Cahoots

What will I do in the program?

You will be one of eight artists that take part in fortnightly workshops on Monday nights in Canberra, from April to November 2022.

These workshops will involve critical discussions, sharing of individual work and practice, collaboration exercises, creative producing exercises and activities designed to form a community that can effectively critique and support each other’s art.

Outside of the workshops, the You Are Here producers will meet with you to further clarify and work on your individual development goals. We can also facilitate other collaborative and mentor relationships for you if that suits your needs.

Throughout the program, you will set and achieve a measurable development goal for your arts practice. We will help you pursue your goal in the context of the following questions:

• Who are you and why do you do what you do?
• What values drive you in your creative practice? 
• What creative partnerships will help you develop your practice?
• What resources do you need to develop your practice over time? 

There is NO requirement to create any finished artworks as part of this program, or to present any work to a public audience. Those artists who do pursue the creation of an artwork will be encouraged to iterate their work into testable stages, and provided with event producer support, artist fees and production budget, marketing support and the You Are Here: Cahoots Lab to present your work in April 2023.

This program could be perfect for you, if: 

You are an experimental artist or you want to do something experimental within your art form

You need to reconnect with or better identify the core drivers and obsessions that fuel your arts practice.

You are making the jump from one art form to another for the first time, or wanting to blur the lines between art forms

You have huge, ambitious, multi-year plans for your arts practice that are daunting to you, and you want some help working out where and how to start 

You spend a lot of time on the Working Artist treadmill of fundraising/ production/ audience outcome/ repeat and want to take some time out to reconnect with why you even do this stuff

You want to identify more creative partnerships for your practice and want help forming them

You are a creative producer (someone who facilitates and runs creative processes, an arts organisation or events) who wants to further develop your skills and producer models. If you’re wondering whether or not you’re a creative producer then you almost certainly are!

You want to form new connections and community, and meet potential new collaborators

Are there any requirements or criteria that I have to meet? 

• You must be based in the Canberra diaspora (if you live over the NSW border but your practice is based in Canberra, that is ok!)
• You must be over 18. 
• You must be able to commit to attending fortnightly workshops on Monday evenings somewhere close to the CBD, as well as a fortnightly meeting with producers at a time that we work out together. 
• You must apply as an individual. 
• You have some availability throughout April 2023, when we will show any work that requires a public outcome. 

There are no criteria regarding your experience, art form, education or training, background or age (as long as you’re over 18). We really can’t stress this enough!

If you have any requirements that make you wonder whether this program will work for you, we are here to talk to you about it- text us on 0450 904 282 to arrange a time to chat or send an email to producers@youareherecanberra.com.au

Fees 

Workshop Attendance
We pay Cahoots participants $1200.00 to attend 16 workshops. This fee is paid to participants in two installments- one halfway through the program, and one at the end of the program.

Discretionary Budget
You will be provided with a discretionary budget of up to $200.00 to pursue activity relevant to your practice goals, such as rehearsal space or meetings with a mentor or consultant. This budget will be negotiated with your producers on an ‘as needs’ basis.

Artist Fees
If you choose to create work for Cahoots Lab, you will be provided with an artist fee budget between $500 to $1000 to pay collaborators and yourself, as well as a production budget between $200 to $300 to pay for materials etc. Again, these figures will be negotiated with your producers.

We may be able to secure more funds throughout the year, but this is what we can promise right now.

Cool! Sounds great. How do I apply? 

Applications for 2022 are now closed.

When applications re-open soon for 2023, the process will be:

Send us an EOI with the following information:

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• What do you care about?
• Why do you want to join us in Cahoots 2023?

If you have an up to date CV please send that too, plus links to your work or some images, video footage etc (whatever suits your artform)

Send your expression of interest to producers@youareherecanberra.com.au

Then what happens?
The producer team will make a shortlist from the EOIs. We will contact the shortlisted artists/producers and make time to meet with you.

Artists and producers who are not selected for the program will be on our radar as possible collaborators.

What if I have applied before?
We welcome applications from artists who have applied before but not been selected! If you have applied before, make sure to update us on all that has changed for you in the time in between.