Image: Salford Ceremonial Mayor Councillor Robin Garrido pictured with the team from Instigate Arts.

A recent partnership with Result and Instigate Arts led to coaching for marginalised artists. The project we worked on together celebrated the centenary of Salford and, at its launch, Salford's Ceremonial Mayor congratulated the team on such a successful event. 

In this week's blog, Anne Louise Kersahw, IA's Director, talks about the transformative effect the coaching has had.

Art, agency and a need for more results…

Or rather, a need for more Result CIC. See, I was fortunate enough a few years back to access coaching with Result via their Level Best programme. At the time I was in quite a transitional phase of my life and career. Moving from employed to self-employed work - increasing access and supporting marginalised creatives in the arts. And desperate to also make space to further my own burgeoning artistry in sound. What’s interesting is I was initially taken on to support Result access creatives for this programme, not realising I myself fit the bill for inclusion.

At the time the effects were transformative. I gained a much deeper understanding of the intersectional reasons that contribute toward some people facing more barriers than others, which I thought I had had a good sense of. But further, how those barriers can get internalised, forming mountains to climb within ourselves, that we can spend our lives stood at the foot of.

Fast forward several years and i’m now re-launching my own Community Interest Company, Instigate Arts, instigating positive social change through arts production and participation. Among the many brilliant things we do and strive for, the bedrock of the relaunch is to pilot a new business model which puts developing sustainable livelihoods for marginalised creatives at the heart of what we do. I believe passionately in the importance of artistic thinking across all sectors of society, and believe that marginalised voices have the most to contribute, where they are largely absent. My own included. Pushing ahead with a team on board, CEO of my own organisation, I became aware again of that mountain inside. So Result CIC kept coming to mind.

A great opportunity arose with the celebration of the Salford Centenary year. We applied for a creative grant from Salford Council and were awarded funds to deliver Trails, Pales & Centenary Tales - an art and ale trail, tapping into the heritage of Salford, promoting independent venues, and supporting marginalised artists to create work unhindered. And this is where Result stepped in. To amplify the result of what unhindered can mean, Result offered coaching to the artists involved.

So we sent five artists, myself being one of them, into five of Salford’s independent drinking establishments to gather tales and speak to regulars, and from this we each created brand new work. Each of us stood at different points of that mountain. Some, like myself, had been coached before, some hadn’t, some were skeptical and some believed they didn’t need it at all. But we each embarked on the journey. As part of my own career in the arts I have provided mentoring and coaching to many creatives, yet have had little opportunity to spend that time of reflection on myself. And that is what Garth offered.

Garth was the Result coach assigned to our project. A creative himself he has experience of the challenges faced within the art world, and also knew much of the character of artists and the specific experienced faced with the work I do. He was incredibly insightful, empathetic and pragmatic. He was interested, and through his questions and enquiry and guidance, I realised I was again in a very transformative phase of my life, or maybe actually, that in one way or another, we always are. And this is why coaching is so valuable. I’m sure Garth was different with each of us depending on who we are and our circumstances and needs, but for me we seemed to quickly hone in on patterns of behaviour within myself that inadvertently allow for a lot of the difficulties i seemed to be facing within my work, and self. Through talking things through with Garth I realised that my life wasn’t made up of a dozen different situations and challenges, but rather it is made up of one frame of mind and approach, and that is mine. And it is that that realises itself in all those spheres and scenarios. That can feel slightly daunting at first, the realisation that i have agency to assert myself to achieve what i want from things, relationships, situations and people. I feel Garth was the best pearson to be assigned to a person like me because he had a clarity of vision and an assertion that i really benefitted from.

There is great comradery to be found in sharing trials and tribulations with peers, but a greater affirmation of self in having someone make you see that you have the skills within yourself to drive things how in the direction you wish to go. Having that through the duration of a project was incredibly helpful. It allowed me in real time to voice out concerns and anxieties based on previous experience or personal insecurities. Unlike when I first received coaching with Result, I now have many years project management experience under my belt, and have done a fair number of public commissions, yet I still didn’t feel i was successful in my endeavours and experiences for the way I wanted them to be conducted and where i wished them to head. Garth really helped me see why, and importantly then, how I could be myself to achieve that.

But surely I am being myself right? Well no actually, not really. I reckon most of us pick up behaviours throughout our life in fair response to the situations faced that maybe don’t actually honour our true self and rather stand right in our way as we climb that mountain. And that’s alright, as long as we see them. And Garth really did let me see them.

I felt a notable change in various aspects of myself with the delivery of this project, and the way I presented and spoke of myself within it. Voicing anxieties and challenges in real time and then getting to ‘practice’ being me and seeing different outcomes was initially uncomfortable and strange but then very affirming and confidence-building. Stepping out of my safety net way of being that had actually caused myself harm into a different, newer shinier me involved much boldness on my part, and Garth gave me the confidence to do that.

And I can tell this will take much practice. Garth was kind and observant and allowed me to be kind to myself within this. We each have our lives and lived experiences and real life things to deal with, and within that Garth could see, and showed me how things all connected. And how being me, as I know is right to be, will benefit all aspects of my life, work and relationships. I know from speaking to the other artists that everyone found great benefit from their coaching. All had quite different experiences and explored different things specific to themselves and their lives, but all seemed to be given the tools or shown how they had the tools to achieve what they need.

I feel it would be valuable to have coaching throughout the process of all projects, to allow for real time observation, unpicking and the practicing of being. It makes the learning instantly tangible and the benefits immediately felt. I would find great value in this for myself, and very much hope to be able to tie it into future projects for Instigate Arts, for artists and all workers involved. As an artist, and as a Company Director, I can see great value in the ongoing internal growth of us as individuals, and as a team working toward something together. It feels like a vital part of healthy, holistic development, growth, wellbeing and endeavor. Result really provide that, and think everyone would benefit from engaging with it.

Find out more about Instigate Arts here.