Guerilla Retreat
Creative workshop
This retreat is designed to revitalise, inspire and tone artists who are interested in taking a weekend out to re-examine or re-define the politics of their practice as the first step to assessing their current skills base. To be eligible to participate, an artist has to identify at least one issue or idea they feel strongly about. This is the starting point of the retreat – the micro-lectures, brown bag workshops and strategic planning sessions all follow from this central focus.
Developed as part of ‘DIY’ with funding from Live Art Development Agency, Artsadmin, New Work Network and London Arts.
Participants Responses
“I believe that ‘DIY for artists’ is a really productive form of training, as it is so specifically tailored to what I need. I’ve been on many training courses before but none that felt so relevant to me. To carry on the tailoring analogy – it’s the difference between a bespoke suit and an off the peg outfit! I got so much out of the retreat – it was a real booster creatively. The spirit of sharing amongst the group was a powerful tonic, and made it a really comfortable environment in which to ask questions and discuss ideas without feeling foolish. I picked up so much new information and am already applying it to my work! By far the most fruitful/enjoyable two days training I’ve had to date!”
– Clare Thornton
“As an ’emerging’ artist in a Live Art context it was wonderful to meet warm, funny, intelligent, generous, caring and committed artists – a reflection of Helen and Leslie’s reputation, the training design and hopefully the live art scene in general. I felt before the weekend that I was reaching a new point of arrival but as one participant so sharply put it, I was still hanging out in immigration. I really feel the weekend has given me the rubber stamp in my passport to actually get out and explore the new place confidently. It really has been like a key to a door maybe I was a little wary of fully opening.”
– Anita McKeowen
“Helen and Leslie managed to create an open environment where artists of different levels of experience were able to share experiences and support each other. This doesn’t always happen when artists get together… I found it really invigorating to be in such a caring and non-competitive space.”
– Gini Simson