Alternative art education programmes come in a range of formats, from entirely self-organised to more structured offerings. Lydia Ashman hears from seven artists who discuss how they chose a programme which would develop their practice and fit with their lifestyles, and offer advice on selecting the right one for your needs.
Turps Art School was founded in 2012 as a medium-specific art school providing year-long studio and distance learning programmes for painters. Co-founder Marcus Harvey talks to Michaela Nettell about the ideas and values behind the school.
School of the Damned is a free year-long alternative, and unaccredited, art school. Each year a new student group comes on board and collectively devises and develops their programme of learning. Laura Davidson finds out more from members of the founding cohort, Class of 2014, and the Class of 2018 graduating students.
In 2017, New Contemporaries, an annual exhibition of emerging artists from UK art schools, opened up its application to include artists from alternative learning programmes. Director Kirsty Ogg discusses this decision, the changing climate for emerging artists in the UK, and what artists really need to develop and challenge their practice. Interview by Michaela Nettell.
Bristol-based live artist Liz Clarke has created a performance with her nine-month-old daughter and collaborated with her nine-year-old son to produce a work based on an idea he proposed. She speaks to Julie McCalden about being part of an art making family.
Artists and parents Katy Connor and Stephen Cornford discuss their experiences of raising a child whilst maintaining their art practices, offering advice on how to manage time, travel and childcare.
Stroud-based artist and mother Sharon Bennett discusses her work with the Women’s Art Activation System support network which she developed in collaboration with two other Stroud-based artists, taking part in Lenka Clayton’s Artist Residency in Motherhood, and opening the temporary ‘Mother House’ studio.
Writing a manifesto was one of Dan Thompson’s first acts as an artist and he has since written several more including one about using empty shops, and The Paying Artists Manifesto for Artist-Led Work that showed how artists working with their own ecology, economy and excitement ‘make the world around them better’. He explores the history of artists’ manifestos and shares advice and tips on how to write your own.
Illustrator Josie Brookes and animator Tom Madge collaborated over three years to produce a stop-motion animation for the NHS about managing persistent pain. The Newcastle-based artists talk to Lydia Ashman about how they worked with staff and patients to develop the film and why they came to represent pain as a cloud.
a-n Blogs is a great place to share the process of your practice or the progress of a residency or project you’re working on. We’ve pulled together a few tips on blogging on www.a-n.co.uk to help you get started.
a-n’s External Programmes and Partnerships Manager Hannah Pierce offers advice on the benefits to artists of mentoring and coaching, and highlights some of the differences between these two approaches to interaction and personal, professional development.
Based on conversations with artists, Alistair Gentry reflects on the stigma that still exists around mental health, and discusses some of the coping strategies artists use in their work and careers when affected by mental health problems.
In this guide Alistair Gentry offers guidance on what support is available for artists and others with mental health problems.
London-based artist Liz Atkin creates work both in response to and as way of coping with compulsive skin picking. Alistair Gentry finds out more about her art practice, and the advocacy and education work she undertakes to help others understand and deal with this and other body-focused repetitive behaviour conditions.
Originally from Germany, Glasgow-based painter Cornelius Quabeck first spent time in the city during a two-month artist residency in 2011. He talks to Dan Thompson about living and working in Düsseldorf, London and San Francisco, and the reasons that brought him back to Scotland in 2016.
In 2015, Scottish artist Paul McDevitt set up Farbvision, a project space in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district that presents solo exhibitions and is also home to the INFINITE GREYSCALE record label. He talks to Dan Thompson about his reasons for relocating from the UK, and the artistic freedom and financial reality of life in his adopted home.
The Bethlem Gallery in Bromley provides a professional platform for artists who have experienced mental health difficulties. Alistair Gentry speaks to the gallery’s director Beth Elliot about the organisation and how it fosters a supportive artist-focussed environment.
Hospital Rooms is an arts and mental health charity that believes in the enduring power of the arts to instil value, dignity and wellbeing in people. Alistair Gentry speaks to Curator Niamh White about how the project enables access to art and culture for people using secure and locked mental health services.
In recent years many artists have moved from major conurbations to smaller towns or cities in the UK, with access to cheaper work space and accommodation, improved health and wellbeing, and the need for stronger community networks among the factors influencing their decision to relocate. In this guide, Dan Thompson explores the many and varied reasons why artists move to a new place.
Nine artists share their stories and advice on how to make the most of moving your home and practice to a new location. In this follow up to Dan Thompson’s guide to relocating, artists working across a range of practice areas discuss how they found new networks, refuelled their practice and sought out support mechanisms following a move.
Hannah Pierce, a-n’s External Programmes and Partnerships Manager, offers advice on writing applications for a-n’s member opportunities.
In the first part of her Negotiating with confidence guide, Rivca Rubin, a trainer-facilitator-mediator, coach and mentor, discusses how structure, attitude, and the ‘power of words’ can facilitate successful negotiations.
In the second part of her guide to negotiations, Rivca Rubin discusses how through active language choices, we can create more satisfied and invigorated negotiations with galleries, organisations and commissioners.
Guidance for organisations on how to shape policy statements on Exhibition Payment. Produced in support of a-n/AIR’s Exhibition Payment Guide, which calls for organisations to be transparent in their working practices with artists by publishing clear and transparent payment information.
Contemporary Arts Programme Manager at the National Trust Grace Davies explores the benefits to non-arts organisations of commissioning artists outside of traditional gallery spaces, and offers some top tips for artists to consider when making an application.
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