The latest round of a-n’s Go and See bursary scheme has awarded 11 artists’ initiatives over £12,500.
The funds are designed to extend peer networks, improve knowledge exchange and foster new joint developments between artist-led groups. Awardees from across the country, including Preston, Southampton, Powys and Leicester, will receive between £500 and £1,500.
The Walking Reading Group, based in London, facilitates knowledge exchange through discussing texts while walking together. The funding will allow the group to visit Scotland and Cornwall to develop links, explore ways of collaborating with and learn from other artist-run projects and collectives working/walking in rural areas.
Post Post run the Birley Artist Studio and Project Space in Preston and will use the bursary to fund a research trip to artist-led studios and projects in Newcastle, Middlesbrough, York, and Leeds.
Steph Fletcher, who applied on behalf of the group, said: “This bursary will help us enormously in researching different scales of sustainable operation, partnership models, community relationships, programme co-ordination and creative use of vacant properties in the context of the modern city centre”.
Portsmouth-based collective Stair/Slide/Space will use the bursary to visit artists’ groups in Birmingham, Blackpool, Leicester and London. They will be investigating how other groups respond to local context, including how their programme is relevant to their locality, to inform the artistic direction of their own collaborative practice.
Ornamentum is a group of eight designer-makers from Leicestershire who for the last two years have worked together to support each other’s professional development and create new opportunities. They will use the bursary to visit other organisations and explore ways forward for the group.
Applying on behalf of the group, Ruth Singer said: “The time away from our day-to-day lives will be inspirational, it will enable us to reflect on our successes and make dynamic and creative plans for the future”.
The full list of awardees are: The Walking Reading Group (Ania Bas, London), Tracing the Pathway (Ashley Griffith, Bucks), Collective Creativity (Evan Ifekoya, London), AirSpace Gallery (Glen Stoker, Stoke-on-Trent), Stair/Slide/Space (Letty Clarke, Southampton), Primary (Rebecca Beinart, Nottingham), PEAK (Rebecca Spooner, Powys), The Disembodies Voice Society (Reuben Henry, London), Bristol Biennial (Rowan Lear, Bristol), Ornamentum (Ruth Singer, Leicester), Post Post CIC (Stephanie Fletcher, Preston).
Bursaries coming soon: Look out for Go and see: Venice Biennale and Re:view bursaries coming very soon.
The a-n bursaries programme has awarded over £49,000 to 57 artists over the last 12 months. The bursaries are part of a-n’s commitment to professional development within a programme that also includes information and networking sessions and seminar programme, online toolkits and practical guides.
Bursaries are open exclusively to a-n Artist members – for full details of other benefits, including access to £5m Public and Product Liability insurance, see the Join section.
