The Future of Creative Work: Less Burnout, More Boundaries
Over the past two years, Super Culture has partnered with Creative Youth Network, Bath Spa University, Boomsatsuma, and MUTI to offer commissions to creatives aged 16 to 30. These opportunities have included creating new work, participating in online and in-person workshops with industry professionals, accessing networking opportunities, and undertaking paid work placements. The aim of the ambitious two-year programme was to open up the creative sector to a more diverse range of talent and to build a stronger creative network for young people in the West of England.
Most recently we joined Level 3 Art & Music students at Weston College to host two workshops around the power of collaborating across disciplines and artist self-care.
Led by artist and producer Karen Barry we explored practical tips to nurture a sustainable practice. Following the workshop Karen reflected:
“Working as an artist can mean that boundaries between your practice and your personal life can be blurry, and burnout can be common. When I was in arts education back in the late 1990’s, I don’t remember anyone advocating for self care practices, modelling good boundary setting or showing me ways to sustain my creative practice long term. Over the last few years, my practice has looked at how artists can better do all of these things, so it was brilliant to have the opportunity to speak with the students at Weston College about how to better take care of yourself as someone working in the creative industries. My hope is that a seed or two was planted with the students around the importance of setting firm boundaries and looking after themselves, so that the next generation of local artists know that self care is an essential part of their practice, not an afterthought.”
Karen also recommended Pause | A self-care support for Producers this resource offers a supportive lens on experiencing burnout through eight commissioned writings from producers, facilitators, and wellbeing specialists.
To coordinate this in-person workshop, we worked with long-standing Super Culture collaborator Ronnie Houselander-Cook, an artist, researcher and Lecturer in Art, Design and Communication at Weston College.
On the workshop, Ronnie commented, “This was an engaging workshop that encouraged collaboration between learners who had never met each other before. The facilitators were inclusive and friendly and made the session enjoyable for all”
Alongside our in-person and online workshops we also commissioned Creative Producing duo The Project People and emerging video editor Ollie Thistlewood to create bitesize videos aimed at equipping emerging artists with the tools to set yourself up as a freelancer. Available to access at any time from our instagram channel.
See upcoming Creative Futures workshops here