.