Various Roles: Culture Central
2024
Consultant: Widening Engagement Research
The brief is to develop a strategy and approach for them to widen their regional engagement, including:
• Analysing Culture Centrals current engagement in its programmes, events and membership; identifying gaps in engagement across geography, art form, individuals and scale of organisations who engage.
• Consulting with the wider sector on the Culture Central offer and its relevance to them.
• Understanding key regional networks and infrastructure for the regions cultural sector.
• Developing a strategy to enable Culture Central to widen its reach across the region
• Identifying and instigating opportunities for Culture Central to develop partnerships, and
share their programmes and activity in priority areas, this could be presenting at conferences, identifying networks to connect with, or creating people and place specific events and communications.
• Advising on our communications planning and activity to widen engagement
2023
Consultant & Facilitator on Business Development: Creative City Legacy Development Programme
For the rest of 2023, I’ll be working again with Culture Central to explore ways to support Creative City Grantees based on learnings from the Birmingham 2022 Festival evaluation and legacy outcomes. Based on these learnings, a programme has been shaped and I am one of 3 consultants working with a wonderful group of arts organisations from across the city. The programme is designed to support their medium-term goals and equip them with the tools they need to thrive in the cultural sector.
For this programme we are excited to be using the ‘Action Learning’ methodology, a powerful tool used by leading consultants for developing creative solutions and innovative practices. (Learn more about Action Learning here).
The programme is structured around 3 key strands of support, and I am leading BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: expanding and growing work/models to more people in more places. Taking something supported by festival and building on the investment.
I will share more as the programme evolves!
2023
Research Co-Design, Study Participant & Co-Creator: Culture Central & University of Warwick’s ‘What Do You Do All Day’
I’ve been working with Dr.Chris Bilton & Dr. Anthony Ruck to co-design a new research project aimed at building a picture of creative freelancers lived experiences! Read more about the research project as it is now live and I am tracking my days. The initial findings of this research were shared with us (the 6 freelance participant sample) and it was super interesting! We hope this will be shared with the cultural sector later in the summer. It was certainly an enlightening process tracking my time, hour by hour, to really understand what I do all day. A key thing for me to arise was the notion of ‘professional autonomy’ - something I’m going think about in relation to my personal brand and time management. Keep an eye on the Culture Central website for when the findings go public.
Image: Findings session led by University of Warwick research team at Culture Central offices (photo by Naomi Bennett)
2022
Network Lead: Coventry & Warwickshire: Convene, Challenge, Connect
I worked with Culture Central, as part of their Sector Development Programme funded by Birmingham 2022 Festival called Convene, Challenge, Connect West Midlands (click the link to read about it).
As local Network Lead, I held a freelancer-focused CONNECT Network Skill-sharing, Exchange & Collaboration Day on Thursday 13th October 2022 as well as hosted a CONVENE webinar focused on Alternative Revenue Streams, Fundraising and Bid-writing for freelancers. The link to view that webinar is on YouTube, accessed & viewable below.
2018-2019
Project & Development Manager: Dance Hub Birmingham
I worked for Culture Central delivering the £5m Treasury investment programme formerly called Dance Hub Birmingham, developing the dance sector across the city region in Birmingham and also across wider Culture Central projects.