INTO THE WILD 2021/22 CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS  

We are now inviting applications for Into the Wild 2021/22 – a free, alternative artist development programme for recent BA graduates and those at a similar stage in their creative practice. Let’s re-wild the art world together!

Are you wondering how to keep your practice alive after the effects of the pandemic?
Have the lockdowns and isolating got you craving new inspiration and a new group of peers?
Do you have big questions about the way things seem to be run in ‘the art world’?
Want to learn how to ‘do it yourself’, make things happen and develop your art practice?

We are looking for artists who are open, good at listening, supportive of others, and interested in conducting critical and meaningful discussions with their peers. You should have a desire to nurture your own development, to inject your practice with new inspiration and engage in this year-long programme.

Ten artists will be selected for the programme, covering a range of practices and perspectives. Artists selected will be expected to commit fully to the programme, approximately equivalent to 1 day per week of your time.

Who can apply:

Practicing artists based in England who have completed arts based BA degree courses at least 1 year ago, but less than 4 years ago (2018, 2019, 2020 graduates). We will also consider artists who don’t have an arts BA but have undertaken an equivalent level of training/education, or are at the same stage in their careers i.e. you have been making and sharing your own work for at least 4 years. We will not consider artists who are studying for or have completed an MA, or another similar alternative arts development programme recently.

Into the Wild specifically seeks to address the inequality that exists within access to development opportunities in the arts. There is an emphasis on underrepresented voices and those that feel they are facing barriers in access to opportunities to develop. For example, this could be associated with race, disability, age, gender identity, sexuality or class, or other intersecting economic, social or geographic barriers. We aim to recruit 50% of participants from outside of London.

We encourage applicants who identify as disabled to send us their access riders along with their applications.

About the Programme 

Through talks, activities, group crits, workshops and mentoring by artists and cultural workers, you will be empowered to explore, or breathe life into your practice. Contributors to the programme include Raju Rage (artist), Marsha Bradfield (artist, curator, educator, Precarious Workers Brigade), Emma Edmonson (artist, educator, The Other MA), Bella Milroy (artist), and LOW PROFILE (artist duo, educators, curators) as well as Chisenhale Studio artists Dominique White and Jeremy Hutchison. More to be confirmed.

Following the taught course, artists in the programme will be given support and a group budget to lead your own series of activities for one another. Additionally you will receive 1:1 mentoring, opportunities to contribute to MESH Wiki online resource for emerging artists in the UK, present work at Chisenhale Studios and Grow Hackney, as well as encouragement to create self-led projects and events.

This year there will be additional mentoring for artists of colour from Bolanle Tajudeen, the founder of Black Blossoms. There will also be mentoring for artists that identify as disabled from Zuleika Lebow, artist, cultural producer and founder of Chronic Creatives. Into the Wild is led by artist Sophie Chapman and Chisenhale Studios’ Artist Development Coordinator Rosie Hermon.

There is no fee required to participate in or apply to Into the Wild.

Dates  

Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 September 2021 and every other Monday between 4 October and 24 January 2022 (11am to 5pm daily), with a break over the Christmas holidays. In the second part of the programme, between January and July, activities will become more self-led, and therefore time dedicated to the programme will be decided both on an individual basis and in conversation with the rest of the group.

Accessibility

Please see the link to Open Call below for more detailed information about how we are supporting access needs.

We understand that participation looks different for different people – we are imagining a blended programme of online and offline engagement. The day-long intensives will take place primarily at Chisenhale Studios, but can also be recorded/streamed where appropriate.

The programme is based in the ground floor Education Room at Chisenhale Studios, Chisenhale Art Place, 64-84 Chisenhale Rd, London E3 5QZ. Chisenhale Studios education room is fully wheelchair accessible and has an accessible, gender neutral toilet. There will also be occasional travel to other local sites and paid trips outside of London, which we will give notice of well in advance.

We will have an ongoing dialogue with anyone with specific access needs about how to support you throughout the year. There is a bursary available to support access requirements for disabled and neurodiverse participants.

Travel: To encourage non-London based artists to apply we offer a small travel bursary fund to artists travelling from beyond Greater London.

We continue to follow COVID-19 social distancing and mask wearing measures and will adapt the programme as needed, such as moving activities online. All online activities on the programme will be accompanied with closed caption software, recorded and made available to watch as well afterwards.

Wild Associates

This year we are initiating ‘Wild Associates’, open to all those that apply to Into the Wild 2021/22. As part of the Wild Associates programme we will organise online meet-ups, initiate creative exercises and share resources. This expanded group will connect with the core group for the final sharing event to celebrate the programme end.

How to apply:  

Please follow this link to the full Open Call document for further information about the programme and details on how to apply.

Deadline: midnight Sunday 15  August 2012.

If you have any questions about applying, email rosie@chisenhale.co.uk by 9 August 2021. 

 

Image: A collection of quotes from previous Into the Wild participants:

“Fierce. Enlightening. Enduring”,  “helped me to plant the seeds for the next few projects I’m working on”,  “we were able to influence and shape the programme as we experienced it”,  “it demonstrated the multitude of routes that an artists could take; that it wasn’t a one-size-fits-all scenario”,  “I’ve learned a lot, made friends and contacts, and become more motivated to push my practice again”,  “the chance to build a very supportive and honest network of peers has been really valuable”,  “it felt really supportive and like we were building connections and a community, along with the amazing workshops with artists and speakers”,  “the feeling of faking it has dissolved somewhat into the feeling that you actually are all those things, and that its been good to have a space to talk about the difficulties sometimes”,  “I think that the programme’s emphasis on alternative ways of navigating the art world/art practice has been really eye opening”,  “I feel it’s been particularly helpful for me as an artist from an area outside of London to be able to meet people from around the country and experience the workings of the art world in London and elsewhere. Which was only a possibility for me because of the programme and the support/funding that accompanied it”,  ‘”the sense of connection with the group didn’t change whatever way I chose to interact with the sessions”,  “it challenged me to consider what it is I want to do and how I want to do it. It did this in a really constructive way through showing us various ways of how artists support themselves logistically and how we might do so going forward, but more so by exploring various contexts that each artist brought with their presentations and exercises”