Three of Manchester’s art and design organisations are collaborating on a new series of professional development sessions for artists.
FRAMEWORK will take place between January and March 2020, having been shaped and led by a-n, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester Craft & Design Centre and Redeye, the Photography Network.
Over the course of a three-month period, four full-day sessions will hone in on specialist business skills that are essential to artists and creative practitioners.
Focusing on core business skills to support and enhance your practice, day-long workshops will cover writing, pitching, project management, getting press and promoting your work, led by an arts sector expert. Sessions will take place at Castlefield Gallery, Venture Arts and Manchester Craft & Design Centre.
First up, on 27 January Liverpool based writer, critic and editor Laura Robertson will lead a day long workshop at Venture Arts entitled ‘Write about your own work in your own way’. The session will explore how to write an artist’s statement, in turn helping to: understand new work or work in progress; describe what you do to potential commissioners; shape exhibition or website text; or apply for funding.
Robertson will look at various different types of statement, from well known artists, designers and photographers, with attendees feeding back to each other about their existing texts.
Then on 13 February, the second session, ‘Finding Your Voice’, will be led by Leona Thrift-ola, founder of Indie Roller, a ‘truth telling, secret sharing, myth busting community for independent business owners to play by their own rules’. Taking place at Manchester Craft & Design Centre, the event will teach artists how to pitch and talk confidently about their work in a variety of situations.
Next up, Castlefield Gallery will host ‘Project Management for Artists and Makers’ on 3 March. Led by independent curator Shirley Read and director of Redeye network Paul Herrmann, this one day workshop uses the example of a group exhibition to work through what’s needed for a successful arts project. Covering research, planning, delivery and evaluation, it will also explore working with groups, and what makes a successful exhibition.
On 24 March, the final session, ‘Getting Press, Promoting Your Practice’, will be led by Jennifer Dean, Communications and Audience Development Coordinator at Castlefield Gallery. It will examine the challenges of getting coverage in the mainstream media and arts press, providing an overview of the media landscape from free listings and local press to Frieze, and talk about ways to get promotion for exhibition and events.
Each session costs between £20 and £25 to attend, and is significantly subsidised by the organisations with the aim of making high quality support available to all artists and creative practitioners.
Bookings and further details can be made at the FRAMEWORK eventbrite page.
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