The WEVAA professional development programme aims to support the ambition of artists living locally and increase resilience to challenges experienced in the current climate.

Our online programme covers a wide range of key skills, from fundraising to inclusion, and includes workshops and training opportunities with inspiring practitioners. The programme aims to support different career stages and experiences for artists, producers, curators and art workers in the region. Previous workshops have looked at sustaining practice; working in and with public/s; and climate justice, racial & social precarity and communities of resistance; and writing. Workshop leaders and speakers have included Graham MacLeod Johnson, Millie Wood Downie, Mel Larsen, Art & People, Christina Poulton, Alex Covell, Roseanna Dias, Benjamin Cook, Ceri Hand, Dr Cara Courage, Gaylene Gould, Amal Khalaf, Can Altay, dhaqan collective, Janine Francois, Sepideh Rahaa, Victoria Udondian, Saziso Phiri, Migrants in Culture, dove / Chris Kirubi, Maria Fusco, Catherine Herbert, Ama Josephine Budge, Maeve Redmond and George Vasey.

• All in all, these workshops are amazing and I can’t rate them enough!
  2022 programme participant

Current opportunities are below, along with resources related to past events. We’ll be updating these on a regular basis throughout the programme.

In Practice, Disability Representation in the Visual Arts

In Practice, our Summer season of online workshops, has been programmed by artist Amanda Lynch. It includes a seminar and a series of workshops and resources. The core of the programme is to provide tools for disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill artists and artsworkers, and those experiencing barriers to participation in the visual arts.

About Amanda

Amanda Lynch is a visual artist, researcher and curator, her special interests are within the Disability Arts Movement and in being an advocate for those who face barriers due to disability. Amanda grew up on the outskirts of London and now lives in Somerset. She studied at Leicester at De Montfort University for a BA Fine Arts Degree and loved it so much that she stayed on to gain a Master’s in the Arts. Amanda trained in sculpture, using heavy large materials such as cement and plaster, before moving into working with assemblage and collage. Her practice is now research and activist-focused.

Details of opportunities are below, we'll be adding new resources throughout the programme.