Developing a Peer Support Programme: Part One: Colchester Crit Collective

My plans to start a peer support programme started in 2018 while completing my MA Fine Art. The Professional Development module prompted me into action.

The rationale behind this decision was that after completing my BA Fine Art in 2016 I felt something of a creative isolation. Suddenly there was no-one to talk to about my practice and I felt as a result my work stopped progressing. In creating a creative support network, I hoped to develop my own art world (Tilley and Davis, 2016), of like-mined creatives. 

My focus was on the ‘art world’ rather than the ‘art market’ as I am more interested in the exchange of thoughts and ideas, than brute wealth (Thornton, 2009), as I felt that this would be more beneficial to my art practice and continued development - albeit, not as beneficial to my livelihood. However, the art world is larger than just the art market (Thornton, 2012).

I felt that there was a gap in the market for this kind of set-up based on my own lived experience. While Colchester plays host to many art groups, I had not found anything locally which put sharing ideas and feedback at its centre. 

Initially I started to develop Colchester Crit Collective, which brought together peer feedback and tea and cake. These sessions where hosted in a number of different cafes, as finding a free venue proved impossible. As the sessions where free to attend, there was no money to pay for venue hire. At this stage my lack of interest in money was doing the development of the sessions a disservice, as while I am interested in an meeting of minds, businesses are very much interested in the exchange for services for money. 

However, I felt that the groups being free was important and was also a common theme within my research (Thorne, 2012 and Madoff, 2009), just think, The Copenhagen Free Art School (Madoff, 2009).

The intention of Colchester Crit Collective was to create a group which would run regularly and give creatives a sense of stability and at its heart would focus on providing a supportive platform  for artists to show work, test ideas and receive critical feedback from their peers (Day, 2012), outside of an educational context.  Allowing creatives to develop their practices (Percy, 2004) and receive feedback opening the opportunity for development of work and possible collaborations and events (Davis and Tilley, 2016).

The Format 

·       Artists will be invited to join the monthly Colchester Crit Collective sessions–there is no commitment to attend all sessions (but it is encouraged!)

·       Sessions will take the form of an informal table discussion

·       Artists not showing works are encouraged to join and offer critique

Running Order

1. Start-Welcome and Introductions
2. Artists invited to layout work/documentation/ideas on the table
3. Group Discussion
4. End–Networking Opportunity

Showing Work

·       Artist are invited to bring work or work in progress to be critiqued and it is strongly recommended that artist have an aim for the session, such as questions they want answers to (in relation to how their work is developing, intent, content, use of materials, exhibiting etc.

As my Professional Development module came to an end the wheels started to come off Colchester Crit Collective, it had been successful in terms of creating a small community of creatives, attendees were encouraged to bring along their creative friends to expand the network (Bhandari and Melber, 2009). However, it was clear that expansion was needed to create something viable. 

Coming Soon

Developing a Peer Support Programme: Part Two: Creative Practitioner Support Programme

References

Bhandari, H. D. and Melber, J. (2009) ART/WORK: Everything You Need to Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career. FreePress; Original ed.

Davis, R. and Tilley, A. (2016) What they didn’t teach you in art school: What you need to know to survive as an artist. Ilex.

Day. P. (2012) The Are Group Crit: How do you make a firing squad less scary? [online] Available at: arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/the-art-group-crit-how-do-you-make-a-firing-squad-less-scary. [accessed 30/01/20].

Madoff, S. H. (2009) Art School: Propositions for the 21st century. MIT Press.

Thornton, S. (2012) Seven Days in the Arts World. GrantaBooks.

Tilley, A. and Davis, R. (2016) What They Didn't Teach You in Art School: How to Survive as an Artist in the Real World. Ilex Press; 01 Edition.