The last session of our recent Starting Out course took place on May 13th. We are now working on creating a brand new on-line course aimed at early-career visual artists/crafts people and designer-makers that we aim to launch in Autumn 2013. This new course will be more widely available and will consist of a variety of live webinars, videos and information sheets with homework and opportunities to receive 1-2-1 feedback.

The course will still cover the same topics as our face to face courses have covered over the last 7 years.

This is what our latest cohort had to say about the course:  

"It’s a shame it is the last one. I would like to keep in contact with Yorkshire Artspace in case anything else like this becomes available. I gained great experience through jewellery day - The course sometime felt a bit rushed but I think that’s because there was so much on offer, and I liked how some speakers sent feedback info after the meetings. It was helpful to hear people’s stories about starting out, and meeting organisers from the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair etc. Thank you for this opportunity. I will always recommend Yorkshire Artspace to fellow makers".

"I wanted to take part in the course for two main reasons: 1. I felt isolated from the main artistic community in Sheffield. 2. I also felt that there were big gaps in knowledge. Attending the course as helped to address these issues and I no longer feel isolated. I have enjoyed meeting the other members of the course from a variety of backgrounds; also meeting the guest speakers has been very useful. I feel that I have made a network of contacts that will help me in the future. It’s also helped to see that I am not the only person that needs help and that I am not alone in feeling isolated. The course as helped me fill big gaps in my knowledge, I now have a better understanding of how to market myself and the image I want to project in the future. What opportunities are out there such as shows and funding and how to organise myself better and what is achievable in the time I have. The unexpected benefit from this course is that I now have a much greater understanding of where I stand in the artistic community / business world and I have a clear vision of where I am now and where I want to be in the future. I would like to say a big thank you to Mir the course has been excellent". Martin McAssey - glass artist

"A very well put together course, excellent value for money. Mir has been very supportive, welcoming and accommodating and is always approachable and helpful. The homework element is necessary I believe, however some of the tasks could have been explained a little better and been issued with a little more time to complete them or allow us to clarify what needs to be done. I have thoroughly enjoyed the course, meeting new people and making friends with an arts/crafts background - I recommend it to anyone and everyone who would like to make a career in this field".

"The course has given me better perspective on my craft and how to make it a sustainable business, it has grown my confidence in my skills and enabled me to justify my price structure. I think its fantastic and would recommend it to anyone thinking of starting up their own business as an artist/maker".

"The advice given was very practical and easily adaptable to your own practice. I feel I have a much clearer understanding of the directions available to me and it has given me the confidence going forward".

"I don't think the course could be much improved, if it is going to be on-line in the future, it will be harder to gain the group benefits which we achieved. Just very sorry it has finished! Really enjoyed it – and it was extremely valuable".

"I received a lot of useful information that would have been difficult to access otherwise. Also really enjoyed meeting colleagues in a similar situation, swapping ideas and networking. Thank you".

[NB we received 8 responses from 15 participants ]