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A photograph of a paper stencil with the words "what have we become" cut out. The stencil has been used, and there is masking tape around the edges, dark red paint around the letters, and the top right corder has been torn off.
Early career resource

A Guide to Devel­op­ing Your Prac­tice by Natasha Them­biso Ruwona

A guide to devel­op­ing your prac­tice for ear­ly career artists and prac­ti­tion­ers. Com­mis­sioned by VASW and Uni­ver­si­ty partners.
Posted
29/04/25
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TWW Final Twitter FB Still pink
Rights & Pay, Care, Arts Organising

Togeth­er We Will: Inter­sec­tion­al Approach­es to Best Practice

VASW shares new rec­om­men­da­tions for best prac­tice in visu­al arts for insti­tu­tions, organ­i­sa­tions and free­lance arts organisers.
Posted
01/07/21
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A nine meter wide artwork installed on a public building. The work is made up of terrazzo shapes in different colours, that combine to create a mural.
Early career resource

TIME-MON­EY-MAG­IC: pub­lic art for begin­ners by Jes Fernie

A guide to pub­lic art com­mis­sion­ing for ear­ly career artists and prac­ti­tion­ers. Com­mis­sioned by VASW and Uni­ver­si­ty partners
Posted
28/01/25
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Two photographs presented alongside each other on a neon green background. The photographs show the same image of an open publication on a table showing an image of a face, but the colour of one has been adjusted. The colours of photograph on the left are more true to life, the photograph on the right has a brown tinted hue.
Audiences, Early career resource

Build­ing an Audi­ence for Your Work by Text­book Studio

A guide to build­ing an audi­ence for your work for ear­ly career artists and prac­ti­tion­ers. Com­mis­sioned by VASW and Uni­ver­si­ty partners
Posted
08/01/25
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A close up shot of a women head and eye, plastic cling film wrapping is being applied to her hair. A brown drawn outline marks the shape of her hairline.
Disability Arts

Rural­i­ty and Inclu­sion Seminar

Watch Rural­i­ty and Inclu­sion an online sem­i­nar as part of the​‘How Can I Stay? (I don’t want to not want to stay)’ programme.
Posted
06/01/25
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Christopher Samuel Archive of the unseen 2023 installation Attenbourgh Arts Centre
Disability Arts

In prac­tice, dis­abil­i­ty rep­re­sen­ta­tion in the Visu­al Arts

A record­ing of a sem­i­nar led by Aman­da Lynch with Matt Bur­rows, Anna Man­kee-Williams, Heather Peak and Christo­pher Samuel. With BSL interpretation.
Posted
30/07/24
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Annualreport
Report

VASW 2023 Annu­al Report

We’re pleased to share a report of our work across 2023.
Posted
24/07/24
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Image 6 Keiken
Applications, Early career resource

Find­ing, apply­ing for, and get­ting oppor­tu­ni­ties in the visu­al arts

Inde­pen­dent cura­tor Har­ri­et Coop­er shares a guide to oppor­tu­ni­ties for ear­ly career artists & art work­ers. Com­mis­sioned by VASW & Uni­ver­si­ty partners.
Posted
16/07/24
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An photograph of a black man with a white beard wearing a black beanie hat and black jumper reading a text info a microphone. Behind him is a dark pink curtain. To the right of the image, a neon green strip has been added vertically, with the text 'my voice is...' in a handwritten style font
Writing

Soungs. Sonds.

A Soung­ing. Sond­ing. (Read­ing.) list by dove / Chris Kirubi
Posted
09/07/24
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A person is lying down inside a large, transparent ball and floating on top of water.
Connecting

ISLAND­NESS — Online Con­fer­ence & workshop

Watch ISLAND­NESS an online con­fer­ence and work­shop as part of the​‘How Can I Stay? (I don’t want to not want to stay)’ programme
Posted
26/09/24
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Fig 2 Resting Up Collective 1
Disability Arts, Early career resource

Find­ing sup­port in the arts when chron­i­cal­ly ill, d/​Deaf, dis­abled, neu­ro­di­ver­gent, mad and/​or sick by Han­nah Wallis

A guide to get­ting start­ed as an artist, mak­ing con­nec­tions, spe­cif­ic sup­port to be found in the sec­tor and access support.
Posted
28/06/24
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Projectspace11peepshow 1024x682 2
Artist-led, Early career resource

A guide to artist-led organising

Artist Beth Emi­ly Richards shares a guide to artist-led organ­is­ing for ear­ly career artists. Com­mis­sioned by VASW and Uni­ver­si­ty partners.
Posted
25/06/24
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An artwork consisting of a large map which has been overwritten with text, including 'Let's Nurse the Earth, the World is Watching' in large letters. There is an illustration of a magnifying glass with with words 'Glasgow COP 26' in the centre
Disability Arts

Out­side In: Talk & Cre­ative session

In this record­ed event, Out­side In give an overview of their work and what they do for artists who face bar­ri­ers, fol­lowed by a mem­ber-led workshop.
Posted
21/06/24
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Photograph of a paper form with the title Access to Work, and a pen
Disability Arts

Access to Work: A Guide for the Arts and Cul­tur­al Sector

A begin­ners guide to Access to Work spe­cif­ic to the arts and cul­ture by Dis­abil­i­ty Arts Online and Cathy Waller.
Posted
19/06/24
Shared by
VASW
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A photograph of an industrial building with two signs: Spike Island and Open Studios. A group of people are gathered outside the building talking and socialising
Communications

Inclu­sive Lan­guage Guide

An guide devel­oped by Spike Island that out­lines how to use inclu­sive lan­guage to avoid bias­es, slang or expres­sions that exclude cer­tain groups.
Posted
13/06/24
Shared by
VASW
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Prepare For Your Tax Return RDOBBS 2 2
Self-Employment, Early career resource

Do I need to be Self-Employed as an artist or artworker?

Artist & ser­i­al free­lancer Rachel Dobbs shares a guide to being self employed for ear­ly career artists. Com­mis­sioned by VASW and Uni­ver­si­ty partners.
Posted
21/05/24
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1 By and With Nicole Mollett 300dpi 1
Funding, Early career resource

A guide to fund­ing for ear­ly career artists

Free­lance Fundrais­er Cather­ine Her­bert shares a guide to fund­ing for ear­ly career artists. Com­mis­sioned by VASW and Uni­ver­si­ty partners.
Posted
17/05/24
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A document with a series of numbered writing prompts
Multidisciplinary
Writing

WIT­TA Writ­ing Resource, Film and Podcast

Resources by Lizzie Lloyd and Kit Poul­son; points of depar­ture, a lit­tle some­thing to turn your writ­ing inside out and upside down.
Posted
01/05/24
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A portrait photograph of a smiling white man with brown hair wearing a light blue shirt
Multidisciplinary
Writing

Irri­ta­ble Croc­o­diles and Burnt Onions: Writ­ing a Great Artist Statement

Cura­tor George Vasey reflects on avoid­ing some of the com­mon pit­falls and tips for writ­ing a great artist statement.
Posted
01/05/24
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A film still showing two hands holding a spoon that has been covered in newspaper, over a white tablecloth embroidered with yellow and orange flowers. There are yellow subtitles at the bottom of the screen which say 'Yeah, I'm in this weird relationship of care here'
Multidisciplinary
Disability Arts

The Art of Access Adjust­ments with Jami­la Prowse

In this record­ed work­shop, Jami­la pro­vides exam­ples that demon­strate the impor­tance of refram­ing the rela­tion­ship between access and the arts.
Posted
23/04/24
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A number of small cards covered in writing hanging on a string
Multidisciplinary
Funding

Nav­i­gat­ing your first eval­u­a­tion: A start­ing guide for artists and producers

A guide to demys­ti­fy the eval­u­a­tion process by Gaia Rosen­berg Col­orni, Inde­pen­dent Eval­u­a­tor and Researcher.
Posted
23/04/24
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A portrait of a black woman shot from below looking up to a purple-lit ceiling covered in small lights
Writing
Research

Sci­ence Fic­tion as Activism: Spec­u­lat­ing Cre­ative Prax­is read­ing list

A read­ing list by Ama Josephine Budge (writer/​artist/​pleasure activist).
Posted
23/04/24
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Screenshot 2024 08 21 at 14 57 17
Multidisciplinary
Arts Organising

Cli­mate Jus­tice Code for artists, art work­ers, and arts organ­i­sa­tions sit­u­at­ed in the Glob­al North

A tool for prac­ti­tion­ers and organ­i­sa­tions to use and hold them­selves and each oth­er account­able for their respon­si­bil­i­ties towards cli­mate justice.
Posted
08/04/24
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Screenshot 2024 08 21 at 14 53 04
Multidisciplinary
Arts Organising

Flour­ish­ing (or is that Sur­viv­ing?) as a Par­ent in the Art World

Jo Har­ri­son and Het­tie Judah intro­duce the Art Work­ing Par­ents Alliance and share a list of resources that offer sup­port to par­ents in the arts.
Posted
04/04/24
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VASW Artist Report 1
Research

VASW 2024 Artist and Art­work­er Sur­vey Report

This report includes key data and high­lights the needs and expe­ri­ences of artists and art­work­ers in the South West
Posted
28/03/24
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Funding

Strength­en­ing Your Fund­ing Applications

Why mak­ing a case for invest­ment is impor­tant when writ­ing fund­ing appli­ca­tions and how to do this well
Posted
07/03/24
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Multidisciplinary
Disability Arts

BAN Sem­i­nar: Qual­i­ty Dis/​Abled

Watch the Qual­i­ty Dis­abled sem­i­nar, organ­ised by Aman­da Lynch and facil­i­tat­ed by Dis­abil­i­ty Arts Online.
Posted
08/12/23
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A digital image consisting of two hand drawn hands, along with abstract shapes and the words "Drawing for reflection and resilience'. The image had a white background, with drawing and text in black, red and green to represent the Palestinian flag
Multidisciplinary
Connecting

Draw­ing for Reflec­tion and Resilience by Migrants in Culture

A draw­ing exer­cise by Migrants in Cul­ture, shared dur­ing their work­shop What are we design­ing to replace borders?
Posted
24/11/23
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IMG 4935
Multidisciplinary
Self-Employment, Collectives, Care, Arts Organising, Research, Mentoring, Professional development

Rethink­ing Gov­er­nance by Dr Cara Courage

What does fit-for-pur­pose gov­er­nance for you, your way of work­ing, and your organ­i­sa­tion look like?
Posted
06/09/23
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RD Resources For Freelancers 1
Research

Resources for free­lancers, col­lec­tives & arts organisers

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer
Posted
04/03/20
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A photograph of a group of eight smiling people gathered together for a portrait in an urban garden space.
Multidisciplinary
Professional development

Cre­at­ing Kind Spaces by Gay­lene Gould

How do you care for those you are work­ing with, how do we care for our­selves? Restora­tive Care Prac­tice is way to hold space for your­self and Others
Posted
26/05/23
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A digital image with a warm cream background. There is a graphic image of twi hands, one dark pink, one light green, holding a sun. The words "modelling self care supports a cultural change that puts the care of people, communities and the planet at the heart of our work" at the top of the image in dark red font
Multidisciplinary
Professional development

Con­tract of Self Care

Lumi­nara Flo­res­cu’s Con­tract of Self Care, avoid burnout and explore sus­tain­able work­ing for artists with phys­i­cal and men­tal health disabilities.
Posted
23/05/23
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A photograph of a group of people spot lit on a stage area of a darkened space. There are three rows of people, individuals at the back have their arms raised in celebration, the front row is sitting. There is a large white banner suspended above their heads with the words "Rafts Live", "#Serpentine" and "#raftslive"
Curating
Professional development

A read­ing list by Amal Khalaf

An invi­ta­tion to dis­cov­er lines of enquiry into how we relate, and new frame­works for car­ing action at the inter­sec­tion of art and social justice.
Posted
23/05/23
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IMG 8411
Multidisciplinary
Self-Employment, Rights & Pay, Care, Arts Organising, Professional development

List of Wants by Rachael Clerke

How are peo­ple work­ing in the arts expect­ed to know what they want and what they can ask for, what if we actu­al­ly just… told each other?
Posted
12/04/23
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A photograph taken from outside a space looking in through an open door. Inside the space, a group of people is sat round a table in discussion.
Moving Image
Applications, Self-Employment, Arts Organising, Research, Mentoring, Funding, Professional development

Mov­ing Image Resource

A resource for artists’ mov­ing image in Eng­land by Ben­jamin Cook, Direc­tor of Lux
Posted
30/03/23
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Professional development

Artist Asso­ciate schemes

Inter­est­ed in join­ing an artist asso­ciate scheme? Find out about these region­al & nation­al ini­tia­tives — what they cost, what’s on offer & how to join
Posted
23/03/23
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Curating
Self-Employment, Rights & Pay, Care, Arts Organising

Togeth­er We Will event

A record­ing of an event for the Togeth­er We Will pro­gramme, focus­ing on dis­man­tling struc­tur­al inequal­i­ty in the visu­al arts.
Posted
04/02/22
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Rights & Pay, Care, Arts Organising

Togeth­er We Will: Inter­sec­tion­al Approach­es to Best Practice

VASW shares new rec­om­men­da­tions for best prac­tice in visu­al arts for insti­tu­tions, organ­i­sa­tions and free­lance arts organisers.
Posted
18/11/21
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Arts Organising

Arts&Heritage Resource Hub

Arts&Heritage Resource Hub is an online archive of guides and tem­plates for artists, cura­tors and muse­um professionals.
Posted
04/08/21
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Care, Arts Organising

Access Docs for Artists

Infor­ma­tion on writ­ing an access doc­u­ment for dis­abled artists.
Posted
08/07/21
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Funding

Fund­ing Work­shop: Arts Coun­cil Eng­land’s DYCP

A recod­ing of a work­shop by VASW for artists and art work­ers apply­ing for Arts Coun­cil England’s Devel­op­ing your Cre­ative Prac­tice fund.
Posted
11/02/21
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Audiences, Care, Arts Organising, Communications

The Space’s Toolk­it on Respond­ing to Online Abuse

A toolk­it designed as a prag­mat­ic guide for artists and cul­tur­al organ­i­sa­tions to effec­tive­ly pre­vent and respond to online abuse.
Posted
19/11/20
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Rights & Pay, Funding

The White Pube’s Fund­ing Library

The White Pube’s Fund­ing Library is a resource of suc­cess­ful fund­ing appli­ca­tions to a range of fund­ing bod­ies to help you write your own application.
Posted
18/11/20
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Care, Arts Organising

The Reset Webi­nar: Euel­la Jack­son and Kam­i­na Wal­ton on Allyship

Watch The Reset, episode 3: Euel­la Jack­son and Kam­i­na Wal­ton from Ris­ing Arts Agency on ally­ship in anti-racist work.
Posted
23/09/20
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VASW Webinar 1
Curating
COVID-19

The Reset Webi­nar: Sup­port Net­works for Curators

Watch The Reset, episode 2: Sup­port Net­works for Cura­tors, with cul­tur­al con­sul­tant, cura­tor and pro­duc­er Mandy Fowler.
Posted
22/07/20
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Curating
Arts Organising, COVID-19

Intro­duc­tion to Tick­et­ing for Muse­ums and Galleries

Down­load ACE’s guide on how to intro­duce a timed entry book­ing operation.
Posted
15/07/20
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RD Fundraising LP Campaign 1
Collectives, Arts Organising, Funding

Rachel Dobbs on Fundraising

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer.
Posted
02/07/20
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RD Mapping out Local Resources Growing cultural Assets 2 1
Collectives, Arts Organising, Connecting

Rachel Dobbs on Map­ping out Local Resources

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer.
Posted
02/07/20
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Collectives, Arts Organising

Rachel Dobbs on Col­lec­tive Organising

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer.
Posted
02/07/20
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RD Precarious Work Self Care Checklist Precarious Workers 1
Self-Employment, Rights & Pay, Care

Rachel Dobbs on Pre­car­i­ous Work

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer.
Posted
02/07/20
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RD Trade Unions Photo Credit Jar Squad 1
Self-Employment, Rights & Pay

Rachel Dobbs on Trade Unions

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer.
Posted
02/07/20
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Insurance

Rachel Dobbs on Insur­ance for Freelancers

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer.
Posted
02/07/20
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Self-Employment, Rights & Pay

Rachel Dobbs on Arts Work­ers’ Fees and Pay Rates

Rachel Dobbs shares a range of use­ful tools and resources from the per­spec­tive of a ser­i­al freelancer.
Posted
02/07/20
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Multidisciplinary
Audiences

The Reset Webi­nar: What does social dis­tanc­ing mean to visu­al arts?

Watch our webi­nar with Andy Bry­don (Curat­ed Place) and Fiona Wot­ton (Corn­wall 365) on the arts sec­tor’s recov­ery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted
24/06/20
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Audiences, COVID-19

Audi­ence Engage­ment resources from Curat­ed Place

Andy Bry­don from Curat­ed Place shares resources on reopen­ing and engag­ing audi­ences as organ­i­sa­tions adjust to liv­ing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted
24/06/20
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Research
Research

Updat­ed: BLM Resources Com­piled by VASW

An ongo­ing list of resources to help us learn and relearn all we can about racism with­in the arts and with­in wider society.
Posted
24/06/20
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COVID-19

Is the future of the art mar­ket online?

The Art News­pa­per pod­cast dis­cuss­es the future of the art mar­ket as gal­leries and auc­tion hous­es remain closed and art fairs have been cancelled.
Posted
11/06/20
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Writing
Rights & Pay, Care, Research, Mentoring, Connecting

BLM Resources from Jody Mul­vey / @sadgrads2020

A col­lec­tion of books, arti­cles, char­i­ties and oth­er resources explor­ing racism with­in the arts.
Posted
03/06/20
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Multidisciplinary
COVID-19

Impact of COVID-19 on Visu­al Arts Work­ers: Sur­vey Summary

Fol­low­ing emer­gency sec­tor sup­port mea­sures announced in March, CVAN and Earth­en Lamp devel­oped a sur­vey on the pan­demic’s impact on cre­ative practice
Posted
27/05/20
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Care

Tips and Tricks for Bud­ding Young Artists

RWA has col­lat­ed a series of arti­cles designed to help young artists and chil­dren dis­cov­er art and cre­ate at home.
Posted
20/05/20
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COVID-19

Art Work­ers Italia: Manifesto

Art Work­ers in Italy share their out­line of demands in response to how things have tran­spired due to the Coronavirus.
Posted
20/05/20
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COVID-19

Pan­dem­ic Programme

A list of inter­est­ing, enter­tain­ing, use­ful, relax­ing, rec­om­mend­ed, crit­i­cal­ly engaged & par­tic­u­lar­ly GOOD online visu­al arts con­tent by Kevin Hunt.
Posted
20/05/20
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Research

VASW’s South West Clus­ter Meeting

Notes by VASW’s Net­work Man­ag­er Paula Orrell from pub­lic sec­tor devel­op­ment meet­ings from Sep­tem­ber 2019 till Jan­u­ary 2020.
Posted
07/05/20
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Research

Strate­gic Com­mu­ni­ca­tions and Advo­ca­cy Plan

A research project by UK Arts & Her­itage con­sul­tan­cy Palmer Squared iden­ti­fy­ing key region­al challenges.
Posted
07/05/20
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Research

Futur­ing the Visu­al Arts: A Review of Youth Arts Provision

A research project by Dr. Ron­da Gow­land-Pryde on the cur­rent sta­tus of region­al youth arts pro­gram­ming. Com­mis­sioned by VASW.
Posted
07/05/20
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COVID-19

COVID-19 impact sur­vey: Final Report

a‑n The Artists Infor­ma­tion Com­pa­ny share the final report from their recent Covid-19 impact survey.
Posted
29/04/20
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COVID-19

COVID-19: Artists Sur­vival Guide by a space arts

a space arts have shared the first of their reg­u­lar Artist Sur­vival Guides designed to offer sup­port dur­ing the Coro­n­avirus’ restric­tions on movement.
Posted
25/03/20
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Self-Employment, Care, Connecting, COVID-19

COVID-19 & Free­lance Artists

A new web­site has been cre­at­ed to give free­lance artists access to invalu­able resources through­out these uncer­tain times.
Posted
18/03/20
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Rights & Pay, Funding, COVID-19

COVID-19: Infor­ma­tion and guid­ance for artists and arts organisers

Access sup­port and guid­ance from across the arts sec­tor, plus wider gov­ern­ment and NHS guid­ance, fol­low­ing the coro­n­avirus Covid-19 outbreak.
Posted
18/03/20
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IMG 5738 c Chelsey Cliff
Care

Future Proof, Ep 5: On Resilience and Per­son­al as Political

Eliza Gluck­man (Deputy Direc­tor, Gov­ern­ment Col­lec­tion) hosts a con­ver­sa­tion with 3 SW-based artists to explore resilience and per­son­al as political.
Posted
26/02/20
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IMG 5774 c Chelsey Cliff
Arts Organising

Future Proof, Ep 4: Fore­cast­ing the Future of Exhi­bi­tion Making

In this Future Proof pod­cast, jour­nal­ist, author and futur­ist Katie Baron, dis­cuss­es the future of exhi­bi­tion making.
Posted
26/02/20
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Copy of IMG 5829 c Chelsey Cliff
Arts Organising

Future Proof, Ep 3: Worlds and Futures made Pos­si­ble through Practice

Robert Leck­ie (Direc­tor, Spike Island) hosts a con­ver­sa­tion with the Brunswick Club and Simon Sheikh on the val­ue, mean­ing, and impact of space.
Posted
26/02/20
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Future Proof 2
Care, Arts Organising, Mentoring

Future Proof, Ep 1: Set­ting the Scene

Tune into the first part of the Future Proof series, where we intro­duce the focus of dis­cus­sions from a col­lec­tion of artists, cura­tors and academics.
Posted
19/02/20
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IMG 5696 c Chelsey Cliff
Care

Future Proof, Ep 2: Plat­form­ing Young Voices

In this Future Proof episode, Emi­ly Bull is joined by a col­lec­tion of young artists who explore how we can devel­op more acces­si­ble environments.
Posted
19/02/20
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Communications

The Space’s Online Audi­ences Toolkit

A user-friend­ly guide to build­ing your online audi­ences, cre­at­ed by The Space.
Posted
19/02/20
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