Creative Practitioner Support in Shetland

How Shetland Arts supports artists:

• Financial

  • Shetland Arts contract a variety of practitioners to lead workshops, tutor students, participate in projects, stock their products and provide opportunities to perform.

  • VACMA (Visual Artist Craft Maker Awards) is open twice a year providing grants to help practitioners with their professional development; whether that is training, exploring new techniques & materials, attending courses, helping with production costs etc.

  • Remembering Together, one of our latest commissions, saw us give a total of £70,000 in support to 9 different practitioners.

  • We have worked together to deliver wide-reaching Culture Collective projects across the 3 Scottish island groups. We recently advertised for 5 roles to continue working towards the ongoing support of island based creatives.

  While resources are limited, we aim to continue to explore new funding avenues and ensure we are involved when opportunities arise.

• Access to Facilities

  • We are currently in the process of redesigning our recording studio to create hire by the hour live rooms complete with instruments, PA systems, etc.

  • We are supporting the council with the Knab Redevelopment which aims to repurpose the original Anderson High School building, creating a hub for innovation; studio and fabrication facilities for artists and makers, a space for a gallery, performance, meetings & projects, a photographic darkroom, paint recycling facility, a tool library and offices.

  • We have introduced Singer Songwriter Nights, open to anyone to come and perform once a month, free of charge. A similar event for bands is currently being developed with ambitions to go live in Autumn.

• Training & Workshops

  • We currently offer two ‘Application Writing’ workshops for VACMA annually, however the advice is transferable to any funding application.

  • We recently ran a fully booked, free ‘Photographing Your Work for Exhibitions’ event in March and we will be programming more workshops to help advance creative business practice.

  • Our programme includes regular Creative Labs to help with artistic and professional development. Our recent Life Drawing workshops were a big hit and sold out very quickly. Previous labs have included Printmaking, Sound Tech and Ceramics.

  • You can access free, self-paced e-learning Upskilling Courses designed to support creative practitioners in their professional development on our website.

  • We run higher education courses and the majority of our BA and MA students are adult pratitioners looking to upskill or formalise their work experience into qualifications.

  • We also offer 1-2-1 sessions which can be used to discuss a creative idea or a funding application. These can also be used to explore ways in which Shetland Arts could provide in-kind support to an artist's funding application. Contact our Creative Project Manager Kathryn ([email protected]) for more information.

• Showcasing work

  • Bonhoga is in the process of a much needed refurbishment to secure its future in giving local artists a place to showcase and sell their work.

  • Our latest exhibition, Dispecta Est Thule by local artist Dave Donaldson, is a photography exhibition commissioned by Shetland Arts.

  • While Bonhoga is being refurbished, we are exploring ways to utilise the space within Mareel to create more exhibitions.

  • Two of our recent VACMA (Visual Arts and Crafts Maker Awards) recipients will create new bodies of work, resulting in exhibitions with our support.

  • We are currently programming a new series of Artist Gatherings, artists will be invited to share their work and discuss with their peers. We will be doing a call out soon for artists that may be interested in facilitating this alongside us.

  • We supported 6 island based artists for an Artist Led project which resulted in Even Here, Even Now - a manifesto celebrating island-based arts, their impact and advocates for transformative change. We recently advertised for 5 roles to ensure the visibility and progression of the manifesto, so that it is recognised at a national level.