Mentoring and Coaching Opportunity: Summer 2020

As a response to the Covid-19 situation, Gob Squad Arts Collective has secured an Emergency Grant from Arts Council of England to offer a new online Mentoring and Coaching opportunity for artists and collectives based in England to support their practice.

Who is this for? 
We believe this offer is best suited to artists/companies who create work collaboratively, in post dramatic theatre and/or interdisciplinary performance, with at least 2  years experience. We would like you to have an idea of how an external perspective from Gob Squad Arts collective would be a valuable support to your creative and business processes. We suggest that applicants have a look at Gob Squad’s website (www.gobsquad.com) in advance so you can assess if we would be a good ‘fit’ for you.  You don’t need to have seen our shows, but if you’re interested you can view a unique live 12 hour online performance on 20th June from 5pm UK time (6pm Berlin time). Tickets are available from 3 euros here.

As we have secured a grant to cover our costs this programme is free of charge. We particularly recognise the challenges that freelance/self-employed and underrepresented creatives are facing, and that there is currently limited opportunity to access practical support as the sector reconfigures itself to respond to an unknown future.  Therefore, we would hope to prioritise those companies who are not NPOs.

What does the programme consist of? 
Sarah Thom (Founder Member) and Ayla Suveren (Executive Producer) will offer 5 online sessions to each successful applicant (groups) between July – September.  We suggest that each group is a minimum of 2 people and for you to nominate a maximum of 4 people if your group is larger.  Exact content will be determined in consultation with successful applicants so we can understand how to best support people and provide a bespoke opportunity for learning and development.   We’ll provide the platform and we have a small budget to contribute towards anything that enables people with additional access requirements to participate.

We suggest that content may include:
Creating a common vision (of an artistic project, and/or as a company or collective endeavour)
Mutual authorship
Dynamic rehearsals
Collective responsibility
Generating material
Developing audience involvement
Site related work
‘Stuckness’ (artistically, personally and organisationally)
Organisational Development
Strategy and Planning
Uncertainty and resilience
Adapting to change and change management
We might set tasks in between sessions for you to put learning into practice and encourage you to bring real-world situations into the sessions.

The dates to note are:
w/c 6th July 1 hour online Inception meeting with Ayla and Sarah (we will arrange this with you at a mutually convenient time)
13th – 26th July 2 hour session with Sarah Thom
27th – 7th August 2 hour session with Sarah Thom
DATE TBC 2 hour session with Ayla Suveren (a mutually convenient time)
DATE TBC Final 2 hour session with Ayla Suveren (a mutually convenient time)

How do I apply?
The deadline for applications is 22nd June 1pm.
Please answer the questions below, keeping it brief with just a few sentences for each reply. Include a weblink so we can get a feel for your work and send to:
ayla@gobsquad.com

We intend for all our work to be accessible.  Please include any access requirements you may have so we can prepare our approach appropriately.

Questions:
• Please tell us briefly about your group, How many are you? How long have you been working together?
• Briefly list your UK (international) performance experience
• How do you think this programme can help you?
• What topics would you like to cover in the programme (artistic and business related)?
• What would you like to leave the programme with?

We look forward to hearing from you