workshops
Workshops are a space where I get to share experiences and insights with my creative community. I’m a believer in peer learning and I’d love to hear about what learning you might like to offer to your followers, students or group. Let’s build something together. Scroll down for examples of the kind of workshops I’ve devised and hosted.
Contact me at greg.thorpe@icloud.com
Introduction to Freelancing in the Arts.
The workshop is flexible and can be divided into four sessions or abridges for your needs. It includes units on:
1. Work: finding it, keeping it, increasing it.
2. Money: invoicing, expenses, fees, tax.
3. Managing yourself: workload, work strategies, deadlines, delivering.
4. Well-being: common anxieties, time off, self-care for freelancers.
This workshop can be comfortably delivered for groups of up to 20 and is ideal for early career freelancers, career changes, recent graduates, or those looking to make a transition into full-time freelancing. The focus is on arts freelancing but the bulk of the tips and strategies can be applied to any type of freelance work. The workshop can delivered in a single 5 hour / one-day session including breaks, or in two shorter workshops, either in person or online. I’ve delivered the workshop for Islington Mill, Manchester School of Art, and independently.
”Offered a perfect portal to a new way of working and was well-pitched for anyone at any career point trying to access freelance life.”
”Excellently planned and executed. Super accessible and filled with amazing tips packed into a succinct timeframe.”
“The workshop has given me brilliant advice to implement in my daily practice.”
Professional Practice, Manchester School of Art.
Manchester School of Art’s ‘Professional Practice’ programme gave me a chance to build bespoke versions of workshops to offer their fantastic inquisitive students: Artist Resilience, and Introduction to Freelancing in the Arts. I had terrific feedback and bold, brilliant questions.
“Greg offered a warm and informative approach that really got our students thinking specifically about their own practice, being a freelancer and how to support themselves beyond the university. The sessions were really well planned and Greg was flexible, organised and always calm, with real life examples to contextualise ideas and systems – this helped the students really connect with him. Introduction to Freelancing is a workshop that every creative course in the UK should have Greg running for them!”
– Elle Simms, Enrichment Project Co-ordinator“I’ve regained motivation in starting a creative career, I feel more confident in choices I need to make going forward, and loads of things that seemed scary (like tax) actually make a lot of sense to me now.”
“Really valuable as my course doesn't teach me ant of this stuff and it’s important to know when graduating and going into the real world getting a job or working for yourself.”
Developing as a Queer Creative Producer, Outburst Arts Festival.
I spent time with a fantastic crew of diverse creative folk, sharing tactics, tips and tall tales from my 10 years + of being a creative producer. We workshopped one another’s ideas, and discussed ethics, queering space, creative dilemmas and keeping our practice queer, as well critiquing new queer theatre work with writer/performer Roma Havers.
"It was casual and informal in tone so it felt safe to share. It was incredible to get mixed in with Queers from outside of Belfast which I think is super important."
"I enjoyed the way we spoke openly about queerness and how queerness influences our work, our navigation through spaces, and also production realities."
"There was also a clear inclusivity happening; it’s too often where a queer meet-up leans towards cis or white or settled comfort and I was pleased by the focus being on all experiences and the privileges that some of us carry."
Artist Drop-In Sessions, Curious Arts.
I was invited by Curious Arts to host three drop-in sessions for artists trouble-shooting project ideas who would benefit from a producer’s perspective. As always I was astounded by the incubation of exciting new creative ideas and happy to play a small part in their development.
Producer Talk, Manchester International Festival.
I was invited back to MIF to meet with a group of creatives to discuss when artists might need a producer and some best practice tips for collaborative work.
Working as a Creative Producer, Manchester International Festival..
I joined fellow Creative Producer Pippa Frith to deliver an overview of my event work, with a great Q&A and sharing session with attendees. Hosted by MIF.
Artist Resilience, Manchester International Festival.
I was invited by MIF to shape some workshops that would address issues of practical resilience for creatives who wanted to continue working in lockdown but faced emotional or psychological barriers. We spoke about creative frustration, procrastination, focus, generating ideas, forward planning and collaboration.
”The workshop was perfect! Greg is an amazing facilitator and I felt very comfortable in the workshop even though it took place over Zoom. He is very inspiring and I found that I was able to apply some of his strategies straight away. It was really nice to be able to share my experiences & Greg was able to create space for everyone to talk.”
Assessing the need/desire for an LGBT+/Queer Film Festival, MMU.
I devised, curated and hosted this 4 hour workshop for Manchester Metropolitan University, with three special guest speakers and 20 attendees in which we discussed existing models of queer film festivals, the role of the queer film festival in community and activist work, and ways this might be brought into existence for Manchester.
LGBT+/Queer Research & Policy Showcase, MMU.
I facilitated a knowledge-sharing session between academics from Manchester Metropolitan University and policy-makers from Manchester City Council, GMCA and key LGBT+ charities to share the focus of their work with a view to finding common ground and strategic opportunities.
I’m also always learning myself, and enjoyed attending these workshops and developmental courses:
Critical Art Writing Development Workshop with Laura Roberston, Editor of The Double Negative.
As part of my role as writer for art journal The Fourdrinier, I was able to take part in this genius workshop with talented writer/editor Laura and my fellow cohort of writers. Really smart and useful writing / editing strategies, along with challenging group crits which got me fully psyched up for my role as art critic.
Flashmob Collective, with Avram Finkelstein, HOME.
Artist, educator, member of the SILENCE = DEATH collective, and Gran Fury, and ACT UP New York activist, Avram Finkelstein led a day-long ‘flash collective’, an experiment in political art-making that resulted in a digital intervention in the screens at the HOME foyer. Our resulting work was entitled Body Language (see left). “We all have a BODY in common. Is yours legal, desirable, sick, sexy, legislated against, celebrated, fetishised, HIV positive, enough?”
Introduction to Performance, Portico Library.
I attended this exciting workshop by artist Nicola Dale on tips and strategies for beginning in performance work.