Artquest is a public programme funded by Arts Council England to help give artists fair opportunities. They research artists career barriers and offer advice to any individual or company, which is available by e-mail. They offer residencies, grants, career advice and information on things like artlaw.

One of the funds they advertise is called Artcry, which is a fund of £2500 to support social and political art. They are particularly interested in art that fights for human rights, equality and transparency in democracy. The work must happen for free in a public space.

In your applications you must answer these questions:

• what is your political aim
• what is your creative idea
• who needs to experience it and how will you reach them
• what would successful outcomes of the project be for you
• tell us about you and your experience. please share links to or examples of your previous work.
• how much money will you need and what will you spend it on? (please include a budget breakdown)

Someone who was awarded this grant was Yusuf Ismail & Shawqi Hasson, to make this mural of Maimuna Yoncana in Cardiff. Maimuna herself came to Cardiff in the hope of a better life, the mural symbolises hope for the black and diasporic communities in Cardiff, in the form of change in the Welsh curriculum to include black history as well as the removal of monuments of slave owners.

I feel like this grant is an amazing way to increase visibility for social issues and could definitely be something that I apply for in the future. Grants like this make my hopes of creating activistic work seem more possible.

Image found at Award 3: UNIFY #mycitymyshirt (artcry.co.uk)

See the Artquest website at Welcome to Artquest

Social Art Network is an organisation that supports creatives with projects. They are a community of artists with an aim to aid enable people to create community based work, often political and reflective of social culture.

Meetups

A big part of their support is the meetups that they organize. They meet in 12 places around the UK, where creatives are invited to meet and give each other feedback on projects. Their conversations can also be based around social inequalities including anti-racism and inclusion in social art. It sounds like this is a great way of making connections with people with similar aims to me. The Brighton meets are hosted by Susana Amoah, a social activist and artist herself so I can imagine it is a valuable opportunity to attend for someone like me.

Social Art Network

Greening Arts practice guide

The Website also has a page of resources that are available for use including a vast number of helpful documents on art practices. The one that looks most useful to me is the ‘Greening Arts practice guide’ which is a well curated PDF with a wealth of information on environmentally considered art. It encourages artists to ask questions such as:

• How are your materials sourced? And could you change this to something more renewable/second hand?
• How do you deal with the waste?
• Have you considered using degradable materials?
• Are you being sponsored by a company that is ethical?

It showcases many sustainable art projects such as the ‘Fabric of Place’ project. It was an artist residence which required the four residency artists create work responding to the theme ‘outside in’ involving the community, culture , history or landscape of Swaledale in North Yorkshire.

611d50bf5ebb440137c5710e_GAP-Guide-Full-Aug21.pdf (webflow.com) – The link to the Greening Arts practice guide PDF

Microsoft Word – Fabric of Place – Part I – Project Report (180619) (website-files.com) – the Fabric of Place Final report

The Royal Photographic society is a charity which was started in 1853, now available to anyone that wishes to join. They provide many services such as workshops, exhibitions, talks, qualifications, bursaries and competitions.

TPA/RPS Environmental Bursary

There are many different fundings and bursaries available to apply for, the one that looks most interesting to me is the Environmental bursary. This is a £4000 bursary to help fund the travel and equipment to aid for the creation of a project that promotes environmental awareness. On the website they say that “Applications are invited from anyone living or studying in the United Kingdom with a talent for taking photographs and an interest in the environmental concerns that we face today.”

Application

To apply, you need to send in 8 photographs (with or without captions) that relate to past projects, along with a very detailed description about what you would use the bursary for. You also need to show consideration for minimising your own environmental impact whilst you are completing the project. Your work will be published on the The Photographic Angle and RPS websites, so consider mediums accordingly. You also have to explain how your idea will reach as many people as possible, and they are looking for a creative project as well as elements of documentary.

Harry Borden – Over 30s Recipient 2018

Harry Borden was the winner of the bursary in 2018, who used it to make the project ‘Four Hugs Wide’ along with poet Mireille Thornton. Borden began as a celebrity portrait photographer and during a commissioned photoshoot with Thornton they got talking about creating a project about nature. The Work tells stories of people who live with and work with trees, and explores their relationships with nature, with the title coming from their first sitter who described a particular tree as ‘four hugs wide’.

In an interview about the project, Borden is asked about what he would like people to take away from the project and says that

“I would hope that people would reflect on the fact that the world is in crisis and that there are other ways of living your life which aren’t about n insatiable desire for material things.” – Hour Hugs Wide at The Plough, Torrington on Vimeo

Four Hugs Wide – Harry Borden

Model Release Forms 

This lecture taught us about the guidance and laws when regarding using other people in photography. It is advised that A model release form is used which is basically a contract between the photographer and the people being used in the images, particularly in portraiture. It protects the photographer and models if there is a dispute, and makes clear how the images can be used. A model release form usually includes:

• The date
• Names of the models
• what the models receive for modelling (money, experience etc)
• the purposes that the model consents to having the images used for (commercial use, portfolio display, public display etc)
• if they are comfortable having the images used outside of the UK
• the contact information of the photographer and models in case the terms change
• that the model confirms that they are over 18, if not they will need consent of the parents

The Royal Photographic Society have created a model release form that is available online for anyone to print out and use: rps-model-release-form-pdf.pdf

Freedom of Expression

The right to freedom of expression protects our ability to take photographs which can sometimes confuse with consent laws, it is important to know your rights especially when when being controversial.

Article 10 – Freedom of expression:

1 – “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2 – The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.”

Human Rights Act 1998 (legislation.gov.uk)

I can see how this law can easily be twisted, for example you could peacefully protest something which you could argue is ‘necessary in a democratic society’, but could accuse the same thing of being an infringement on ‘the protection of rights of others.’ This means that you have to be very careful and know your laws well if you are being controversial.

We were told about how to best create an interesting visual powerpoint presentation which I found very useful because I use powerpoint all the time but have never really consciously thought about different methods that are most effective to a viewer, especially when showcasing photographs.

Colours

• A minimal and simple colour palette is best for making images stand out
• Use the eyedropper tool for taking colours that are within images so that backgrounds and font aren’t too punchy
• It can be best to use greys especially along side black and white photography

Text

• Use as little text as possible, the photos are the main part
• Font should be a legible size – consider how big the powerpoint will be when presenting in comparison to you making the slides
• Use a clean and simple font

Images

• Only use your best work – less is more!
• Think about the order of your images in terms of the flow of presenting them, can you link one to another?
• You can set the slideshow so it moves on automatically so you don’t stay on one image for too long

Script

• If presenting live it can be useful to write your script in the notes section of the powerpoint so it comes up for you in presenter mode
• Write in a way that sounds natural to how you would speak it
• It is better to over-prepare

The Elevator Pitch exercise 

We were given a task where we had to make an elevatorPitch_guide and present it to our fellow classmates. These had to be 30 seconds long and about ourselves as photographers. This task was a challenge because 30 seconds is a very limiting amount of time so you have to be extremely concise. We were encouraged to use the format of summarising a key message and then three things you want your audience to remember.  For me these things were

• My practice is usually driven by my passions of desire for environmental and social change
• I love using film or whatever materials necessary to communicate the message I need to
• I often use a metaphorical or artistic approach in my work

When practicing my elevator pitch I started by talking about my education and areas of study which meant that I was cut short of time so this made me realise about what the important bits I want people to remember actually are!

Channelling Nervousness

We were also told to be aware of the things that we do when we are nervous while public speaking and to think about ways of controlling it. Many people giggle when they are nervous and do weird movements and Rachel told us that a way of tuning this is to move out hands in a controlled way when we are speaking which can make you feel and come across as more confident. For me I think that I often mumble and say irrelevant things when I can’t think of what to say, and Rachel gave a suggestion that addressing that you’re nervous could help this by telling the audience how you are feeling. We were also given the advice to practice speaking in situations that make us nervous, so doing it in front of other people that can then tell us that we are doing something weird that we might not be conscious of.

In a lecture regarding one of our options for our 3rd year professional practice submission, a huge helpful part of it was advice on public speaking and presenting. We were told about the Pecha Kucha method, a simple set of rules that a presentation should be 20 slides long and you spend 20 seconds on each making your presentation just over 6 mins. This is supposed to be an optimum amount of time for explaining everything you need to without going on irrelevant tangents while still being interesting a to viewers.

The concept was crated by architects Mark Dythem and Astrid Klein, who were fond of  hosting ‘show and tells’ at their office with many types of worker but prompted by the notion that “architects talk too much” made these set of rules. They expanded this idea to hosting events in cities all over the world where anyone has the opportunity to stand up and present. Dythem talks about how important this in their TEDtalk (PechaKucha: Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein at TEDxTokyo (youtube.com)) because there are few opportunities for people to present their work, and in places like Bogota this has made a huge difference with the mayor saying that it has changed their city!

We were shown a Pecha Kucha example by a past student called Tom Heatley uploaded on the Pecha Kucha website on the Colour Red. The interesting thing about this presentation is that he had his slides set so that they would automatically change to the next one after 20 seconds, forcing him to move on when he spoke too much about one topic. This meant that at times he slightly panicked occasionally when he overran onto the next slide but ultimately you can tell that overall it helped the flow better in terms of engaging the audience because he’s clearly very passionate about the colour red and knows a lot about it so it is good to refine the information.

PechaKucha Presentation: Musings on the Colour Red

Artist Residencies 

In this lecture we were told about what an artist residency is and how to apply to one. Zoe talked to us about the artist residency she did, which was helpful to be given a specific example of what they are like. I didn’t know an artist residency existed until now so it is exciting to know that there are other opportunities available to upcoming artists.

An artist residency is when as an artist you are given an amount of time, usually in a specific location, where you are given the task of making work about a certain topic. They can be hugely varied in terms of timescale, lasting anywhere from a week to a year. The funding and equipment you are provided with are also varied, ranging from you being paid to you having to pay. There are sometimes community workshops with the other residence, which there can be up to around 30.

Why attend a residency?

• A step in creative career
• A place to create new work
• Focus unencumbered by daily distractions
• Interact with other like-minded artists or photographers

There can be residencies aimed at new graduates!

What the Application process could be –

• Artist statement / biography
• CV
• Proposal

Tips for applying for an artist residency

• Research the host and organisation thoroughly
• Decide what you want to get out of it
• Plan ahead by checking deadline dates
• Keep CV and images up to date
• Read guidelines carefully
• research previous recipients
• look at image requirements
• you can reuse images, cv’s and some project plans submitted before
• call and speak to someone
• set aside time to write – it can be lengthy – get feedback

There are specific companies that do residency listings. Here are some websites to look at-

• wooloo.org
• resartis.org
• artistcommunities.org

Applying for funding

In the lecture we were also told about how to apply for funding for projects.

There is a website called The White Pube that provides lots of advice including videos, podcasts, and past winners of their artist grant.

Wbsite – Home | The White Pube

One example of a grant winner was Georgia Madden with her animation ‘Divination Dave’, a very weird and uncomfortable animation of a guy who eats his salt lamp and has hallucinations.

Clare Griffiths works for the Careers and Employability team at the university. Her main focus was giving us advice on preparing us for being self-employed and freelance workers.

She recommended a service called Beepurple, which offers workshops and talks on becoming self employed including being a freelance photographer which you can join any time including after you leave uni. They host workshops and run ‘start up’ courses.

She gave us an example of a past user of Beepurple who they helped to start her business called Kelly Angoods who made viddy camera, to start a business making medium format pinhole cameras. She accessed funding via kickstarter, she’d offer various rewards for people depending on how much money they sent her. I found it encouraging to be shown an example of someone with an idea and seeing how it can be made to happen, showing the recommended services as successful for some.

      –  An advertising image by viddy camera of their products taken from Viddy Pinhole Camera by the Pop-Up Pinhole Camera Company (thecoolist.com)

Clare gave some very helpful business starting advice-

When starting a business, you need to relate these 4 things:

• What are you good at
• What do you love
• What does the world need
• What can you be paid for

She got us to do an exercise where we think about our core values to help inform our practice – what change do you want to make? What is important to you?

• Looking after the planet
• Sustainability
• Responding to toxic consumerism
• People helping people
• Connecting people to nature
• Mental health

– I found this exercise very helpful because its the first time I’ve actually thought about the things that are important to me in terms of the areas I see myself looking at in the future. Having them written down makes it clearer as to what my unique bridge with my photographic practice could be in starting a business or the areas I can specialise in.

This was an encouraging session as it makes the connections between being a student and making my work into a job more doable! My next step is probably booking an advice session with beepurple@brighton.ac.uk.

Contacts:

• beepurple@brighton.ac.uk
• c.griffiths@brighton.ac.uk