I have been offering artist support as PA for the past 5 years.
I am registered with Access To Work and Arts Council England to provide work aide for those with access needs.
I have also worked with artists without access needs to support their work and projects.
Support I have offered in the past, as examples:
- Long term: weekly sessions to continually manage ongoing arts practice (I currently work with two artists in this way).
- Short term: one-off periods or session to plan a specific project.
- Remote working: discussing or writing funding applications, proof reading text for publication, script formatting, transcribing, video and audio editing.
- Bookending: A day for prep and a day for debrief. This set up can help with a particulary complex project with many parts, and when evaluation and documentation are key.
- Event: Accompanying artists to an event to provide support, handle logistics and driving.
For this work I draw upon previous experience as an artist, producer, project manager and support worker roles. Each support relationship is different and bespoke to the artist’s work and needs. If you need support but unsure how this might look, we can have a conversation in which I will listen to you discuss your practice/project and any barriers or patterns of difficulty you usually encounter, then I will describe any relevant ways I have worked with people previously to help us design a strategy together. You may know exactly what you need, in which case, tell me.
I follow the Social Model of Disability, that states disability is created by the design of our society. Working in the arts is full of barriers to access, my support intends to remove or navigate these barriers so you can do your best work. Working in the arts is also extremely overwhelming, demanding and unstable, I believe all artists need support, and much of artists survival depends on artist designed ecosystems of peer support and exchange.