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

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.

Details of upcoming and past programme are below, sign up to our newsletter to learn about new opportunities.

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

Our current online programme looks at working in and with public/s, from holding space for participation and collective practice, to support structures and the presentation of process based work.

Gaylene Gould and Amal Khalaf will lead a workshop to explore creative methodologies in collaborative projects; and alternative spaces that prioritise connection, community and care. They will discuss their projects and experiences, and think through ideas towards collective practice that centres social justice and transformation.

Can Altay will lead a series of one-to-one sessions for artists to share and discuss their work. This will be followed by an online gathering, where participants will meet for a moderated conversation to discuss together their ideas and a collective response to creating art in public.

Dr Cara Courage will explore new and radical forms of governance, and organisational working practice that prioritises people and planet.

We are also offering free access to on demand courses from Iridescent Ideas: Business Planning, Social Investment, Funding & Finance, and Setting up a CIC; and Christina Poulton: fundraising and setting up an organisation.

Details of opportunities are below, along with information about who the session would most benefit.

Previous workshops have looked at sustaining your practice, and the tools needed to keep going and plan ahead effectively to maintain and develop creative work and new projects. These included a one day moving image development workshop with Benjamin Cook (Director, LUX) and How to Have a Sustainable Creative Career with Ceri Hand.

Resources related to events will be published below. We’ll be updating these on a regular basis throughout the programme.

Income Generation for Young and Emerging Artists

One of the first barriers to a career in the arts is earning enough to make a living. VASWA worked in partnership with Creative Youth Network to present a series of free opportunities for students, recent graduates and anyone else making their first steps towards a career in the visual arts. Workshops included Pricing and Selling your Artwork with Ceri Hand, Designing and Running a Workshop with Graham MacLeod Johnson, and An Introduction to Funding with Millie Wood Downie.

Business Skills for Early to Mid Career Artists

The practical side of a visual arts career is often less glamorous than making the work, but it's vital to everyone in the sector. Two workshops focused on the business skills you need to move your career to the next stage: Manifest your Dreams - Creative Business Planning for Artists with Mel Larsen, and Tax and Accounting For Early Career Artists with Art & People.

Other past workshops have included New Arts Council England Project Grants with Christina Poulton; Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent Audience Development with Alex Covell; and Strategies of Care with Roseanna Dias.