THE PROGRAMME

Annual Meeting Point for Migrant and Culturally Diverse Artists online series 

Sessions

Topics

Speakers

Link

One

Arts Funding Schemes

Monika Sapielak

Open Forum

Two

Arts Funding Schemes

Denise Shannon
Monika Sapielak

Three

Being a Professional Artist

Nicola Anthony

Nicola will look at a number of facets that go into being recognised as a Professional Artist. These include:

• Professional – how to show you are serious…

• Thinking like an entrepreneur – not like a starving artist!
• Running your studio like a business and valuing your time fairly
• Having a strategy to anchor and steer you – 5 and 10 year plans, envisioning the future you and acting like it now.
• Assets to show you are professional – CV, portfolio, website, good communications, business cards,
• Professional accreditation / memberships
• Taking the art-world stigma away from ideas like: Brand, selling, being ‘commercial’, marketing

• Building a professional network

• Networking – what to do if it doesn’t come naturally
• What to do in times of social distancing – opportunities to make use of
• Online networks: Social media
• Giving to your network, having a generous spirit

• Reputation and recognition – things that help you climb the ladder

• Competitions & Awards
• Exhibitions for your CV, beginning with group shows, aiming for your higher targets
• Funding and sponsors
• Books & publications
• Press coverage
• Keeping a consistent sense of identity

After the talk, Nicola will be happy to answer your questions in a Q/A.

Nicola Anthony is a Professional artist known for metal text sculptures and burned paper drawings, which give glimpses into the effects of displacement, migration, and intergenerational trauma. She focuses her research on untold narratives, collective memory, and life stories.

Four

Let’s talk, you are not alone. Well-being for Artists

Claire Morrissey
Margaret Dorgan

With mental health and well-being such big topics in the arts and creative sector we invited two speakers for the session

Claire Morrissey, co-founder of The Cowshed a peer to peer health support group for the professional arts, live entertainment, tv and film sectors and Margaret Dorgan, Founder of Love Your Work & Catalyst Coaching.

Claire Morrissey – a Production Designer with extensive experience in the television, film and theatre industries, special live events and live music concerts.

Claire co-founded The Cowshed in 2019 to develop a peer to peer health support group for the professional arts, live entertainment, tv and film sector – a diverse sector which intersects because we all work passionately with commitment.

The Cowshed’s message is Let’s Talk – You Are Not Alone. https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-cowshed-website-appeal

Margaret Dorgan – Founder – Love Your Work & Catalyst Coaching, Executive Coach & Communications Specialist

Margaret will give a talk and run a series of practical exercises that will help you to:

• Assess your personal stress levels
• Learn practical coping strategies
• Share personal challenges and experiences
• Discuss Mental wellbeing
• Think positively
• Sustain self-care when faced with challenges

On completion of this Training Module Participants will be supported to:

• Set Healthy Boundaries
• Learn to respond as opposed to react
• Develop Healthy support Habits
• Lead with Emotional Intelligence

After the talks, Claire and Margaret will be happy to answer your questions in a Q/A.

Monika from CFCP will be moderating the session.

Claire is co-founder of The Cowshed a peer to peer health support group for the professional arts, live entertainment, tv and film sectors and Margaret is Founder of Love Your Work & Catalyst Coaching.

Five

Pop-up Shops for artists : Alternative Opportunities

Michael Ward

POP-UP Shop Helper

“An innovative product to help those in the creative/artistic sector to make the transition from creativity to commercialization.”

Michael will present the Pop Up Shop Helper Project (PUSH) An EU funded Erasmus+ multilateral project.

This project addresses the priorities to promote entrepreneurship education and social entrepreneurship among members of the creative/artistic community.

For artists who are already faced with low job security and the absence of company benefits such as pensions or paid holidays, the impact of any economic shock is keenly felt.’

The statistics make for uncomfortable reading. Almost a third of visual and applied artists earn less than 6,000Eur a year from their creative work, according to a survey conducted by Artists’ Interaction and Representation (AIR); 57% of the 1,457 respondents said that less than a quarter of their total income was generated by their art practices and only 16% of them paid into a private pension fund, raising questions about how professional artists will support themselves once they reach retirement age.

The PUSH course is designed to help and encourage creative people in the arts and crafts sector to be entrepreneurs in the creative arts.

The training provided is specifically focused on how to set up a pop-up shop, thereby teaching business skills and encourage innovative thinking and entrepreneurship.

What is a ‘Pop-Up Shop’?

A “pop-up shop” is a short-term, temporary retail event that is “here today, gone tomorrow”. Pop-up retail is the temporary use of physical space to create a long term, lasting impression with potential customers.

Why ‘Pop-Up Shops’?

Pop-Up shops and Pop-Up Galleries are particularly suited to the creative and arts sector.

The short term nature of the pop-up allows the artist/entrepreneur to try out a retail/work space as a testing process before committing to it on a more permanent contract. It also gives an opportunity to test out a new product or a specific idea on the public. For a start-up it offers a way of generating new income during the initial first phase of the business. Pop-up shops can be a great way of creating a buzz and generating publicity about your brand or business. Most importantly Pop-Up Shop can help the entrepreneur to experience real world commercialization and learn fundamental business skills.

Michael Ward is Manager at Mullingar Employment Action Group (MEAG). MEAG is a community supported ‘not for profit’ organisation which was established in 1986, and formally registered as a company in 1990. The sole focus of MEAG is to support employment and start-up enterprise.

Michael spent 20 years as an Engineer in the Manufacturing sector before starting his own business, and ultimately transitioning to the community sector to work with fledging companies. An experienced project manager, he has 10 years experience developing and managing EU Multilateral projects. Michael holds qualifications in Engineering, Project Management, Business and Finance.

Six

The Arts Council: Arts Participation and Funding

Ann O’Connor