Progress on the ACE application is inching forward slowly, amidst leaky pipes, boiler problems and visits from friends and family.
I met up with Gideon at Fabric (http://www.fabricculture.co.uk/) last week to go through what I have already and got some really good feedback and suggestions from him (avoid the art jargon, write simply and straightfowardly was a valuable piece of advice). I have also had some email feedback and suggested changes from my Re;view mentor Caroline Hick which has alerted me to things I’ve mised out or not explained fully enough.
Each time I discuss the application with others it feels a bit less onerous, a bit more do-able. I’m grateful for the support from Gideon and Caroline, it’s keeping me sane and motivated when I might have otherwise have gotten discouraged. I’m lucky to have a few other artists friends who have had successful R and D funding who have also offered to read my application over.
Some great news as well – Anne McNeil, director at Impressions Gallery – has agreed to be involved in the knowledge sharing part of the project – to write something for the publication and perhaps talk at one of the events. Anne is my dream photography expert, partly because of her work with Trish Morrissey (http://www.impressions-gallery.com/exhibitions/exh…) and Marjolaine Riley (http://www.impressions-gallery.com/exhibitions/exh…) at Impressions Gallery – both of whom have made great photographic work on the family – and also because of her background in community photography. Anne wrote a wonderful essay called ‘Secrets and Lies’ for the Trish Morrissey show ‘Seven Years’ – published in the catalogue which she kindly gave me a copy of recently (http://archive.balticmill.com/index.php?access=&it…)- and since then I’ve been hoping that she might be involved in my project. I’m really interested to read and hear her perspectives on the creative collaborations which will form the first part of the project and on photographic work around the family. The fact that Anne is from Glasgow, and grew up near to where Nana brought up her family, means that we have a shared cultural connection and understanding is just an extra bonus. I’m so delighted she said yes.
Right, on with this form then.
