Mainstream Partnership  was set up to address the low numbers of Black Asian and Chinese arts practitioners accessing and taking up opportunities offered by the mainstream arts and business support sectors. Over the years with Arts Council (East Midlands) funding, a programme of training activity has been delivered covering such topics as business planning, legal matters confidence building, fundraising and networking. 

Latest Event

Update stepUP - BME Practitioners Training Course - Derby

 

stepUP training and development programme is well under way. 5 BAME Derby artists with a range of artforms - African arts, Asian dance, spoken word, theatre direction and visual art have formed a dynamic group.

 

They have been exploring issues around professional development with Carol Leeming, the Manager of Mainstream Partnership, business and finance with Jon Archard from Creative Launchpad and educational projects in schools with Jeni Smith from Quad. Jonzi D. spent an evening with them devising alternative ways to describe and present themselves. They are still digesting this!

 

The chance to Go and See covered exhibitions, workshops and shows; shadowing took them into schools to observe another practitioner in action.

Now it's their chance to work in schools. They are experiencing the positives when it all goes well and finding ways to sort out obstacles.

 

What a journey to be on. And it's not over yet. Being mentored by Jane Sekonya, Lynne Hollingsworth, Shabnam Shabazi, Shane Shambhu and Zena Edwards is pushing their practice dramatically. They all say how far they have developed in such a short time.

 

Finally, the Showcase event for you all will probably happen in the next two months. 

 

We are now looking at how we support 5 artists as they move on and at how this programme fits into the bigger picture. There has certainly been considerable interest from all sorts of quarters.