Create’s Nurturing Talent programme, which takes place over a year, gives emerging artists the opportunity to work as supporting artists on a range of Create projects, attend professional development training days and design and deliver their own Create workshop in a community setting. Each artist receives a bursary and commits to around 25 days across the year.
After a successful pilot programme between April 2016 and March 2017, made possible with a grant from The Queen’s Trust, Nurturing Talent has just kicked off its second year with a new group of six young artists.
Last year’s five Nurturing Talent artists told us about their experiences of working with Create’s participant groups, learning from Create’s professional artists and growing in confidence through the programme:
Christian Adofo, writer
“Nurturing Talent has helped me to think about leadership, flexibility and patience when running workshops. I am now taking ownership of what I’m doing and finding a ‘workshop persona’. The skills I’ve developed on Nurturing Talent are helping me to build my own workshop practice where I can help people find a sense of identity through writing.”
Camilla Greenwell, photographer
“It’s been such a wonderful year. I really trusted the group and we bonded immediately. I felt really supported by Create: the team is organised and everyone listens.
“It was helpful learning from other artists. They had varied workshop styles and were insightful and generous in sharing their ideas. I feel so much more confident and calm now when delivering workshops.
“Nurturing Talent has helped me to say ‘yes’ to opportunities and to know I can succeed when taking them.”
Cecilia Knapp, writer, performer and poet
“It’s great to be part of a community in the arts world as a freelancer and meet new artists – I’ve struck up friendships and built a support network. I felt comfortable enough to ask questions and all the artists made space for me to try things out and lead when it felt safe to do so.
“Working with the groups that Create works with over a chunk of time helped me understand the challenges they face in more depth and the variety of projects I was involved with meant I learned how to prepare different activities. It’s been an enormous learning experience and all the Create artists are amazing! I wouldn’t have gained access to those experiences and opportunities without Nurturing Talent.
“I’ve developed confidence and learnt about planning projects from Create’s meticulous planning meetings. I could plan a workshop and not be afraid to run it now.
Sara Macqueen, dancer and choreographer
“Nurturing Talent was an eye-opener. The people we worked with changed the way I teach. I learnt how to be sensitive to everyone in the room and how to change the way I facilitate and make a journey for participants, who come at learning in a different way from the people I’ve taught before. I now have more patience and a versatile approach to what is possible.
“My confidence in myself as an artist improved and my perspective on what success is has broadened. I learnt that small achievements, like someone joining in sitting in a circle, can be massive.”
Jack Pryor, theatre director
“Through Nurturing Talent I’ve learnt new ways of working and collaborated with new people. I’m now more confident in adapting to new situations and working in different ways with different groups. My comfort zone has been expanded and I’ve learnt about how to care for participants to make them feel safe and comfortable.
“I’ve learnt new facilitation skills that I use daily and have incorporated into my current job. These ideas keep my practice fresh and give me the confidence to develop my writing.”
The 2017/18 Nurturing Talent programme has been supported by Charles Lloyd-Jones, The National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies and The Queen’s Trust.