Creative Opportunities: April 2023
Your monthly round up of news, events, opportunities, call-outs and funding
Hi friends,
We have 3 exciting announcements to make this month!
• We’re launching a new network specifically targeted at freelancers, consultants and micro agencies, called NODE. More info below, including the launch event 🎉
• We’re recruiting board members to help us ensure York Creatives remains representative of the community. The community continues to grow, which is wonderful, and so we are looking to broaden the team to keep up. Apply here 💪
• We’ll also be making another zine again this summer, and would love to feature a range of creative work. Submit an application by 14th April for consideration. 📓
Have a wonderful month, and we hope to see you at Creative Drinks next Friday! (Please note there is no workshop in April due to the bank holiday.)
Ben & Team YC
Call for speakers for PechaKucha York, vol 26!
Do you have a story that will inspire, educate or entertain others? We want you!
Whether you’re a writer, a chef, an event manager or just a person with an exciting idea, PechaKucha is the perfect opportunity to share your passion with people who want to listen to you.
Please email yorkpechakucha@gmail.com for more info on signing up to speak at this event.
Date: 12 May 2023
Theme: Blue Sky Thinking
The OKRE Fund is a funding programme offering grants of between £500 and £25,000 to early stage collaborative creative projects. The focus is on projects that transcend different industries or artforms, and they must be in research and development or early-stage development.
For this round of the fund, OKRE are particularly interested in projects that explore one or more of the following areas:
Mental health, infectious disease and/or climate health
International development and the communities they seek to support
The fund is open to individual and organisations in the UK
There is no application fee
You will be required to attend 3 meetings a year, where you will share news and updates from your creative discipline.
You will also be a point of contact for new members who share your discipline, answering their questions about accessing resources within the city.
Candidates should show a keen interest in their field and be able to commit to the role for two years.
Apply by 14th April.
Constellations Cohort 2023 - Open Call
Submission deadline: Sunday 9th April 23:59pm
Open to all UK-based creative practitioners
There is no application fee
Constellations Cohort 2023 is an open call learning and development programme delivered by UP Projects. UP Projects curates and commissions public art in the UK and through the Constellations Cohort, they aim to work with creative practitioners from across the UK to explore urgent lines of enquiry and best practice within the Arts sector.
The programme will support ten early to mid-career practitioners to develop their own practice, collaborate with others, access new networks, and contribute to critical debate around the future of public artistic practice.
The deadline for applications is Sunday 9th April and online interviews will be held in late April.
Join us for the launch of NODE, York’s freelance community.
NODE was founded with a mission of supporting our members to grow profitable but nimble businesses.
Not everyone has the desire to scale. Our members would much prefer to grow in expertise, output and revenue whilst staying small. They want to run their business, they don't want their business to run them.
If that's you, you'll feel right at home when you join NODE.
Join us for the NODE launch event on Thursday 20th April at Hungate Reading Cafe.
Doors 7pm, with talks starting at 7.30pm and lasting for one hour.
There will be chance to network over a drink before and after the talks.
Over two weekends in April, York Open Studios invites you to explore over 100 creative venues in York, housing exhibitions from more than 150 York-based Artists.
The annual event provides a unique opportunity to meet the individual behind the artwork. Venues range from intimate home studio spaces to large commercial venues, and in each the Artist will be there to welcome you and show you around.
Free admission
The extensive line up includes a diverse range of artists working across numerous disciplines. Full listings can be found in this year’s event directory.
Would you like your work to be featured in our next zine?
Apply by 14th April
No application fee
Artists must have a YO post code
Each successful creative receives a free copy of the zine.
City of York Council have partnered with Google Digital Garage to deliver this FREE webinar as part of the wider programme of digital skills training for businesses or aspiring entrepreneurs in York.
This session will focus on building an effective social media strategy into your business plan, looking at how social media can help you reach new online audiences, how to build your strategy, and time-saving tools for creating effective social media posts.
Each business that attends the workshop can also sign up for free 1-to-1 online mentoring with Google Digital Experts.
York Fashion Week, the key platform for grassroots and independent fashion design in the North of England returns in April 2023.
Events will take place throughout the week and across numerous venues in York. The lineup includes a series of workshops, runways, installations, and lectures, highlights are likely to include:
Indie Retail: The Runway, The Guildhall
Cinemarts Presents Westwood, The Guildhall
Fashion Market, Fabrication York
This is sure to be an exciting celebration of fashion and creativity in the city of York.
Thursday 27th April to Monday 1st May
Venues across York
There are many free events taking place across the week. Paid events range from £5 to £30
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