How membership of Creative West End has improved my small creative business

This article is part of a series of reflections on Creative Civic Change, Local Trust’s experimental funding programme that supported 15 communities across England to shape, lead and commission arts and creative interventions, to make positive social change where they lived.

In this piece, artist Jessica Holmes reflects on how the Creative West End project in Morecambe helped her small business.

We’ve had an exciting journey so far with Creative West End. Our Morecambe-based partnership really came into its own when the many local artists in our community emerged from their homes after the COVID-19 lockdown with a passion for making a difference locally. I remember our first network meeting after this, where about 50 of us met at a seafront café and just really enjoyed the sense of togetherness and renewed purpose.   

When I first began working with Creative West End, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to describe myself as an artist.”

My involvement with Creative West End has been hugely important to me in terms of my creative and professional development. As an early career artist, I tend to be involved with relatively small projects, as these will provide me with the skills that I need to upscale later on. I believe that provision of these smaller individual projects under a larger umbrella programme is essential for any creative community to grow and thrive.

Every successfully completed project was a stepping stone towards increased assuredness and improved skills, that enabled me to take on more complex projects and, more recently, to even start leading a small team of artists.

Jessica Holmes from West End Creative, a Creative Civic Change programme, outside the ‘Good Things Cinema’

Getting started

When I first began working with Creative West End, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to describe myself as an artist. My confidence has been built up gradually, through years of working alongside the Creative West End team and by getting involved with a huge variety of projects along the way.

By helping organise group projects I was able to build up trust and confidence with the Creative West End team and these mutual relationships became vital to creating a sustainable practice. 

I have met over a hundred fellow creatives that I can call upon for help or advice where needed.”  

I received funding to create a pop-up cinema for one of the quarterly market events that Creative West End runs and this has helped me to set up a hireable asset that I’ve since provided to other events. Generating income in this way has enabled me to purchase equipment, including a large cinema screen, build up the business potential (as I’m now able to teach skills as well as provide them) and network further afield. ​​

I’m now in the process of setting up a digital arts studio based in Morecambe and again, Creative West End has been instrumental to this. Some of our group members are people that I met and worked with previously through the network.

Creative West End also funded our early projects as we learned to create augmented reality models to display within our community. These types of digital skills are really lacking in our region as most technology-focused people tend to head south. So, having been helped by Creative West End on my path, I’m now able to help others develop their own skills.

I believe this shows that even a small amount of funding can have long term and widespread impact, if it’s provided alongside reasonable support for up-and-coming creatives.

Building friendships

I think for me personally, one of the ways my membership of Creative West End has helped the most has been through widening my social circle.

I have met over a hundred fellow creatives that I can call upon for help or advice where needed, but I have also built many genuine friendships that have developed out of working regularly with others in a stress-free environment. This was so important to helping me rebuild my life quickly as we came out of lockdown.

Creative West End has really played an important role in my development as a community- based artist.”

As I mentioned, at the beginning of this journey I wouldn’t have described myself as an artist, but these days I certainly do. In fact, I now proudly describe myself as the co-director of The Good Things Collective, a large membership community interest company (CIC) community arts business, having recently been elected into this position by the membership.

As I mentioned, at the beginning of this journey, I wouldn’t have described myself as an artist but, these days I certainly do. In fact, I now proudly describe myself as the co-director of The Good Things Collective, a large membership community interest company (CIC) community arts business, having recently been elected into this position by the membership.

As you can see, Creative West End has really played an important role in my development as a community-based artist. The financial support and advice that I’ve been offered has enabled both myself and the groups that I’ve been involved with to create new works and develop new ideas that have directly impacted our lived environment.

Just as importantly for me, they’ve given me the time and support that I needed to develop a creative practice that’s now developing the skills of other digital artists as well.    

A lot has happened through my time with Creative West End. I’d like to thank the project for all of the fabulous support that they’ve provided to myself and my fellow members. It really has been a wonderful organisation to be part of and we’re all very excited to see how it develops in the future.

To find out more about what the 15 Creative Civic Change projects achieved and conclusions made in the evaluation of the programme, visit the website.