Pier Peers: Artist Development Programme
Artist Opportunity: Open Call to Participate in a new Artist Development Programme
Pier Projects are collaborating with arts writer and coach Ellen Mara De Wachter to offer a free artist development programme.
Pier Peers will support the creative development of a diverse group of artists living and working within the East of England (Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk).
Beginning in June and taking place over six months, this bespoke programme will consist of group activities, individual coaching, and workshops tailored to the participants’ needs.
Pier Peers foregrounds practices that support personal and community resilience. It prioritises a holistic approach to creativity with three main strands:
Embodied creativity
Self-awareness
Collaborative dynamics
The programme is led by arts writer, coach and mentor, Ellen Mara De Wachter with support and input from artists, writers and practitioners. Thematically it connects to Pier Projects’ concurrent programme, ‘Views from Convalescent Hill: the Heritage of Rest, Wellbeing and Care in Felixstowe’.
Pier Peers Overview
The group will meet regularly over six months, both online and in person in Felixstowe: the coastal town within which Pier Projects’ work is rooted.
The programme comprises:
Group activities:
Creative work sharing sessions
Group critical feedback sessions
Group meals
Workshops devised to meet participants’ goals and needs
Coaching:
Each participant will receive one-to-one coaching with Ellen Mara De Wachter, a qualified Relational Dynamics coach who specialises in working with artists
Workshops:
Embodied creativity workshop
Writing workshop with arts writer Ellen Mara De Wachter
A workshop devised with the participants in response to their goals and needs
WHO CAN APPLY?
Visual artists or arts practitioners based in the East of England, by which we refer to those living and working in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
REQUIREMENTS
A commitment and motivation to invest time, effort and attention in your creative self-development
At least five years of artistic practice outside of study
Able to attend group sessions online
Able to travel to Felixstowe to attend three in-person gatherings lasting either half a day or a full day each (dates TBC, these will likely take place on Saturdays)
WHY APPLY
The themes and holistic approach to professional development appeal to you and resonate with your practice
You would like to be part of a supportive group and would benefit from peer-to-peer relationships
You believe your practice needs space and / or time to pause, recalibrate or reconnect
You would embrace one-to-one coaching
STRUCTURE AND TIMINGS
Friday 5 April: Applications Open
Friday 26 April, 5pm: Deadlines for Applications
Monday 20 May: Cohort Announced
June - end of November: One-to-One Online Coaching. To be booked with Ellen Mara De Wachter. Participants should have their first session before the first gathering in July.
June - end of November: Three in-person gatherings. Likely to take place on Saturdays dates tbc. There will be a break across the month of August.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, we invite you to respond to the following questions. You may also submit links to your work.
What interests you about Pier Peers? Please describe why you want to take part in the programme and how its content and structure would benefit you and your creative practice. (max. 200 words)
What aspects of your creative practice would you like to develop in the short term (over the next six-ten months)? Please outline 2-3 specific goals for your creative practice in the short term. (max 200 words)
What aspects of your creative practice would you like to develop in the longer term (over the next five years)? Please outline 2-3 specific goals for your creative practice in the longer term. (max 200 words)
What would you benefit from the most in an artist development programme at this time? Please identify one practical aspect of your practice around which you would like to receive advice, training or guided practice. (max 150 words)
Please share your answers either as:
One PDF: maximum three pages, with the following title; FullName_ADP_PP
OR
By video application, maximum seven minutes in length with the following title; FullName_ADP_PP
Please apply via email to pierprojectsopportunities@gmail.com
Deadline is 5pm 26 April 2024.
Pier Peers is generously funded by Arts Council England as part of an 18-month programme of activity delivered by Pier Projects.
Ellen Mara De Wachter (she/her) is a writer, coach, and yoga and meditation teacher based in London. Ellen is an experienced mentor who has worked with artists, writers and other creative professionals in the UK and internationally. She is a Relational Dynamics coach, working with artists and creatives in a one-to-one and group capacity. Ellen is a contributor to publications including frieze, Art Monthly, Art Quarterly, Tate, Etc., The World of Interiors and The White Review. Her first book ‘Co-Art: Artists on Creative Collaboration’ (Phaidon, 2017) explores the phenomenon of collaboration in the visual arts and its potential in society at large. Her latest book, ‘More Than The Eyes: Art, Food and the Senses’, (Atelier Éditions/D.A.P., 2024) considers the ways in which food, when used as a material in contemporary art, confronts, subverts and ultimately brings us to our senses. www.ellenmaradewachter.com
FAQ
What are you looking for?
We are looking for a diverse cohort of artists and arts practitioners who will bring a range of lived experience, perspectives and artistic approaches. Participants will be able to demonstrate the timeliness of this opportunity for their practice, a commitment to their professional development and a keenness to shape the first iteration of the programme through collaboration and mutual support with the other participants.
How will the applications be assessed?
We are working with a diverse selection panel largely living and working in the East who bring a range of professional practices and lived experiences of the themes of the programme.
Will you be offering feedback?
Yes, we will be offering feedback by email to all applicants who request it.
Where will the in-person sessions take place?
They will take place in Felixstowe in a centrally located venue.
I have not had formal art training. Can I still apply?
Yes, we welcome applications from those who have not undertaken study within the arts and who have come to their practice though less typical routes.
I have access needs. How will I be supported?
We are committed to making this opportunity open to all. In your application, please let us know what you need to take part in this programme
How will one-to-one coaching take place?
These sessions will be with Ellen Mara De Wachter. They will take place online, with the dates and times booked directly by participants.
Is there a fee to attend?
No, this programme is free to participate.