“MENTAL HEALTH IS A HUGE TOPIC.”; “ IT’S HARD TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT, OR SUPPORT VULNERABLE LOVED ONES WHILE FORGING A CAREER.”
“THEY SHOULD BE MORE CAUTIOUS; WHO ARE YOU TARGETING AND WHO ARE YOU SCARING AWAY WITH YOUR WORDS.”; “WE INVEST ENERGY, TIME AND EMOTION INTO TRYING TO GET IN.”; “IF YOU DON'T GET FEEDBACK YOU WON'T REAPPLY - IT’S MASSIVELY DAMAGING.”; “IT PROBABLY GETS BETTER ONCE YOU GET YOUR FOOT THROUGH THE DOOR. BUT HOW DO YOU GET YOUR FOOT THROUGH THE DOOR?”; “THE PEOPLE WHO HOLD THE KEY TO FUNDING WILL ONLY OFFER IT TO ESTABLISHED ARTISTS WHO CAN OFFER A RICH PORTFOLIO OF PROFESSIONAL WORK WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ARTISTS WHO ARE STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY OR AT AN ENTRY LEVEL IN THEIR CAREER.”
People face different struggles and can’t just be reduced to fit in a box. Racism isn’t the only barrier we face. We are not just ‘ethnically diverse artists’. We are working class, queer, some of us have struggled in formal education, have been raised by single parents, or experienced childhood poverty. Some of us are carers or young parents. Some of us struggle to pay our rent or bills. Some of us are stressed out and could have better mental health. It is difficult to focus on developing a creative career when urgent problems, such as financial or health challenges, demand our attention. Many routes into the sector still involve free or underpaid labour, such as volunteering and unpaid placements. Entrance level jobs and funding opportunities are not set up to realistically compensate for the income we miss out on when working on creative projects. If you have a child or relative to care for, stability is a necessity, not an option. And so our creative ambitions are pushed to the sideline while we juggle responsibilities and work commitments. Writing applications and researching opportunities takes time and effort, and many of us struggle with the bureaucracy of application procedures. We need support and the opportunity to buy time, and focus.
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