30th-31st March 2020

So we still haven’t heard back about the funding –‘ they’ chucked another hoop for us to jump through yesterday, so frustrating.

This is a completely new experience for me, and I’m finding it way more tedious than I was expecting. I think I had quite a romantic view of the ‘Art World’, that you’d develop these amazing concepts and there would be a stream of investors willing to fund your dreams.

The reality is that if you’re a freelancer – there are no certainties. You could spend months weaving a rug, only for it to be pulled from under you by a consolation email. So much time wasted on plans that were never believed in enough to be realised.

There’s a survivalist mentality which develops over time – it’s kind of like a hippie version of The Hunger Games.

The system is geared to turn the profession into a competition, but perhaps that’s true of most things in our society. We play this game to sell ourselves, but what happens when we lose? The insecurity of the system leaves us vulnerable, no guarantees, no insurance, no fall back. And this was before Covid-19.

The problem is – in order to make something – you need money. There are limits to what you can achieve without it. Unfortunately Art isn’t deemed as an essential service – I doubt you’ve got many creatives classed as key workers.

But when you really think about it - what would humanity be without art?

What is interesting is I’m discovering how inaccessible the art scene can be. Without basic funds and equipment it can be a struggle to even get a proposal written. It took a week of flat out graft to get that document together – with a laptop literally blowing itself up in defeat part way through. ‘They’ have asked for various amendments since submission which we’ve willingly done. The latest being to convert the budget into an excel spreadsheet – so we had to spend £80 on a new license to allow us access to professional templates.

To me it just feels like unnecessary faff and a frustrating waste of time. I now have one week until I start my nursing post.

Tick tock.

Irrelevant of the funding we have been cracking on with the project. Amazingly it is really starting to take off, our creative community is beginning to build and there is a wonderful warm vibe to it.

Even if we struggle to realise the full potential of our plans, I know we have started something wonderful and much needed for our City. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed though – there is so much potential and an amazing opportunity to support local freelancers not just artistically, but also financially.

It would be such a shame for ‘them’ to waste it.