Embracing Possibilities: Call for Participants for New Pilot Project in the North West

Deadline to respond with an expression of interest is 5pm on Monday 1 August 2022 

CVAN England’s Fair and Equitable programme and CVAN North West are piloting Embracing Possibilities, a paid peer-led professional development project for 10 artists and arts workers from marginalised and under-represented communities* based in the North West who are passionate about climate justice, health & wellbeing and place-making and would like to grow their local networks.

Embracing Possibilities involves skills-sharing at an in person day-long gathering in Blackpool on Tuesday 16 August 2022 and a follow-up online session in Autumn 2022.

CVAN North West invites artists and arts workers at any stage in their career who are interested in peer-exchange and peer-learning to respond with an expression of interest by 5pm on Monday 1 August 2022. 

The in person gathering in Blackpool on 16 August will focus on skills-sharing and peer-learning, with participants sharing skills, knowledge, experience and insights with each other in order to develop stronger local and regional networks. There will be an opportunity for the group to have a further follow-up online session in Autumn 2022 focusing on the North West context and the development of their own local networks.

*CVAN North West defines artists and arts workers from marginalised and underrepresented communities as especially those from Global Ethnic Majority backgrounds, those who identify as D/deaf, disabled or neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+ and from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

How to apply

Please respond to the expressions of interest questions via this google form by 5pm on Monday 1 August 2022. 

You can also email your responses to fairandequitable@cvan.art or send a video/audio recording of no more than 5 minutes in length. CVAN North West will not assess the production quality if you choose to apply using audio or video recording.

If you are applying via audio or video recording, please email fairandequitable@cvan.art with your Name, postal address, email address, phone number and website/ online link to your work.

CVAN North West is asking all applicants to fill in an equal opportunities monitoring form. As they are aiming to increase the diversity and representation of the cohort participating in this project it is helpful for them to reference equalities data. They will look at equalities data as part of their selection process.

The in person gathering will take place at a wheelchair accessible venue. If you have access requirements please include these in your application.

If you require assistance in applying – please email fairandequitable@cvan.art

CVAN North West is currently developing a stronger voice across the agendas of climate justice, place-making and health and wellbeing and they aim to develop further opportunities to bring the cohort’s voices into CVAN North West’s work with the newly appointed creative producers.

Embracing Possibilities is part of the pilot year (September 2021- September 2022) of CVAN England’s Fair and Equitable programme and the programme’s report ‘Fostering Equity in the Visual Arts’ that highlighted the importance of self-organised professional development activity, particularly peer networks, for artists and arts workers.