A Guide to Developing Your Practice by Natasha Thembiso Ruwona

I am writing this resource from the perspective of an artist with experience applying for opportunities to develop my own practice, and as someone who has previously worked on professional development opportunities in administrative and coordination roles supporting the practice of other artists. I hope this guide is a helpful resource for you as you explore professional development and alternative learning approaches on your journey.

Perhaps the first question to explore is why undertake professional development?

Professional development and ongoing learning opportunities can help you reflect on and critically think about your practice, while also creating time for play and experimentation. These opportunities create a vital space for being as an artist, beyond the outcome-driven processes that often come with it. The question of ‘what comes next?’ regularly surfaces in my mind once anything significant ends, whether that be the end of a job, an exhibition, or a commission. I am rehearsing leaning into these moments of exhalation post-completion and taking a pause.

Funding for space to conduct such activities under the guise of R&D for your practice is often minimal. However, there are opportunities out there to engage in further learning, both formally and informally. As the costs of higher education continue to increase, the need for alternative opportunities to learn and develop practices is becoming more and more important.

Moreover, undertaking learning programmes offers a space to stay connected with other artists. A lot of power can be built when we gather together for conversation or an activity.

Finding and Applying for Opportunities

Sometimes I find myself feeling overwhelmed or underwhelmed (!), depending on the number of opportunities available at once to apply to. Your time is a limited resource, and I would always encourage you to think about why you are interested in applying for something. Be intentional and ask yourself questions like:

• What’s the time commitment? Do I have the time to give to this? Often, development programmes are across several months, sometimes even a year.
• How do I envision this opportunity helping to develop my practice?
• Why this organisation? Does the organisation involved align with my values or methods of working?

Hint: When I have reviewed applications for open calls, a copy-and-paste job is almost always obvious. It's fine to copy and paste some things, but I encourage you to tailor applications as much as possible and be specific. Remember to read the question, and read it again to answer effectively. The same goes for the information pack - make sure you understand what you’re applying for; the time commitment, who is involved and what is being asked of you. Make a case for why now is the right time for you to do the thing, so those reading the applications understand why you’re applying. Places for these types of opportunities are usually very limited, so it’s vital to communicate your intentions clearly.

It feels important to acknowledge that making applications can be quite a draining and endless process. Remember, there are lots of things you don't need to apply for to get a place. For example, I signed up for a couple of short courses at my university in creative writing and animation because I wanted to expand my understanding of poetry and develop technical skills in animation for making films. Although these courses were paid for, as an alumnus, I got a discount. Local higher education courses usually have cheap(er) evening and weekend courses too. Online programmes and courses may be free or low-cost, and this may offer a variety of international opportunities to engage with that you wouldn’t get locally.

Defining opportunities to develop your practice can look different for each person. Don’t be afraid to take a course that seems completely unrelated to your practice. It's also important to follow your interests or lines of thinking, no matter where this might take you! I have often found that some courses unrelated to my practice have found their way back into it, even years later. Right now, I’m taking part in an alternative economics course, which has completely developed the way I think about being in the world, and I’m sure it will impact my practice as a result!

I briefly mentioned paying for further learning opportunities. This isn’t always possible, especially in the early career stages of being an artist. It might be helpful to look for opportunities that offer resources as part of a programme or course, such as;

• Syllabus – a ten-month alternative learning programme co-designed between artists in the cohort and the partner organisations
• The FLAMIN Fellowship – an artist development programme for moving-image artists
• hotel generation – a development programme for digital artists

Although these programmes don’t offer a participation fee, they do provide money to support you to take part in the programme, including travel or research or project development.

Bristol Day School is an alternative education programme which is open for applications until June 2025. Participants pay a monthly fee, although some bursaries are available. You get a shared studio, visits from guest artists, alongside other opportunities to support the development of your practice as a group.

Here are some organisations running programmes and workshops:

• Black Curatorial – an organisation that creates opportunities for creative and curatorial growth for Black people globally.
• Conditions Studio Programme – a low-cost studio programme for artists, based in Croydon.
• New Curators – a paid twelve-month curatorial training programme based in London for aspiring curators of contemporary art from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
• Open School East – a free, independent art school and community space that focuses on collective learning through the arts.
• School of the Damned – a year-long alternative art course directed by its students.
• The Other MA (TOMA) – an 18-month artist-run learning programme based in Southend-on-Sea supporting artists who have faced barriers accessing art education and the ‘art world’.
• not/nowhere – an artist workers’ co-op that supports film practices with equipment hire, workshops, screenings and solidarity economics.
• BEEF – a Bristol-based film and sound collective.
• Arvon – a charity that runs creative writing courses, events and retreats both in-person and online.
• Future Curators Programme – for Disabled curators within visual arts institutions.
• Turps Studio Programme – an opportunity for painters to embark on a year-long programme of intensive mentoring, seminars, crits and studio practice.
• 11:11 – an artist residency and development programme running online and from London.
• Warman School – The Warman School exists counter to every other school.
• school of commons – a global community-based initiative dedicated to peer learning, and the study and development of self-organized knowledge production—through commons-based methods and practices. located at the Zürich University of the Arts (ZHdK) but the program takes place mostly online.
• Fieldnotes – an artist-run publishing project based in Newham in East London. Applications for their online Saturday school are currently open until 5 May.

I hope in the future there will be more opportunities to learn and be remunerated to do so, like theDisability Arts Online Diverse Critics development programme, which supports disabled and/or Black or PoC writers in Scotland, offering a bursary for learning alongside support from mentors.

Monthly or weekly newsletters are a good place to find out about professional development opportunities, and you can sign up for these via the websites of galleries, artist-led spaces, art organisations, etc. I would recommend this option, especially if you don’t use social media, which is also a great place to find out about any new open calls.

For more information on how to find, apply for, and get opportunities as an artist, check out Harriot Cooper’s extensive guide.

Building a Community of Practice

A community of practice is a group of people who gather over a shared interest or thing that they do together. Finding or creating a COP as an artist can be a useful way to develop your practice through sharing, conversation and collaborating alongside other artists.

When I was part of the Rhubaba committee, an artist-led organisation in Edinburgh, we developed a yearly public programme together, which honed my research skills and creative ideas through conversations with other committee members and by working with artists. Although not directly linked to my making practice, developing programming skills has made all the administrative work that comes with being an artist much easier, as well as gaining the knowledge of how organisations work, all within a shared learning environment that centred creativity and criticality.

You could form a COP with people from art school, from a learning programme, or do a call-out via social media. Perhaps there is already a local group that meets regularly that you can join that offers skill-sharing, crits, or a space to exhibit your work alongside other artists.

If you are creating your own group, it’s good to be clear about what the COP is and isn’t - why it exists, and how it will exist.

• Do you want to organise the group, or will each person have a role in organising/leading?
• Where will you meet and how often? Sometimes, art galleries will offer free or discounted space to hire for local community groups.
• Why are you meeting, and what’s the agenda for the gathering?
• Who is the group for?

Something that could be fun and useful to try out is the Offers and Needs Market, where folks can share the skills they have to offer others in the group, and what their needs are, e.g. I can teach you Photoshop skills, but I want to learn more about printmaking. Think of it like skill sharing, and it’s a great way to build connections between those in the room, whilst genuinely developing skills and knowledge.

If you want something less formalised, you could also organise a space with friends where you share works in progress or swap application drafts and ask for feedback. Rachel Clerk’s Work Party for Cheats project involves people coming together to swap unfinished tasks, collectively resolving as many as possible within the given time. This approach forms a support structure for folks to share resources beyond monetary exchange, like time, energy and skills.

The scale of a COP can vary from the number of people involved to a variety of activities. For example, a reading group or one-off screening can be relatively low-key to organise, whereas building a collective or working towards something with moving parts, such as an exhibition, may be a longer process. DIY approaches to developing practice allow for the freedom to create the space that you want, making it flexible and adaptable for COP members, without needing institutional backing or many resources to make it happen.

If you’re interested in learning more, Beth Emily Richards offers a guide for artist-led activity here.

Mentoring

I often hear from others that mentoring is a bit of a mysterious process, rather than something that should be embedded within the process of being an artist. My experience of mentoring has largely been through formalised development programmes that I’ve been involved with, and mentors have either been part of the programme or offered externally. Usually, the mentor is someone who has a crossover of research themes or alignment in ways of making with my own.

I have found mentoring to be helpful in having deeper conversations about my practice, creating the space for one-to-one conversations where I can be reflective and honest about my anxieties and what makes me excited, or receive feedback on ideas or work in progress. For me, the most enjoyable conversations are the ones that feel informal, particularly when it’s artist to artist, rather than artist to institution - but it depends on what your needs are for the conversation(s).

Peer-to-peer mentoring between artists could be organised in a similar way to the COP. Here’s a resource for developing a support group by Edwina Fitzpatrick.

Also, keep an eye out for free mentoring schemes that sometimes pop up as part of programmes developed by galleries, like CRIPtic Arts, which are currently offering advice sessions.

VASW has recently launched Curator Bank, which offers free mentoring from curators based in the South West. Find out more and apply here.

Memberships and Associate Schemes

Delivered by a range of galleries, memberships and associate schemes are a great way to join an existing extensive network of artists to develop your practice. These programmes offer a range of benefits, including special events, opportunities, workshops and one-to-one support specifically for members for a monthly or yearly fee. Sometimes members have a say in the shaping of the organisation or programme, like those who are part of Transmission Gallery in Glasgow and The NewBridge Project.

Here are some options:

• Spike Island – Bristol. Up to £13/month.
• Eastside Projects – Birmingham, UK-Wide. £5/month or membership is free for Global Majority and/or disabled artists.
• BACKLIT – Nottingham, UK-Wide. £5/month.
• CAMP – Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Pay What You Choose.
• Somerset Art Works – Somerset. Up to £40/year for Individuals and £60/year for Organisations.
• Weston Art Space – Weston-Super-Mare. One-off payment of £20.
• IW Creative Network – Isle of Wight. £30/year.
• a space arts – Southampton. Free.
• a-n – UK-Wide. Up to £38/year.

Further resources to check out

• Unlimited
• The Creative Independent
• Shape Arts
• Disability Arts Online
• Visual Arts South West
• The NewBridge Project
• Plymouth Culture

Natasha Thembiso Ruwona is a Scottish-Zimbabwean artist-writer, researcher and community events producer based between Scotland and London. Her work is rooted in placemaking and collaboration, where she curates nurturing spaces for people to connect and gather. Natasha was the Syllabus Coordinator at Wysing Arts Centre from 2024-25, and is currently supporting/holding projects with Kinfolk Network and Decolonising Economics.

This guide is commissioned in partnership by Arts University Bournemouth, Arts University Plymouth, University of the West of England and VASW.