Artists Practising Well: Future Plans and Back Catalogue
22 September 2020
Artists Practising Well: Future Plans
I have recently been awarded funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council via Clore Leadership to continue to develop the Artists Practising Well research. This next phase will focus on exploring a series of questions around ‘the support conversation’ and the development of a ‘support menu’. I’m delighted to be working again with my research supervisor Chris Fremantle and be based -albeit virtually- at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen.
It is a privilege to be working on this next phase of research, which ultimately will support artists and creative practitioners in the participatory work that they initiate, co-create and deliver to communities and individuals in a range of settings. It will also provide valuable information for organisations, commissioners, funders and policy makers working with creative practitioners.
I’m inviting individuals and organisations who may be interested in this area of research to get in touch.
Artists Practicing Well: Back Catalogue
Since publication in May 2019 the Artists Practising Well full report has been downloaded 900+ times. This isn’t a vanity statement but rather an indication of how much interest there is in the topic and research activity related to Creative Practitioner Wellbeing. The report (synopsis and key information) were only the beginning.
Subsequent to publishing the key documents I sought out opportunities and welcomed invitations to share the research as widely as possible. Through partnership working with the Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance (CHWA) and London Arts in Health Forum we designed a presentation and workshop event for Creativity and Wellbeing week in 2019 - you can read a summary of the discussions here. There were also articles for the Contemporary Visual Art Network and Arts Professional (now behind a paywall but can be accessed free here). October brought a day trip to Birmingham to present at Mirror Image which brought together practitioners and organisations to reflect on wellbeing. It was fantastic to work with Snape Maltings on the Musician Resilience Think Tank in November before rounding off the year with an Engage East (Gallery Education network) workshop where we considered what it means to practice well.
This year so far I worked with Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool delivering training as part of their Crossing Sectors - A training programme for socially engaged practitioners. Later in February I worked with the core team at Suffolk Artlink facilitating discussions and practical explorations of support and reflective practice activities. I was delighted to partner again with CHWA on the design of the inaugural Practising Well Award. It was great to work with fellow judges Damian Hebron and Ruth Sapsed to discuss the applications and although the CHWA conference was postponed we look forward to sharing the outcome of the award soon. July of this year brought an opportunity to work with Institute of Cultural Value through a twitter chat I curated and chaired - a very fast moving method of conversation and exchange - some of the key points Adapting / Translating / Reinventing are summarised here. It was great to read the Baring Foundation blog by Harriet Lowe Artists on the frontline - what support is available for artists’ wellbeing (Sept 2020) and see mention of the report and details of initiatives which support creative practitioners in a variety of ways.