Mary Carty

The seminar on mobility and exchange in the visual arts, organised by the VAI and Ards Art Centre last Wednesday, was a really informative and positive day. A range of speakers talked about the possibilities for collaboration, exchange, learning and participation when artists are empowered and encouraged to interact on local, national and international contexts. Here is my report from the day.

Heather Parker, Craft Development Officer at Ards Borough Council, first spoke about the Sustainable Craft Network, a Leonardo Lifelong project, involving partners from Ireland, Finland, Northern Ireland and Italy with lead partner Louth CraftMark. It was really impressive to see how this project has positively impacted the development of craft in the Borough and how much learning has been achieved. Some tips for forming great partnerships include:

·     find the right partner

·     make sure there is great cooperation between partners

·     there will always be a lazy partner

Peter Mutschler, Co-director and curator of PS² project space in Belfast, spoke about his involvement in the Rhyzom project, funded by the Culture Programme. Peter had much to share about the positive nature of collaboration, public engagement, public participation and public ownership. He stressed it is important for an artist to connect locally, nationally and internationally and how a local presence can have a global reach. In his presentation, Peter made reference to his work in Ballykilner and Belfast and how these initiatives have local knowledge with a global perspective. Peter’s work is fascinating, especially in bringing non-white cube spaces to locations where they can be used as a space for dialogue and exchange with local communities. More about Peter’s work here.

Adam Knights, Arts Manager with Visiting Arts UK, spoke about initiatives led by Visiting Artists. Visiting Artists aims to strengthen intercultural understanding through the arts. The 1mile² project is a great example of how this works. A local or international artist is invited to live, work and forge connections with thinkers, artists, scientists, leaders and individuals in an area no bigger than one square mile. In Belfast, the Golden Thread Gallery has participated in this initiative, with a project called Bring down the walls. Find more information about 1mile² here.

Another Visiting Artists initiative, Artist to Artist, funds six UK artists to host six international artists for a two week stay. No outcome is necessary; just the friendship, and the exchange of ideas and experience that comes from two people spending time together. If you are based in the UK or Northern Ireland this programme opens again for applications in March 2012.

Christoph Jankowski, European Information Manager at Visiting Arts, discussed the EU Cultural Programme and explained the activities funded under the EU Culture Programme, they are the mobility of artists, the circulation of works and intercultural dialogue. 36 countries participate in the Culture Programme with 50% of project costs funded by the EU and 50% by the project partners.

There is an interdisciplinary approach to programme funding with projects supported in visual and performing arts, heritage and literature. Christoph explained that it can often be difficult for an individual artist to get involved at the project development stage as the Culture Programme focuses on arts organisations, County Councils and libraries as lead drivers of these projects. The administrative load to apply, manage and complete a project is very demanding and needs the expertise of an organisation.

The success rate for UK funding is 75%, with more arts organisations encouraged to apply. Projects funded by the EU Culture Programme in Northern Ireland include Interface, the Beat initiative, Belfast Festival at Queens and PS2. The deadline for the Cultural Programme is October 1st.

Visual artist Maria McKinney spoke about her career development to date and how residencies have positively impacted on her career and professional development. Maria showed examples of work that came from these opportunities and stressed the importance of thinking time; time away from production. It was very interesting to hear how Maria has strategically planned her career development; from networking to choosing studio space, and to applying for residencies at a time when she had completed a body of work. Maria also talked about the importance of surrounding yourself with a network of artists and peers who can give advice and encouragement, particularly if you are an emerging artist.  Maria’s talk was very impressive and demonstrated with the right attitude and a willingness to partake in opportunities both at home and abroad, your development as an artist can be enriched.

Deirdre Robb, Visual Arts Officer, Arts Council Northern Ireland dispelled some myths about Arts Council funding and talked about current visual art funding streams. Applications for Support for the individual artists are considered under three headings; 1. The Artist, 2. The Proposal and 3. Potential. Ten points are awarded under each heading. Under this scheme 10% of funded artists are young, emerging artists. The funding priority, at the moment, is contemporary arts practice, particularly looking at the level of innovation and potential in the proposal. Deirdre stressed the importance of budgeting, matching income and expenditure, and project management in each application. Make sure to include a timeline with deadlines; beginning, middle and end.

The artist career enhancement scheme is aimed at mid career, professional, artists with a fund of £5000. The artist needs to demonstrate that he/she “has the capacity to develop significantly over the period of the award” and find a gallery to work in partnership with them over a one year period. Other places for funding include NICVA, www.creative-choices.org and the association of charitable foundations.

Firsty? a collective of over 200 artists from Northern Ireland, emerged from last year’s Common Room lecture. Artists Ina Hamilton, Andy Hamilton and Lee Boyd spoke about the importance of connections in the arts, how partnerships and collaboration are integral to their practice. From an initial meeting of three artists in a pub in Bangor, the collective has now grown to over 200 members in six months.

Facebook has been an integral part of the formation and success of Firsty? Group members can share ideas and events, share practice, advice and mentorship; all can participate using Facebook to keep up to date. Refreshingly, Firsty? has only two rules; everyone must play nice and you get out what you put in. A culture of innovation, participation and mentorship is actively fostered, giving all members can curate shows, host events and to showcase their work. Firsty? has a cross disciplinary approach, artists from every genre is accepted as well as experts in other fields. Cross pollination of ideas and interactions are actively encouraged. You can find more about Firsty? here.

For the last talk of the day, I presented Promoting your work online, a quick survey on how to maximise the potential for networking, partnerships, and exchange worldwide. During my talk, I focused on the customer journey, adding benefit to those who follow you and the marketing loop, to connect all parts of your online strategy together. In terms of saving time, automation is crucial, so utilising platforms like Tweetdeck is a real advantage to any artist or arts organisation.

I was surprised to see that only three participants had Twitter accounts and there was a reluctance overall to engage with this platform. Many felt that Twitter was superficial and not the best way to deal with negative comments or interactions. While I an understand this fear, I explained that dealing with negative comments in the real world is no different online and Twitter is a great service to actively engage with your audience.

It seems that arts organisations and artists have a way to go to fully embrace online media to promote and engage with artists and the wider community. It is unfortunate that many organizations do not accept web links to portfolios, images and biographies as part of their application process. I hope this will change in the not to distant future.