Hothouse 2011 makers selected
Sound Wear Red Hat by Hanna Nielsen
The Crafts Council’s Hothouse programme selects the brightest new craft talent from across the UK. This year 28 makers have been selected to embark on a tailor-made six-month programme of creative and business support starting in September 2011.
Makers have to be within two years of setting up their business to be eligible for Hothouse and all those selected already display a high level of technical craftsmanship and creative energy. In a marketplace where the bespoke and handmade is being recognised and celebrated by global brands the skill and knowledge of the maker becomes ever more powerful.
Hothouse is delivered in partnership with UK craft organisations, development agencies and higher education institutions, and encourages different ways of working and thinking whilst equipping makers with the tools to run an entrepreneurial and sustainable business.
There are three cohorts of makers in 2011 – a jewellery and silver cohort delivered in partnership with The Goldsmiths’ Institute, London, a textile cohort based in the South West and a mixed discipline cohort based in the North.
Each cohort includes makers from all over the UK and the tailored programmes include creative workshops and mentoring alongside sessions on business planning, market and audience development, costing, financial planning and presentation skills.
Hothouse encourages a broad creative outlook and creates a solid peer network for the makers as they embark on the crucial stages of setting up their new businesses. The programme will support a new generation of makers in realising their potential both collectively and individually.
Selected makers for Hothouse 2011 include;
• Amy Bear – a multi-media textile maker who combines CAD design with laser cutting and CAD embroidery to create layered textile panels using materials such as plastazote foam, neoprene and PVC.
• Hanna Nielsen – a jewellery and accessories maker whose graduate collection – Sound Ware – combined musical boxes and sound systems within wearable jewellery pieces.
• Tortie Hoare – whose quest to find environmentally conscious materials in her ergonomic and durable furniture led her to the medieval art of boiling leather.
Full list of Hothouse participants;
Amy Bear, Aimee Betts, Eleanor Bolton, Emma Bradbury, Kevin Brook, Hannah Felicity Dennis, Jane Dzisiewski, Amelia Fever, Lucy Jane Foakes, Helen Foot, Jasmin Giles, Anna Glasbrook, Mahtab Hanna, Zehava Hashai-Spellman, Tortie Hoare, Anna Collette Hunt, Zoe Lloyd, Hanna Nielsen, Elizabeth Peers, Carly Petit-Taylor, Helen Smith, Rhian Solomon, Thorody, Ellen Thomas, Victoria Walker, Sarah Warsop and Janice Zethraeus.
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“This is an exciting group of new makers who are working across a range of materials and techniques from centuries-old leather boiling to CAD embroidery but the unifying factor is the skill and imagination of these new makers. The first cohort of Hothouse from 2010 have already exploited their new confidence and shared experience by launching a group exhibition at this year’s London Design Festival.” Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council
ENDS
For more press information and images please contact Jill Read, Crafts Council Press Office, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7806 2549, Email: media@craftscouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors
• The partners for Hothouse 2011 are; Cleveland College of Art & Design, Design Initiative, Designed & Made (North cohort), Arts University College Bournemouth, Bath Spa University, University College Falmouth (South West cohort) and The Goldsmith’s Institute (The Goldsmith’s cohort).
• Hothouse is one of five initiatives that make up Collective – the Crafts Council’s portfolio of schemes delivered with regional partners that support makers throughout their careers. For more information on Collective including how to apply to Hothouse or register interest in becoming a partner click here
• The Hothouse cohort from 2010 received their first collective commission to create new work for a group exhibition at Pitzhanger Manor called Portraits in the Making. The exhibition runs from 21 September to 12 November 2011 at PM Gallery & House, London. Visit Portraits in the Making for more information.
• The Crafts Council has been supporting makers for 40 years – since its inception in 1971.
• The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
o We believe that craft plays a dynamic and vigorous role in the UK’s social, economic and cultural life.
o We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make, see, collect and learn about craft.
o We believe that the strength of craft lies in its use of traditional and contemporary techniques, ideas and materials to make extraordinary new work.
o We believe that the future of craft lies in nurturing talent; children and young people must be able to learn about craft at school and have access to excellent teaching throughout their education.
• 11% of the UK population visited a craft exhibition in 2010/2011, and 18% participated in craft activity in the same year according to DCMS/ACE Taking Part – an ongoing survey being carried out by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England (ACE).
• More than 2.8 million visits were made to the Crafts Council website in 2009. To find out everything you need to know about where to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk and follow us on Facebook and Twitter
• Crafts Council Craft Champions are all active supporters of contemporary craft who signed up to the Craft Matters campaign at www.craftmatters.org.uk to say that craft matters to them. Current Craft Champions are; Linda Barker, Priscilla Carluccio, Sir Terence Conran, Siobhan Davies CBE, Duke of Devonshire, Norman Foster, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, Tricia Guild OBE, Sir Mark Jones, Jude Kelly OBE, Cath Kidston, Corin Mellor, Michelle Ogundehin, Grayson Perry, Jon Snow, Sheila Teague, Sandi Toksvig, Sir John Tusa and Jeanette Winterson OBE and Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE.
• Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, Arts Council England will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and a further £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
