Culture Forum North and Jerwood Charitable Foundation share a commitment to developing a resilient and prosperous cultural sector through the development of a diverse, skilled workforce.
In 2015/16 six arts organisations in the North benefited from hosting Weston Jerwood Creative Bursary recipients, some of whom have already secured permanent positions with their hosts.
The Creative Bursary programme places talented recent graduates from financially disadvantaged backgrounds into significant arts roles for a year. It is the only initiative of its kind that prioritises socio-economic background in its selection which is increasingly part of diversity conversations.
The Jerwood Charitable Foundation, which runs the programme, is currently planning for the third round of Creative Bursaries 2017.
The aim is to engage with like-minded partners to increase the ambition and reach of this third edition – to create sectoral change in the way arts organisations approach recruitment by throwing the net as wide as possible.
Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries are about supporting the development of young graduates as potential leaders of the future, and redressing how hard it is for those from less privileged backgrounds to get first jobs in the arts. Bursary recipients are placed into significant arts roles – artistic and administrative, across multiple artforms) – with some of the best arts organisations across the UK.
Through Culture Forum North, Jerwood is looking to collaborate with arts organisations and Higher Education bodies that have knowledge and experience in this area; academics and practitioners who are interested in measuring impact and identifying models of excellence. This includes exploring:
- How to widen the talent pool, including what a ‘best practice’ recruitment strategy for securing applications by diverse applicants might look like; where other tool kits and support around this already exist and how such support could be shared more widely and with greater impact
- Case studies which help to demonstrate that diversifying your workforce creates greater economic and creative resilience
- How universities and arts organisations might work together to extend widening participation agendas into the workplace/workforce development
- What new partnerships might allow learning from the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries programme, and others like it, to be shared more widely and effectively.
If you are developing any such evaluation or guidance or have a case study to share, please get in touch with Kate Danielson, Director, Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries jerwood@katedanielson.co.uk
or cultureforumnorth@operanorth.co.uk