Artist and Illustrator Trina Dalziel is looking for your input and suggestions.
She’s producing an infographic diagram to show what support and funding is available for Northumberland artists.
When completed it will be permanently accessible here on the Culture Northumberland website. This project is funded by the Rural Challenge Grant via CreativeUK and North of the Tyne Authority.
Dear creative, artist, funder,
I’m designing an illustrated infographic diagram that places the visual artist in Northumberland at the centre and shows who the regional arts organisations and funding bodies are, how they relate to each other, what they provide from a visual artist’s perspective and how their value and output relates to us the artists in a very clear, colour coded and visually accessible way.
It will also, hopefully include a glossary of arts/community arts/ funding terms. There will be an initial small print run on paper, however its main function will be as a permanently accessible and regularly updated digital infographic that Northumberland visual artists can access easily to get an overview of the support available to us.
This activity builds on research from a workshop I facilitated in November 2022 that came about as a result of CreativeUK’s previous grant opportunity - the Freelancers’ Challenge Grant.
The workshop was attended by twelve North Northumberland visual artists (including designers/artists/painters/animators/illustrators/documentary filmmakers) to explore our knowledge and lack of knowledge around arts funding. One of the six things identified at the workshop was a need for clarity over who’s who and who does what within the funding bodies/arts organisations in the North East.
One of the other key findings was the sense that some of the vocabulary and acronyms in applications and organisations’ websites were initially unfamiliar to some artists,
hence the plan to include a glossary.
By sharing and amplifying this information we are making Northumberland a stronger, more creatively sustainable area to live and work from. By increasing awareness of what is available it shows there is a demand for funding and support in Northumberland and validates the funding bodies so they will be able to justify requesting more support that can then feed into the regional creative network.
I believe artists who feel the need to leave the creative industries and/or stop freelancing don’t lack creative abilities but it’s more due to lack of support, information and business knowledge. It’s frustrating to see there is support available in the North East for visual artists, but that we artists aren’t always aware of it, feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, or don’t have time to spend researching lots of dotted-around information. The idea is to have a place to go as an initial starting point.
I always remember the example of how having several shoe shops on one street was more successful for ALL the shoe shop businesses than having just one shop. ….
Creating demand and sharing resources helps strengthen the area as a creatively sustainable area to live and work in as a visual artist.
Please help me make this a rich and useful resource for all of us.
You can email me with suggestions of any organisations you are aware of that offer support to artists. Also any words/terms that have confused you, and any other thoughts. Put 'Funding Research' in the subject line.
Thank you.
Trina