Adapting in Uncertain Times: coaching conversations for creatives

14 May 2020 (Slots available at 10am, 11.15am and 12.30pm)
21 May 2020 (Slots available at 10am, 11.15am and 12.30pm)

FREE

It is likely that all creative practitioners, organisations and business in Sunderland have been affected by the dramatic changes we are facing – for some, work may have dried up overnight, for others there will be acute uncertainty and for everyone being in lockdown and isolated from the communities that enrich them feels very strange and disorientating.

These circumstances are tough for everyone – we have no idea how long this will last. What we do know is that we are unlikely to return to ‘normal’ but will need to find a ‘new normal’.

BUT …. this is also an incredible opportunity. A chance to step off the moving wheel and reflect, recalibrate and reconsider. What might we want to do differently? What might we want to take forward? How will we adapt to the new and yet unknown landscape?

We are offering one to one coaching conversations for creatives, led by coach and consultant Susanne Burns. These sessions are a chance to bring your thoughts, concerns and current challenges to a one to one listening conversation. We are not pretending that there are solutions and simple answers, but we feel we can start to address these together.

We are testing this approach, and may follow up with more opportunities and perhaps some group conversations or action learning sets. We are trying to be responsive and use the on-line platforms we have available to support one another in these difficult times.

To register

Please register your interest for a 1-2-1 session, by clicking this link.

We will confirm your place and details of the meeting via email. Sessions are limited currently, however we hope to be able to offer more according to demand.

If you have any questions about the event, please email [email protected].

Please note: due to our funding conditions, this workshop is only available to individual creative practitioners who live work or study in Sunderland or creative/ heritage organisations and creative businesses who are based in Sunderland.

These 1-2-1s are offered as part of the Unlock the City programme which supports the development of artists and creative businesses in Sunderland. Unlock the City is delivered in partnership by Sunderland Culture, Sunderland City Council, Digital Catapult, North East BIC and Sunderland BME Network, with funding from Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Coastal Communities Fund.

About Susanne Burns
Susanne Burns is a senior arts leader, freelance management consultant, coach and trainer with more than 30 years of senior management experience in the cultural sector. Her work has encompassed dance, theatre, music and the visual arts.

She has led several major evaluation projects including the longitudinal 10 year evaluation of In Harmony Liverpool, the work of Fevered Sleep, the DUETs programme led by Ballet Cymru and the work of Create London. She has carried out major research programmes including the national research on musical progression for Arts Council England and the earlier Dance Mapping work for ACE. She was the Project Director for Art Works – a special initiative led of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and currently works as an evaluation consultant for the Foundation.

She has extensive experience of working in Higher Education as she was Head of Management at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts from 1994 -2001 and continues to work in HE across the UK as well as providing training, coaching and action learning facilitation. She is a Churchill Fellow 2017 and travelled across the USA and Australia looking at how artists are supported in their freelance careers. She has a doctorate from Middlesex University.