In association with Lumière Arts Festival, VANS presents WORK IT! WORK IT! a 2 day intensive workshop designed to help artists with various aspects of their professional practice. Instructed by grant writing consultant, interdisciplinary /media artist, and NSCAD University instructor Becka Barker, all sessions will be held in Sydney, NS at the New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation, 37 Nepean Street. Sessions are $25 each or $60 for all three! You can sign up for one, two or three sessions, but if you bundle them you save. Register today and get ready to Work It!

Part 1 – WORK IT! WORK IT!
Saturday, November 4, 10am – 1pm
The first part of this workshop will focus on how and where to apply for artist opportunities such as exhibitions, festivals, residencies and curatorial projects. It will also briefly discuss strategies for networking and marketing/promoting one’s artwork.

Part 2 – WORK IT! WORK IT!
Saturday, November 4, 2 – 5pm
The second part of this workshop will focus on proposal and application writing for exhibitions, residencies and art festivals, as well as writing artist statements.

Part 3 – WORK IT! WORK IT!
Sunday, November 5, 10 – 12pm (workshop) & 12 – 1pm (1:1 Meetings)
The final and third part of this workshop will look at where and how to get grants and funding to support art works and artistic practice. It will also include an optional one-on-one meeting with the workshop instructor.

More about the instructor:

Becka Barker is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, writer, and arts consultant based in Halifax, NS. She is of settler ancestry, and her twenty years’ experience in the arts landscape includes serving as Executive Director for The Centre for Art Tapes, writing for Arts Atlantic and Visual Arts News, participating on dozens of selection and peer assessment committees, and teaching in media arts and design at NSCAD University. Her art production has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, and the National Film Board of Canada, and she is fortunate to have been included in several commissioning projects, as well.

She has been exhibited at several contemporary art and film festivals ranging from regional to international in scope, and has been programmed in several galleries across Canada. Her consulting work focuses on assisting artists and organizations with grant writing and strategic planning.