Jason Minsky ( Freelance Artist) 10.00 - 11.00, 11.30 - 12.30
Amanda Farr ( Artistic Director ) 13.30 - 14.30
Tracy Simpson ( Director of ADDO) 15.00 - 16.00
Todays talks began with a double session with freelance artist Jason Minsky -The first talk involving professional development and the second being portfolio development.
In professional development,he made it quite clear how beneficiary it can be for a degree or post degree student to take on unpaid work for a studio as it gets you in the mindset of what it's like to take on a career as demanding as his.Such things an artist can take from experiences like this are building confidence within your practice and methods,getting used to tight deadlines and how to keep working when you've failed.An example of this was going over budget on a project such as when Jason had to do work for St John's College in Oxford.
He also talked about ways you can attract attention towards yourself exhibitioning yourself as the artist as part of your work.Jason uses his contacts to generate grants so that he can commission quite offbeat performance pieces which require a lot of work and innovation.He then collects pieces into a publicity folder that he shows to potential clients which can lead to further work or sales of pieces.
Many of Jason's ideas are unconventional but work for what he wants to get out of it."Do what you want to do."
For example,one of the many idea's he talked about was a self promotional ad he ran on M-tv - a local channel in Manchester that averages 300,000 viewers a year.In the advert,he briefly appears for roughly 20 seconds explaining that whoever was watching was to go to the address mentioned on the screen.When they showed up,they would get 1 of 500 limited badges with a certificate of authenticity.Ultimately only eight people showed up to get the badges however it proved that maybe with improved resources,he could revisit and expand that idea upon its initial reaction.Also,if you have an opportunity to give stuff away (as long as it's not a finacial burden) jump at the chance,the badges he gave out for the M-tv project only cost him £30.
The second part focused on what it is you need to expand upon in regards to a portfolio.Rather than show past work,Jason also alluded that it would be a good idea to include projects you would like to work on in the future - either concept images or explaining ideas.This feeds back to what Wendy from BBC talked about when going for an interview in the company.A key point Jason brought up was how to handle a portfolio - think about what the client has to go through when examining work.They usually have to look through 10 - 20 images within a set time - it needs to be handled as swiftly as possible in a way were your artwork doesn't get ruined or looked over.The easiest way to overcome it is through presentation.Become a professional,it's only a title at the end of day - let it reflect who you want to be rather than who you are now.Consistancy is also vital,have a strong start,middle and end and strategize how your portfolio reacts - what points would a client pause and take in an image and what do they want to see?
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After break,we had Amanda Farr, artistic director of the Oriel Davies Gallery in Newtown,Wales.Her talk was mostly about the work she was involved with with exhibitions and educational programs but she also dispensed some general information about getting work seen by a gallery.This included what exactly needed to be researched to submit work, the roles within the staff including financer,marketing and curator and the board of trustees.
Adding to that,she also commented on the required skills a curator needs to have working in a gallery like budgeting and negtiational abilities.These skills would be first acquired through a training program that the gallery have provided.
She then gave us a brief account on how to get an application going to submit work.
- Check funding criteria,deadlines for release and if you can fulfill the work required.
- Gather information about proposal.Brief description of the project.Funds,costs,grants,start and finish date,contact information,reference,CV of past work and presentation
- Contact the project officer for eligibility and send work,bank details and if your collaborating with someone.
- Grant is sent with standard conditions, finacial information and additional conditions must be adhered to.
Although I saw use of the advice,she could only really apply from what she has experienced at her work which is an independant gallery and is technically classed as a charitible organisation that reach out to rural communities deprived of contemporary art.
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Finally,the last talk of the day was with Tracy Simpson, a director of ADDO who discussed how to get funding from the arts council.
Her talk was more specific on exactly what was required for grants and funding a project.For example whether you were applying for a Government grant or a Private/charitable grant scheme.These had different regulations accordingly (e.g. Oriel Davies talk.) The main point she hit across was how time specific everything is and how it varies that change depending on the project and the circumstances.This is important to know as you need to be eligable but also you'll find that your funds will be effected depending on how you deal with this.Find funding that will fit your project.Once you've got everything going,she then talked about what happens during the production,in which you may get an occasional visit from project officers to monitor your progress.This is followed up in a report which is then evaluated and sent back to the arts council.As well as that,another thing she mentioned was to plan your future project within projects as an exit strategy.
In case you can't get funding,there are many other ways one can access financial support which include
- Interest free loans
- Forming groups or clubs
- Local authority projects (Oriel Davies Gallery)
- Business links
I found all this quite practical and gave me access to options and despite the fact that students don't have a chance in funding a project through the arts council,it was beneficial for everyone in the talk to at least get a head start or some idea what kind of people and work such an institution looks for in artists.The talk also could of used some examples of artists that Tracy delt with as it would give me some indicator of interaction rather than general presentation.
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