Recovery Mentoring Programme
Northumberland Recovery Partnership / bait (Dec14–present)
Northumberland Recovery Partnership (alcohol/drug recovery) clients who expressed an interest in the arts were offered the opportunity to attend three full days of visual art and animation taster workshops, go on a cultural visit, and access 1-1 mentoring to explore creative opportunities and progression routes within the arts. Bespoke action plans were produced for each participant with ongoing 1-1 support and guidance.
AnnieEricHelenJimMollyTommy
Gateshead Arts Team (Aug14–May15)
As part of an arts programme exploring the lives of Gateshead residents, participants received practical advice and guidance in developing their creative skills and pursuing an interest in the arts.
Pathfinder
Artworks / Paul Hamlyn Foundation (Nov13–June)
A series of context based short courses for artists and media practitioners wanting to work in youth and criminal justice participatory settings. Seminars and workshops explored roles of the artist, understanding group dynamics, planning, communication and reflective practice.
Peer Artist Learning programme
Artworks / Paul Hamlyn Foundation (Jan12–May12)
I collaborated with a university tutor with a background in art therapy to reflect and share experiences of working in participatory settings. I also offered advice and guidance to students and emerging artists at Sunderland University interested in developing a participatory practice.
Stepping Up
Cyrenians / Helix Arts (Sept11–Mar13)
A programme of training and mentoring for aspiring artists who have experienced homelessness. Bespoke action plans were devised for each artist that included a series of challenges for creative skills development and mentoring sessions to offer advice and guidance on practical issues and progression routes.
Peer Mentoring
Helix Arts (June10–June12)
A programme of mentoring and support for artists working within participatory settings (including a sculptor, an animator and a writer). As well as discussing the challenges of arts facilitation such as delivery and engagement techniques, mentees also observed and assisted during a range of creative workshops.
Gateshead Art Project
Gateshead Youth Offending Team / Helix Arts (Sept10–June11)
Working with young people not participating in group activity, one to one meetings informed development of an arts programme suitable to their individual needs and interests.
Choices
Newcastle Youth Offending Team / Helix Arts (Sept09–Apr11)
A mentoring programme offering advice and support for young people interested in further developing their creative skills and exploring opportunities and progression routes in the arts.
Movin’ On
Sunderland Youth Offending Team / Helix Arts (Aug08–Aug09)
During my artist residency at Sunderland YOT, I developed a bespoke training programme for a contemporary dancer wanting to gain experience working within participatory arts settings. This involved observing and assisting during workshops with serious offenders, mentoring sessions and advice on progression routes.
AQA Accreditation Modules
Assessment and Qualifications Alliance / bait (Oct15–present)
From my experience as an arts facilitator I have developed a range of accrediations for art and design subjects including typography, photomontage and logo design.
Train The Trainers
bait (Aug14)
Front line staff working with young people in Northumberland were given the opportunity to ‘have a go’ at arts activity to increase their personal understanding of the arts, identify creative techniques that could be implemented into their everyday working practice, and to assess the potential benefits engaging with arts activity could offer their clients.
Documenting The Participatory Process
Helix Arts (Apr13)
Using a recent participatory project as a case study, staff at Helix Arts were given training in non-intrusive, practical and effective video capture and editing techniques to record engagement and outcomes during participatory arts workshops.
Visitor Engagement Programme
DLI Museum Durham / The Forge (Dec12–Dec13)
I worked with visitor assistants at the DLI Museum to help develop skills in planning, promoting and delivering arts activities for museum visitors and school groups. As well as engagement and motivational techniques, the practical issues of sourcing materials and documenting sessions were also explored.
Young Lead Officers
Arts Council England (Oct09)
A full day of presentations and discussions with Arts Council England’s ‘Young Lead Officers’ (young people considering a career in the arts) using case studies to illustrate working in participatory settings and exploring opportunities to gain experience through mentoring programmes, volunteering and work placements.
Youth Justice Training
University of Northumbria / Helix Arts (June09)
A series of discussion based and practical skills sharing workshops to provide training and tailored advice for emerging artists wanting to learn more about working in Youth Justice settings..
YOT Staff Training
Newcastle Youth Offending Team / Helix Arts (Sept09–Apr11)
A series of small group sessions with YOT case workers aimed at developing skills in arts activity delivery for high and low risk offenders. This involved creating workshop plans, delivery / engagement techniques and sourcing materials. I also held a series of digital media sessions exploring image and film editing software including Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro.
YOT Team Building
Newcastle Youth Offending Team / Helix Arts (Nov08)
A full day of art activities for case workers and managers at Newcastle YOT as part of a team building event. The workshop also served to demonstrate effective delivery and engagement techniques facilitating creative activity with high and low risk young offenders.
Liar Republic
Sunderland University (Apr04–June04)
A series of lectures and practical challenges for photography students at Sunderland University. Sessions explored working as a freelancer, best practice for using photography effectively in publication design, live photography briefs and the editorial process.
Windmill Hills Management Committee
Windmill Hills Centre / Gateshead Council (Mar15–Mar16)
A voluntary position on the management committee providing creative services, guidance and support in promoting the centre and the services it offers.
Invisible Visible
Helix Arts / Culture Lab / Newcastle University (Mar12–June14)
The project involved evaluating and developing effective methods of recording engagement and impact during participatory arts workshops. This included the introduction of recording device prototypes into live workshops and the facilitation of sessions for Helix Arts, Culture Lab and Newcastle University staff to demonstrate delivery and engagement techniques and effective ways to record impact during a creative workshop.
Springboard Recruitment Panel
Helix Arts (June13)
Through experience of working with young people in participatory settings I was asked to sit on a recruitment panel for a long term artist in residence post working with children and teenagers.
Swedish Employment Agency – Culture & Media
Helix Arts (May12)
A series of meetings with culture and media representatives from the Swedish Employment Agency to discuss the notion of artistic quality in participatory arts practice and to develop opportunities for peer mentoring / practice sharing between UK and Sweden based artists.
Artistic Quality Discussions
Helix Arts (Mar10–Nov10)
A series of presentations to the multi-disciplinary advisory panel (MAP) outlining and discussing my own experience of working in participatory settings. Key issues around the notion of artistic quality and helping to shape participant-centred activity were explored.
Shine
Design Council / Creative Partnerships (Nov09)
A series of discussions with Design Council sharing my experience of effective participatory arts practice and the issues surrounding it. I also facilitated a presentation of my working practice at the V&A Gallery London, and a workshop for teachers and arts practitioners from across the country demonstrating delivery and engagement techniques.
Artists Network
Helix Arts (Nov09–Jan10)
I worked with Helix Arts staff and other experienced participatory artists to discuss and develop an artists network for North East England.
Distance Travelled Toolkit
Helix Arts (July09–Aug09)
The redevelopment of a resource used by art project managers and case workers to measure the engagement and progress of participants accessing arts programmes.
Life History Books
Durham County Council (May08–Mar09)
The project involved examining and redeveloping the format of Life History Books used to record the journey of looked after children in Durham. This involved consulting with young people and their carers/parents, social/case workers, education and children’s services staff to design, produce and present a prototype.
