About the forum

VASW invites visual arts communities living and working within or in the surrounding areas of Bath, Bristol, Cornwall, Dorset, Exeter, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Plymouth, Somerset and Wiltshire to attend a meeting dedicated to their local context.

Our region is vast and diverse, and the practices, activities, and networks vary wherever you go. These meetings are intended as forums to openly discuss and understand local priorities for sector support. This year we are focusing on the cost of living crisis and the removal of pandemic restrictions, and we want to know how these affect you and those in your local area

Each meeting will be moderated by a host from your area who will bring an understanding of the nuances of its unique challenges and strengths. The conversation will inform VASW’s future sector support work, and we will share our findings and how we intend to address them.

About the host

Zoe Li has more than 20 years experience in working with artists to develop new commissions at off-site locations. She delivered the annual Somerset Art Weeks between 2007 – 2015 and is currently working as freelance Programme Associate of Somerset Art Works to lead their professional development programme, digital strategy and the development of Art Weeks Festival. She also worked for Arts Council England (South West) as regional coordinator for decibel (2002-2004) and Visual Arts Relationship Manager (2010-15). She works with artists across different disciplines, and has established curatorial interests in participatory practice and collaboration. She co-founded Eastville Project Space in Yeovil and Project Director for Yeovil Art Space. She serves as Broad member at Take A Part CIC and Steering Group Member of Visual Arts South West. Zoe Li was born in Hong Kong and moved to the UK in 2001.

Bursaries

In response to feedback from the previous VASW forums, this year we are pleased to offer small bursaries to artists wishing to attend and have their voices heard.

We encourage artists with limited financial resources, who may otherwise struggle to attend, to apply. Places are limited to 3 per forum, so please do consider if this is a particularly helpful resource for you.

A fee of £30 can be invoiced to VASW after the event, we are operating this on a first come, first served basis. To secure a place, email katie@vasw.org.uk with your name and region you wish to attend.

Accessibility

This meeting will be hosted online, using Zoom and live captioned with otter.ai.

The hosts will follow gentle online meeting practice:

• Participants can choose for themselves whether they feel comfortable turning their camera on.
• To minimise background noise, microphones will only be kept on at the time of speaking.
• Participants can join the conversation by speaking and typing.
• An outline of what will take place during the meeting (including break times) and any presentation materials (if applicable) will be provided in advance.
• A meeting recording, a computer generated transcript and the contents of the associated text-based chat will be available for all participants after the meeting upon request.

If you have any specific access needs that you would like to discuss with us, please contact the VASW team at info@vasw.org.uk and we will do our best to support you with your requirements

About Visual Arts South West

Visual Arts South West is a sector support organisation. Our Mission is to advocate for visual arts and enable the visual arts sector to thrive in South West England.

Our core aims are to:

• Raise the visibility of the South West's visual arts sector, both in the region and nationally
• Advocate for diverse perspectives in our region
• Address significant structural and systemic issues facing the sector
• Develop a more resilient visual arts sector

We are an independent organisation part of the national Contemporary Visual Arts Network and based at Spike Island as part of their National Portfolio Organisation funded by the Arts Council England.