Between October 2018 and January 2019 Festival of Thrift, Creative Fuse and Navigator North presented an exciting opportunity for artists and creative, cultural or digital businesses working in the Tees Valley Region to take part in a short programme called C O L L I D E R S C O P E.
In 2018, supported by Tees Valley Combined Authority, Festival of Thrift initiated a programme of commissions – Viewpoints – aimed at encouraging artists to engage with ideas of sustainability and to create work which would provide a viewpoint on a related issue and / or be located at a viewpoint in the Tees Valley.
For 2019, as part of the run up to a Tees Valley bid for City of Culture 2025 the Festival aimed to develop the project to embed artists within regional low carbon industries, sharing knowledge, ideas and skills.
VIEWPOINTS is a national call out, but prior to the commissions there was an exciting opportunity for creative, cultural or digital businesses and sole traders working in the Tees Valley Region to develop pitching skills, upscale work, work bigger, test out new materials and push their practice in new directions
The programme offered –
- Hearing and learning from artists and curators with experience in presenting work in the public realm and non-gallery spaces and the joys and pitfalls of working in an industrial context.
- Insights to develop practice around materials and fabrication with support from experts in the field of materials research, engineering and manufacturing
- Visits to Tees Valley manufacturers and fabricators
- 8 hours of mentoring to develop ideas, products and creative practice from Creative Industry experts
- Artist Innovation Workshop, which included; meeting commissioner’s needs, making effective pitches, promotion, protecting ideas and costing and pricing work
- Free secure cloud storage and access to the newly established Creative Fuse online hub of resources
- Networking online with the wider Creative Fuse Tees Valley community of creative, cultural, heritage and technology freelancers and SMEs
- A shareable online portfolio
- Shared learning from Viewpoints 2018 commissions
Creative and fabrication experts included –
- Elena Gifford from National Festival of Making
- Chris Beck from TWI
- Judith King and Andrea Hawkins from Arts and Heritage
Mentors –
- Stephanie Allen, Arts and Heritage
- Elena Gifford from National Festival of Making
- Vicky Holbrough and Nicola Golightly Navigator North
Selected artists –
- Suzie Devey
- Danielle Boucher
- Diane Watson
- AJ Garrett
- Annie O’Donnell
- Deb Covell
- Joanne Coates
- Namita Vijayakumar
- BloomInArt Northeast CIC – Emma Wheetman & Rachel Laycock
- Carol Newmarch
- Hannah Campion
- Kev Howard