Creative Catalyst: What We Bring, What We Share

Reflections from a mentor gathering at Grymsdyke Farm

On 4 June, we brought together a group of prospective Creative Catalyst mentors and sector partners at Grymsdyke Farm in Lacey Green for an evening of connection, shared thinking and creative exchange.

The gathering formed part of the wider development of Creative Catalyst, our mentoring programme supporting creative and cultural practitioners in Buckinghamshire. At its heart, the programme recognises that creative development rarely happens in isolation. It is strengthened through conversation, encouragement, shared knowledge, local understanding and access to people who can help others think through their next steps.

This evening offered space to begin building that network of support.

A space for making, research and exchange

We were warmly welcomed by Eleanor and Nigel at Grymsdyke Farm, a place rooted in research, making, materials and design practice.

The welcome offered an introduction to the work of Grymsdyke’s founder, Dr Guan Lee, and to the Farm’s long-standing relationship with architecture, education and creative experimentation. We also heard about some of Grymsdyke’s collaborations in Buckinghamshire, reflecting the role it continues to play as a space where ideas, practice and people can meet.

Eleanor also shared news of Guan’s selection as co-lead for the British Pavilion at the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale, a wonderful reminder of how internationally significant practice can grow from, and remain connected to, local places.

This felt like a fitting setting for a gathering shaped around Creative Catalyst. The evening was about connection, contribution and shared thinking, and Grymsdyke offered a generous environment for those conversations to begin.

Creative Catalyst and shared leadership

As Bucks Culture, we wanted this gathering to open up a wider conversation about the role of creative practitioners, organisations and mentors in supporting the sector’s continued development.

The group brought together people with different areas of experience, practice and knowledge. Some came with deep sector expertise, others with local connections, specialist skills or a strong interest in supporting the next stage of Creative Catalyst.

A recurring idea throughout the evening was that leadership in the cultural sector does not always sit in formal titles or fixed roles. It can be expressed through generosity, hosting, listening, opening doors, sharing contacts, offering challenge, creating opportunities and helping others find clarity.

For a mentoring programme, this matters. Mentoring is most powerful when it is not about giving all the answers. It is about creating the right conditions for someone to think, reflect, test ideas and move forward with greater confidence.

What do we bring, and what can we share?

A central question for the evening was:

What do you bring, and what can you share?

This simple prompt invited us to think about contribution: what knowledge, experience, networks, practical skills, lived experience and sector insight are already present across Buckinghamshire, and how these can be shared with care.

The gathering created space to explore how we can work more effectively together, making the most of the skills, experience and relationships already held within the county’s creative and cultural sector.

It also gave us an opportunity to listen. If mentors and partners are to support others meaningfully, they also need clarity, connection and a shared understanding of the programme’s purpose. The evening helped us think about how Bucks Culture can support that wider network, as well as the practitioners who will take part in Creative Catalyst.

From connection to collaboration

The evening included time for networking, conversation and shared making. Rather than treating networking as something separate, the gathering encouraged people to make connections through discussion, reflection and creative participation.

Together, we explored:

• How we can work more effectively together;
• What skills, knowledge or experience could be shared;
• What support Bucks Culture can offer to mentors and partners;
• What future opportunities might emerge from the connections in the room.

These conversations are part of a longer journey. Creative Catalyst is about mentoring relationships, but it is also about strengthening the wider support network around creative practitioners in Buckinghamshire. We want to help people access the right conversations, confidence and connections at the right time.

Speed Making as a shared act

One of the most memorable parts of the evening was the Speed Making activity, where attendees worked together to create vibrant, handcrafted flowers.

The activity offered a moment of energy, play and shared focus. It also gave physical form to one of the evening’s central ideas: small contributions can become something more visible and meaningful when brought together.

Each person made something individual, but the collective result carried the feeling of the group. In the context of Creative Catalyst, this felt like an apt reflection of how mentoring and sector support can work. Individual knowledge, care and experience matter. When connected, they can create something stronger.

Key themes from the evening

Creative leadership can be shared

The gathering invited us to reflect on what creative leadership might look like beyond traditional structures. Leadership can be practical, generous and relational. It can happen when people share what they know, support someone else’s development or help create the conditions for creativity to grow.

Mentoring is a relationship, not a transaction

Creative Catalyst is built around the idea that mentoring should support confidence, clarity and movement. The mentor’s role is not to take over another person’s practice, but to offer perspective, encouragement, challenge and connection.

Spaces influence the conversations we have

Holding the gathering at Grymsdyke Farm helped create a different kind of atmosphere. Being surrounded by materials, research, making and experimentation encouraged a sense of openness and curiosity. The space itself became part of the conversation.

The sector already holds a wealth of knowledge

One of our roles at Bucks Culture is to help make that knowledge more visible and more easily shared. Bringing people together allows skills, networks and experience to surface in ways that can support others.

Connection needs to lead somewhere

The evening was part of a wider programme of sector development. Conversations from the gathering will continue through Creative Catalyst and through future Bucks Culture opportunities, including our conference on 5 November, where we will explore the question: What does Creative Leadership look like in 2030?

Questions to take away

For mentors, practitioners and cultural organisations, the evening raised useful questions:

• What knowledge, experience or connections could you share with others in the sector?
• Where might your practice or organisation benefit from mentoring, challenge or fresh perspective?
• How can creative leadership be generous, inclusive and practical?
• What conditions help people move from uncertainty to action?
• How can we make better use of the expertise already present across Buckinghamshire’s cultural sector?

What happens next?

Creative Catalyst will continue to support mentoring relationships across Buckinghamshire, helping creative and cultural practitioners access tailored support, sector knowledge and practical encouragement.

The mentor gathering at Grymsdyke Farm helped shape the wider conversation around how this support can be held, shared and strengthened. It also reminded us that the future of the cultural sector depends on connection, trust, generosity and the willingness to share what we know.

Continue exploring

Creative Catalyst
Find out more about our mentoring programme for creative and cultural practitioners in Buckinghamshire.

Grymsdyke Farm
Explore Grymsdyke Farm’s work in research, design, architecture and creative practice.

Bucks Culture Conference – Save the Date!
Join us on 5 November as we explore: What does Creative Leadership look like in 2030?

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Eleanor, Nigel and the team at Grymsdyke Farm for welcoming us into such an inspiring space, and to everyone who joined the gathering and contributed their time, energy, ideas and experience.

We would also like to thank Heart of Bucks and Rothschild Foundation for their support of Creative Catalyst.

The evening formed part of our ongoing work to support creative development, connection and leadership across Buckinghamshire’s cultural sector.

Co-working Day at The Elgiva

Our first Bucks Culture Co-working Day took place at The Elgiva Theatre in Chesham, offering a relaxed space for cultural and creative practitioners to step away from their usual workspace, spend time alongside the Bucks Culture team, and access informal support.

The team spent half a day working from The Elgiva, using the space as a shared base for focused work, conversation and connection. The day was designed to be open and low-pressure: people could drop in, work alongside us, or use the opportunity to speak with members of the team about ideas they were developing.

The theme for this first co-working day was Funding, Projects and Income Generation, and conversations during the day touched on funding routes, project ideas and possible next steps. This reflected one of the reasons the co-working days were created: to offer time, space and access to practical support in a way that feels approachable, responsive and informal.

Being based at The Elgiva added so much to the atmosphere of the day. The team received a warm welcome from staff, enjoyed excellent coffee in the café, and had the unexpected bonus of being serenaded by the Silver Singers as they rehearsed in the building.

It was a lovely reminder of the value of working within cultural spaces. They are not simply venues, but places where creativity, conversation and community activity can sit alongside each other.

For the Bucks Culture team, spending time at The Elgiva was also a valuable reminder of why these co-working days matter. Stepping out of the usual work routine and into a cultural venue created a different kind of energy: more open, more connected and more rooted in the places we are here to support.

The day offered a gentle but useful insight into how co-working can support both the sector and our own way of working. Sometimes the most helpful starting point is simply having the chance to talk an idea through, ask a funding question, share where a project is getting stuck, or work in the company of others.

Discussions covered fundraising, the need for core support, creative pitches, digital resource creation, audience reach, Town of Culture application and next steps for the Chesham Cultural Plan. 

We were excited to hear more about Chesham Literary Festival, plans for Invisible Folk, Chesham’s own version of TaskMaster at the Elgiva and collective creativity through The Big Picture.

Questions to take away

If you are developing a project or funding idea, you might find it useful to ask:

• What is the core idea I want to develop?
• Who is it for, and what need does it respond to?
• What support, partners or connections would help move it forward?
• Is it mainly a creative idea, a community project, an income-generating activity, or a mixture of these?
• What would be a realistic next step?

What’s next?

Our co-working days will continue across different cultural spaces in Buckinghamshire, offering informal opportunities to connect with the Bucks Culture team and explore ideas in a supportive setting.

The next co-working day will take place on 6 July at Queens Park Arts Centre, Aylesbury. You are welcome to join us for the whole day, drop in for part of it, or simply use the space to work alongside others in the sector. Save the date!

To help us plan the day, you can let us know if you’re thinking of coming by sending us a message at Guy@buckinghamshireculture.org but drop-ins will also be welcome.

Help shape future co-working days
If you joined us at The Elgiva, we’d really value a few reflections on what was useful, what could be improved, and what support you would like to see next.

Share your feedback: Events Evaluation Form – Fill in form

From Making to Sharing: Calm Crafting & Creative Visibility

A Beyond the Session Curated Insight Brief

Supporting creative practitioners to pause, reconnect with making and consider how their work can reach local audiences.
Event Details

Why this session, why now?

When Bucks Culture asked Buckinghamshire’s creative and cultural sector what support would be valuable, managing stress and finding time for wellbeing emerged as recurring themes.

Taking place shortly after Mental Health Awareness Week, From Making to Sharing: Calm Crafting & Creative Visibility was developed in response to this feedback. The session brought together artists and creative practitioners for a gentle, participatory creative activity, followed by an informal conversation about increasing visibility for their own events, workshops and creative practice.

The session did not set out to suggest that creative activity is a solution to stress or mental health pressures. Instead, it offered participants an opportunity to pause, focus on the process of making and spend time with others in a supportive setting, before considering how they might share their own work more widely.

Participants represented a mixture of experiences and interests. Some were involved in Buckinghamshire Open Weekend, others were developing their own creative activity, and some were attending a Bucks Culture event for the first time. This made the conversation about visibility relevant across the room: whether sharing a workshop, developing an audience or simply exploring how local people might discover their work.

Making: slowing down through Madhubani art

The session began with artist Harsha Bashu, who introduced participants to Madhubani art, also known as Mithila art: a traditional painting form associated with the Mithila region of Bihar in India and parts of Nepal.

Harsha’s own practice is rooted in a personal and cultural connection to Madhubani art. Having learnt under the guidance of traditional artists, alongside conducting her own research into its cultural and historical context, she shared how the art form has supported her own creativity, focus and expression over time.

Madhubani art is known for its intricate pattern, detailed line work and vibrant visual language, often drawing on themes from nature, mythology and everyday life. Harsha explained that the name Madhubani translates as “forest of honey”, connecting the art form to the place from which it takes its name. She also spoke about its history as an art form practised and developed largely by women, offering a way to express stories, identity and lived experience through pattern and image.

Under Harsha’s guidance, participants created their own detailed paisley designs, gradually building compositions through repeated lines, shapes and decorative elements. The activity encouraged a slower pace: concentrating on individual marks, allowing patterns to develop over time and valuing the experience of making without pressure to achieve a perfect finished result.

A particularly thoughtful moment came when Harsha encouraged participants to embrace unexpected marks or lines within their drawings. Rather than treating these as mistakes to be hidden or abandoned, she invited participants to work with them and allow them to become part of the final piece.

This offered a simple but valuable reflection on creative practice more broadly: making is not always about perfection. It can also be about patience, confidence, adapting to what emerges and finding a way forward.

Sharing: helping creative activity reach audiences

Following the calm crafting activity, the session moved from making to sharing through an informal conversation with Tom Stowe from The Bucks Guide.

Tom spoke about the story behind The Bucks Guide and how he developed it as a local platform for helping people discover events, experiences and activity taking place across Buckinghamshire. He also shared some of his experience of building a mailing list and staying connected with local audiences.

The conversation opened up questions around how artists and creative practitioners can increase visibility for their own work. This included thinking about how an activity is described, where local events can be listed, and how practitioners might begin to build longer-term relationships with people interested in their work.

Although this was a light-touch introduction rather than a detailed marketing workshop, it provided a useful starting point for participants considering questions such as:

• How will local audiences discover my work or event?
• Is it clear what I am offering and who it is for?
• Where could I share upcoming activity locally?
• How could I remain connected with audiences beyond a single event?

Tom also shared that The Bucks Guide will be supporting Buckinghamshire Open Weekend as a communications sponsor, hosting Open Weekend event listings on its website. Further information and guidance for participating artists and organisations on promoting their Open Weekend activity will be shared by Bucks Culture in due course.

Connecting making and sharing

The two parts of the session invited participants to consider different, but connected, aspects of creative practice.

The first created space to slow down, concentrate and experience making without the pressure of productivity or promotion. The second encouraged participants to think outwardly: about how their own creative work, workshops or events might be described, shared and discovered by others.

For artists and creative practitioners, visibility is not only about marketing. It is also about connection. Clear communication can help audiences understand what an activity offers, feel confident about taking part and discover opportunities that may support their own creativity and wellbeing.

Moving from making to sharing therefore offered a useful progression: from experiencing the value of a creative activity personally, to considering how similar opportunities might be opened up to others.

Key takeaways

• Feedback from Buckinghamshire’s cultural and creative sector has highlighted the importance of providing space for practitioners to pause, connect and reflect alongside their professional practice.
• Madhubani art introduced participants to a culturally rooted art form in which pattern, storytelling, detailed line work and expression are closely connected.
• Taking time over a creative process can create opportunities for focus and reflection, particularly when the emphasis is placed on exploration rather than achieving a perfect outcome.
• Unexpected developments in creative work do not always need to be corrected or hidden; they can become part of the process and lead to new creative possibilities.
• Creative practitioners benefit from considering not only what they create, but also how their work is communicated and discovered by audiences.
• Local listings, newsletters and community platforms can offer practical starting points for making creative events and activity more visible.

Questions for your own practice

• Where could you create more space for making without pressure on the final outcome?
• How might you respond differently when an unexpected mark, idea or development appears in your creative work?
• If somebody new encountered your event or workshop listing, would they understand clearly what you are offering and who it is for?
• Which local platforms or community connections could help your next activity reach new audiences?
• How could you remain connected with people who have shown interest in your work after an event has taken place?

Continue exploring

Harsha Bashu and Madhubani art

Explore Harsha’s creative practice and her work with Madhubani art and community participation.
Link: http://bucksartweeks.org.uk/galleries/gallery/harsha-basu/

The Bucks Guide

Discover events, activities and local experiences taking place across Buckinghamshire.
Link: https://thebucksguide.co.uk/events/

Buckinghamshire Open Weekend

Find out more about Buckinghamshire’s annual celebration of creativity and culture. Further promotional guidance for participating artists and organisations will be shared by Bucks Culture soon.
Link: https://buckinghamshireculture.org/be-part-of-open-weekend/

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Harsha Bashu and Tom from The Bucks Guide for sharing their practice and experience, and to everyone who joined the session and contributed through conversation and making.

We would also like to thank Antosh Samek and We Make Wycombe hub for welcoming us and providing the space for this session.

From Making to Sharing formed part of Bucks Culture’s ongoing work to support connection, confidence and development across Buckinghamshire’s creative and cultural sector.

Women of Culture: International Women’s Day 2026: ‘Give To Gain’

Event details

Event Reflections and Key Insights

On 10 March 2026, Bucks Culture hosted its second Women of Culture gathering at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham, bringing together artists, cultural practitioners and community members to mark International Women’s Day.

The afternoon opened with a keynote from activist, author and founder of the Craftivist Collective, Sarah P Corbett, followed by a participatory workshop facilitated by artist Molly Bonnell. The event explored how creativity, care and thoughtful action can contribute to social change, aligning with this year’s theme Give to Gain.

Rather than focusing on activism as confrontation, the conversation centred on “gentle protest” — a strategic, compassionate form of activism that seeks to engage people in change through reflection, dialogue and creativity.

Key Themes from the Discussion

1. Activism as Strategy, Not Reaction

One of the core messages of the keynote was that effective activism requires strategy rather than immediate emotional response.

Sarah Corbett described how campaigns should begin with a series of questions:

• What is the injustice?
• What solutions are realistic?
• Who are the decision makers?
• What is the most effective tool to engage them?

Creative practice, including craft, becomes meaningful when it serves a clear campaign strategy rather than being used simply because it is enjoyable or visually appealing.

This approach reframes creativity as a deliberate tool within social change, not an end in itself.

2. The Power of “Gentle Protest”

Central to the discussion was the concept of Gentle Protest, a form of activism grounded in emotional intelligence, compassion and accountability.

Gentleness in this context does not mean passivity. Instead it involves:

• engaging power holders respectfully
• avoiding unnecessary polarisation
• creating space for reflection rather than confrontation
• encouraging participation rather than defensiveness

This approach recognises that lasting change often occurs through relationships, persuasion and persistence rather than through public spectacle alone.

3. Everyone Is a “Piece of the Puzzle”

A powerful metaphor used throughout the talk was that of a jigsaw puzzle.

Social change can often feel overwhelming because problems appear too large for any one individual to address. However, Sarah emphasised that each person has a role to play.

Participants were encouraged to see themselves as one piece of a larger puzzle:

• no individual can solve everything
• everyone brings different skills, influence and perspectives
• choosing not to act leaves a gap where one’s contribution could have been

This framing helps people move away from extremes of feeling either fully responsible for solving problems or entirely powerless.

4. Slowness as a Tool for Reflection

Craft and making were described as particularly powerful because they encourage slowness and contemplation.

The process of stitching, crafting or making something by hand creates space for reflection on complex issues. Rather than reacting quickly, participants can consider questions such as:

• What values guide my actions?
• Am I practising the values I expect from others?
• What impact do my choices have?

This reflective process allows activism to become more thoughtful, sustainable and aligned with personal values.

5. Practising What We Ask of Others

Another key insight was the importance of self-reflection before outward activism.

Participants were encouraged to consider whether they themselves embody the values they advocate for. Activism that is not rooted in personal integrity can be easily dismissed.

Craftivism projects often include reflective questions designed to encourage participants to examine their own behaviours and motivations before engaging others.

Case Study: Craftivism and the Living Wage Campaign

One of the most striking examples shared during the keynote was a campaign encouraging Marks & Spencer to pay the real Living Wage.

Instead of traditional protest tactics, activists created hand-stitched handkerchiefs for company board members. Each piece was personalised with thoughtful messages and delivered alongside carefully researched arguments for why paying the Living Wage made both ethical and business sense.

Over a ten-month period, activists maintained respectful dialogue with the company while continuing to advocate for change. The campaign ultimately contributed to the company introducing the Living Wage for 50,000 staff members.

What made the campaign effective was not the craft itself, but the wider strategy:

• personalised engagement with decision makers
• persistence over time
• respectful communication
• strong evidence supporting the request

The crafted objects acted as conversation starters and reminders, encouraging ongoing reflection among those in positions of power.

Creativity as a Catalyst for Conversation

Another project explored how small creative gestures can prompt wider public reflection.

Participants created small textile banners containing reflective questions about the fashion industry, which were placed discreetly in clothing stores. The messages invited shoppers to consider the hidden stories behind garments and the realities of garment production.

Rather than accusing or shaming individuals, the messages encouraged curiosity and awareness. The project gained international media attention and sparked discussions about ethical fashion without directly targeting specific brands.

Activism Without Burnout

A recurring theme throughout the session was the risk of burnout within activism. Many campaign movements rely heavily on anger or urgency to motivate action. While understandable, this approach can lead to exhaustion and disengagement over time. Gentle Protest instead encourages:

• sustained engagement
• emotional awareness
• strategic patience
• care for oneself and others

This allows individuals to remain involved in social change over the long term.

Audience Questions and Discussion

During the Q&A session, participants asked about the boundaries between craft, art and activism. Sarah explained that craftivism, in her approach, is characterised by several elements:

• handmade processes
• clear messaging around social issues
• strategic integration within wider campaigns

However, she emphasised that activism should always begin with identifying the issue and desired change before selecting the creative medium.

Participants also asked about activism directed at high-profile figures or global political leaders. Sarah responded that activism is most effective when focused on one’s own circle of influence, rather than targeting individuals who have little reason to listen.

Often the most impactful activism is quiet, relational and local rather than highly visible.

Key Takeaways from the Event

Participants left the event with several clear insights:

• Social change requires strategic thinking, not only passion.
• Creativity can be a powerful tool when integrated into broader campaigns.
• Respectful engagement can influence decision makers more effectively than confrontation.
• Slowing down through creative processes encourages deeper reflection.
• Every individual has a role to play in creating change, even if that role is small.

Looking Ahead

The afternoon continued with a hands-on workshop led by Molly Bonnell, inviting participants to explore creative expression, reflection and collective making.

Together, the keynote and workshop offered a powerful reminder that activism does not need to be loud to be effective. Thoughtful, compassionate and strategic actions, however small, can contribute to meaningful change.

Bucks Culture recently sat down with the creative team behind an animation for our upcoming “Creative Catalyst” project. Illustrator Eliott Bulpett teamed up with animator Emmett Green to create a fun and informative 1 minute piece breathing new life into our conference illustrations.

Eliott is an illustrator and mural artist based in Bucks. Eliotts’ work is bright joyful and full of character. Utilising excellent colour palettes their bold, graphic style uses flat shapes, playfulness and exaggerated proportions to create fun characters and lively compositions that feel both simple and full of personality.

Emmett, animator and motion designer, has a background in graphic design. His engaging work has covered advertising, healthcare, research, and charity work for organisations big and small across the country. Emmett’s expertise spans the full animation production pipeline: art direction, storyboarding, style development, character animation, and motion graphics. Driven by a commitment to storytelling that makes a positive impact, his work consistently reflects a sensitivity to people and the planet.

Together, they created this little beauty for us….https://youtu.be/bK6zOSfD4zw

We took a moment to discuss their processes, inspirations, collaboration and their views on the current cultural landscape.

Bucks Culture (BC)
As freelance creatives, how have you found the recent landscape given talks around AI and the current financial crisis. Have you managed to stay busy or have you found it getting harder to find work?

Eliott  
Maybe this year, I feel like I have had not as much stuff. I mean, I’m very used to people just coming to me like I’ve never been very good at outcoming. So I feel like it’s time that I’ve actually really got to start self-marketing now as people aren’t coming to me as much and I can sit for weeks just thinking like, I’ll update my website etc..

BC -That’s good that people have reached out to you obviously, they must like your work! I agree that it’s tricky in that you create the work, and then there’s that whole other admin marketing side of things. That’s another full time job basically, isn’t it?

Emmett Green  
Yes, and we can rarely pay someone else to do that. We still have to do all the admin and marketing for ourselves – and it’s always the least fun part.

Emmett Green  
Yeah, it’s the selling yourself part that I think where a lot of really talented creatives kind of fall off and end up not being as successful, because you have to have that almost salesperson inside yourself for it to work financially when it’s just you. But although I think the whole creative industry has been struggling a little bit, it feels like it’s on a bit of an uptick.
I don’t know whether Elliot would agree with that or like it’s there’s been a really bad year or two and it feels like there’s some recovery happening now.

Eliott
I think I’ve seen a lot more of people doing well, especially if they’re doing handmade stuff, like actually making things as opposed to digital work. Because, I mean, I’m putting a lot of the struggles down to AI and stuff people can make there digitally. So if you’re making stuff and doing stuff that can’t be recreated by the AI market, then I’ve seen a lot of people almost turning to the handmade as a way to survive.

BC
Are you tweaking your practises at all with that in mind or have you not been able to as you’re tied into digital tools and commercial worlds?

Eliott 
Yeah, I do a lot of digital stuff, but something I always want to do is murals. I have been getting that work more and more and it’s something that I think would be a good thing to focus on because a computer can’t paint a wall!

BC
Emmett, what about you?

Emmett Green 
I kind of dabble in a few areas, but it is predominantly animation – which is kind of impossible to get away from as its a digital landscape. I think in terms of the AI thing, I
I could kind of bury my head in the sand a bit and be like, well, it can only create static images, so it can’t do my job and then over time it started to encroach on animation and motion design more than it was originally. I have a passion and belief that it will be fine and that as time goes on, people will recognise that AI is kind of like slop, that particularly with the animation side of things, it’s incredibly hard to control. Yes, it can create a thing that moves. But implementing client feedback into it is next to impossible. It can’t take direction like a person can. I can change the scene that I’ve created in exactly the way that you need me to change it. AI can’t.

BC
When client feedback does come, how do you take that as obviously you put a lot of time and effort into your projects?

Eliott
I think you learn to get used to it and most clients are usually OK about things. It’s just small things and I can deal with that fine. I remember this one particular client I had for a really long time and I would send them so much stuff and then they’d be like, oh, let’s do a completely different thing so I had to really learn to not be precious over things.
But, I think mostly as long as I prepare people in advance with the sketch and say “these are the colours I’m going to use” etc I’m fine.

Emmet:
I would second that. One thing that we worked a lot on was the process with this animation for Bucks Culture, we wanted to make sure that we checked in at key stages and I’m a really big believer in storyboards – it’s like gospel when it comes to animation.
If we’re happy with the whole storyboard and everyone’s on the same page, then that’s the easiest way to avoid drastic changes towards the end. But it does still happen. People change their minds. It happens.

Emmett Green 
I’m maybe not as good as Elliot in terms of not taking that personally. If there’s some part of an animation that I spent ages working on, the movement of it, and I think it’s a great addition to the message and it has a purpose… and then a client says, let’s cut that out. That is a bit harder for me, and sometimes I will push back and say “you’ve come to me as a creative professional. – I’m assuming you think I know what I’m doing because I know what I’m doing and in my professional opinion this is here for a reason” etc and try and find a compromise between cutting a thing out completely, or do we keep it because it has this reason?
I like trying to almost drill down into what is it that they don’t like and see if there is a way to compromise and maintain the message or the quality or the story.

Emmett Green  
But you have to put that very professionally and also at the end of the day, you know you are being paid to do a job. So I will work on it until the person that’s paying me is happy!

BC

It’s an art itself, isn’t it? Managing those things, client relations! How do you both know each other and where did you first meet start?

Eliott   It was like a really weird coincidence, really, because we’ve not known each other for very long at all. It was literally a few weeks before this project started. And yeah, Emmett had messaged me about wanting to animate some of my stuff just for us to do some personal projects together, which we did. And it was really, really awesome.
And then Bucks Culture emailed me about doing an animation project and I was like, I’m not an animator. I was like, wait a minute. Like, I know a guy. So yeah. And it literally was like, like, really close when it all happened. So it was just, like, perfect timing.

Emmett Green  
Yeah, it was. It did feel kind of like a divine intervention. It was really weird, though. That said, I I guess in my head, our kind of working relationship started a lot earlier than that because I had followed Elliot on Instagram for a really long time.

Eliott  
And I’d actually ignored messages from you that I’ve never saw. They were all in my DMS, you know.

Emmett Green  
Years ago I had messaged you and said I love your work. It’s great. Can I animate it? Silence. No reply ever.

Eliott  
Sure.That’s Instagram,

Emmett Green  
Yeah, I think it shoved me into like message requests and you just never looked there, but then it happened. I can’t remember what it was that you posted. You posted a really lovely illustration. And I commented and was like, OK, I’m going to do it publicly this time. I really like your work. Can I animate it please?

BC
That’s great. So have you have you met in real life?
Emmett Green  
No.
Eliott  
No.
Emmett Green  
We probably should! When we did this project with the animation, we were having little calls to talk about it. But yeah, we got on.

Emmett Green  I think we’re both quite chilled out. So it was quite easy. I mean, I don’t know whether you would say this about me, but I found it really easy to work with Eliott.

Eliott  
It was very good. I mean, I’ve never collaborated with another person on a project before, so this is the first time I’ve done any sort of collaboration and having to like almost pass over my work and let someone else with it. And that was really, really cool. Yeah. And I’ve never, like, gone into the world of motion with my illustrations, so very cool for me to be like, wow, I’ve been presented this whole video of my illustrations moving like this is insane. Like it was really pretty cool.
BC  
Was there a bit of trepidation about handing over your illustrations?

Eliott  
I was excited. I wasn’t, like, nervous about it. I was just, like, absolutely pleased. Like do it like this is gonna be amazing. But yeah, I was very excited..

Emmett Green  
I was only going to say maybe it helped that we had literally just done that passion project where there were no clients or money involved. It was just you gave me some really nice sea creatures and I did a thing.

Emmett Green 
And so we would we kind of already had that relationship. So by the time that we started to work together with this project, I felt like we’re both quite comfy with each other.
And there was trust there.

BC
What was the initial meeting like that you guys had about the projects you’ve worked on? What was the process?

Eliott  
I think for the personal one we did because I’d it was easy as Emmett used illustrations I’d already done, so I literally was just like, oh, here’s the file. Do what you want. Send me it. Very relaxed. I didn’t do anything at all really. But then when we had to do this project because I’d never done anything like this, I was literally like, I don’t know how to do this. You need to tell me!

You very were very good about doing the storyboard because I can’t even like think movement wise. Like I just didn’t know how that came together. So the fact that you did that was awesome. And then I just sort of just did everything you told me to do and then sent it back.

Emmett Green  That makes me sound very authoritarian!

Eliott  
It’s because you have that experience. You knew what you’re doing. I just knew how to draw.
Emmett Green  
Yeah, that was it. I guess I led the process, like we need to do this stage and then we’ll do this stage and I need these things from you at this stage. But we did also chat about it.
Emmett Green 
I think we had a meeting where we got the script and we kind of bounced a couple of ideas and suggestions about we could for this scene, and this kind of thing for that scene. And then I think I did some really rough sketches of the storyboard and shared them with everyone.
Eliott
Yeah. And I pretty much said yes, it’s perfect. And so because we sort of had the visuals, it meant that you had something to work from when even when you were creating the storyboards, we already knew what the style was going to be and what the overall look was going to be.
Emmett Green  
Yeah, definitely, definitely. And I think, yeah, I was just like because because with animation is there is like a technical and file organisation aspect that is less present.
In illustration, so that was the part of it where I could help a bit more. I think that the last agency that I’d worked in full time, we used a really similar process for every animation that we made and it was illustrators that I would work with. And so I kind of just followed that template, because it had worked however many times like 50 times. So doing it with Elliot then just felt like natural to me and hopefully everything I said made sense.
Eliott  
I think because we had such a short span of time like we were under a deadline pressure, a little bit as well. So we sort of just like had to just go for it and trust each other.
BC
What sort of programming do you guys use – is it Adobe that you both work with or is there any other kind of tools that you use to sort of animate or illustrate what’s?
Eliott  
I pretty much draw everything on my iPad, so I use like the Procreate drawing app. Then I use like Illustrator and Photoshop. So like a lot of the vector stuff that I’ve done is all in Illustrator which is good fun and then obviously for motion graphics you sort of need those illustrator files. So I was working a lot in that as well.
Emmett Green  
Yeah, yeah, I use after effects is what I animate pretty much everything in and then yeah, it depends on what kind of style the animation is because it might be vector graphic, so it would be maybe the illustrator or if there’s loads of texture it could be a procreate file that’s now a Photoshop file and that’s what I kind of bring into after effects. So it’s very Adobe heavy.
BC
They’ve kind of got the market haven’t they?
Emmett Green 
Yeah, yeah.
I think there’s good alternatives for static stuff now, but I cannot find another programme that has the same kind of technical options and the same kind of setup as after effects, yeah.
Eliott  
And I feel like with it being sort of like the industry standard that if someone needs an actual illustrator file or an actual Photoshop file, then I can’t let go of this ridiculously expensive subscription because I’m so scared that like I will need it.

Guy Morris  
And what about hands-on materials that you work like to work with?

Eliott  
Mainly it’s painting murals for clients. I don’t do a lot of traditional work for clients. There’s so much of it they need digitally, like it’s going on their website or their social media. And it’s so much easier if I create a digital file that they can use. I did a children’s book. It came out this year and originally I had this like big dream that I was going to collage it. I was like really into like a bit of a collage phase. And I did like a test thing for them. And I loved it. And I was like, this is the best thing I’ve ever made. It’s going to be the best book. And then they were like, maybe don’t collage it…

Eliott 
It’s one of the things that like, it’s not as easy to edit and it takes a long time and I understood where they were coming from and that it was harder to get the stuff that they needed into it. And yeah, it wasn’t a very big budget for that book. So I’m glad I didn’t spend ages trying to collage every page, but I always think like, oh, it would be nice to do more stuff like that because it’s quite appealing to look at like stuff that you’ve made by hand, and it’s got real stuff in it as opposed to just being like computer stuff that’s flat.

Emmett Green  
I do occasionally more for fun. I really like Posca pens a lot. I love those. I love the colour that you get out of them. So sometimes I like to be away from the screen and do things like that. But I do spend a lot of my time looking at screens and being in a digital space, though most of the time I am trying to emulate a very textured hand drawn thing that feels tactile or feels real.

Emmett Green  
That’s the kind of the direction I take with most of my projects and what I really enjoyed about the Bucks Culture project as well, although it was all digital, there were elements of that that Elliot drew frame by frame – the final animation we kind of used a lot of effects stacked over the top of all these things to make it feel as much as possible, as though a person had drawn every single frame which isn’t physical, but still has that care and attention has been put into every picture.

BC. It did work really well. What’s next for you both?

Eliott  
I mean, if people come to me for more stuff like this, I would definitely love to get involved in more projects like this and use Emmett’s motion and video skills as there’s a massive market out there. Maybe we’ll have more interest in that. I would love to do it again. It was really good.

Emmett Green  
I think equally I have some illustration ability, but I could not get anywhere near Eliott’s level. So I would definitely love to work with you again and especially to use your illustrations in a lovely animation would be really fun.
I guess in terms of the wider goal and plans like I’m doing a lot of teaching at the moment, which does eat up a lot of my time, so it makes creating things for myself kind of go on the back burner a little bit.

BC
Yes, making and creating takes a lot of time doesn’t it?

Eliott 
Well, I feel quite bad because I I feel like I draw really fast and so I feel like I’m ruining the expectation! Sometimes I will almost delay sending clients things ’cause I’m like “oh, I can’t let them think that I got it done in a few hours!”
Although in comparison like when I’ve done murals… I was asked to paint 4 shipping containers. They weren’t arty people, they were 12 feet high. 40 feet long. It’s huge.
It took me 10 days and then when I sent them the invoice, they’re like, well, this is so much more than we were expecting! This is crazy. And I’m like, what did you expect? I painted four shipping containers. It took a while!

Emmett Green 
Even when you’re not drawing something frame by frame it still takes time especially character animation, which is like the thing that I really specialise in. It takes a long time. You’ve got a puppet that you’re manipulating in every way, every little shift and movement. So it is very, very time consuming. I think people don’t always recognise that I can’t remember how many hours I put into projects. I don’t think I’ve tracked it properly, but for the Bucks Culture project, the actual animation time is probably something like 60 hours. To make one minute, you know.
Emmett Green 
Yeah. And that’s even without like deciding what is going on and kind of coming up with a plan before you actually turn up and start the making.

BC So, when opportunities come up, how do your ideas begin – Do you have set routines or things that you do, or is it always a different process?

Eliott 
It depends how good the brief is. I really like being told very specifically what to do. It sounds really boring, but like I would much prefer a client to be like. “This is the kind of style we want”. Like even if they take it from my website. I had a book project where they’d literally like already photoshopped things I’d already made onto the book.
And they were like, this is what we want. This is gonna have a monkey. This is gonna have this. And it was so easy. And it meant that I could just have fun knowing that they were happy. Whereas when there’s like no limits, it makes it really hard to decide what I am going do.
BC – Would you typically do some sketches? Send that over as like a a mood board type thing and see what they come back with?
Eliott  
Yeah. I always send colour with my sketches, I know some people don’t do that, but for me I think my art is very colour based and so if I send a black and white sketch, I’m like you’re not getting the full picture of like what I’m imagining. So I have to send colour with sketches and usually I think that gives people a better idea of what they’re getting.

BC – Where did it kind of begin? Did you go to university and study a certain discipline and when did you know that you wanted to do something in the creative industries?

Emmett Green  
Yeah, I had known for quite a long time, that I wanted to go into the creative industries. I was very set from about when I was around 14 or 15. I’d already made the decision. I’m going to go to university.
I’m going to go to Nottingham Trent. I’d already chosen and I was going to study graphic design and then I was going to be a graphic designer and that was it. The plan was kind of decided and I was extremely sure about that until the end of my first year at university.
We were then given a really, really lovely project which was to use an egg as the main character to animate and we gave him a little face and it was it was so fun. We filmed it in one of our groups, kitchens. It was great and I enjoyed it so much that.

At the end I kind of had a crisis of “what am I going to do!”, “should I have studied animation this whole time!?” But that was where the discovery kind of happened and then after that I did stick with graphic design and even now.
I still like graphic design and I teach graphic design, so still there. It’s just I like things that move. When I discovered that I was actually capable of doing that, then I got really into it and kind of just didn’t give up until I was good enough at it to get a job.

BC – I guess it’s good nowadays as a creative to be multi-faceted?

Emmett Green  
Yeah, the graphic and motion design inform each other. I think that’s where I’m at with it now. It’s like, particularly in the context of certain campaigns and stuff for social media, It’s not animation in the same sense as a film. There’s a goal, you’re trying to persuade someone to do something which really links into the principles of graphic design and visual communication.

BC – Everything’s so fast-paced now, isn’t it? Images and video is such a huge thing but it needs to be able to cut through the noise and grab the audiences attention – and even just a little bit of motion in your in your imagery has a lot more impact.

How about you Eliott, have you ever studied animation or has working with Emmett been the first time your work has been animated?

Eliott  
I’ve done some frame by frame stuff, so where I’ve like illustrated every little bit I’ve not really ever like, probably studied it. It’s just been like things that I’ve done going back to the last question though it’s interesting that I also did graphic design before illustration.
So from a very, very young age, I think I was like 3 when at school, you know, we have to like, write stuff about yourself, but your teacher writes it because you can’t even write yet. And it literally said like when I grow up, I’m going to be an artist. So like doing art has always been like the only thing I don’t think I had another career plan ever.
But I also never really knew like what a career as an artist was. I would just say, oh, I’m going to be an artist. I didn’t know what that meant, but I was going to do it. And then when it came to what I was going to do after my GCSEs and I was looking at colleges, I went to an open day for fine art because I thought, oh, I know how to draw. And then I ended up while I was waiting to speak to that teacher, the graphic design teacher wasn’t doing anything, so we’re like, oh, we’ll just go and chat with her while she’s there. I was looking through the students work. And I was like, “oh, I need to be on this course!” And I did that course even though I think I knew at that point I wasn’t going to be a graphic designer.
But I think that was when I learned what illustration was and my teacher was very, very nice and she would always, like, she’d set us briefs, but then she’d tweak them so that I could do an illustration, slash, graphic design sort of thing. But I still think because then I went to university and did illustration, so that was definitely like what I knew I wanted to do.
But I think knowing graphic design helped me with my illustration 10 times like I would never undo learning graphic design because I think it is like the building blocks of like everything else that I’ve learned, even if it’s just like the programmes and knowing about typography and like just, I think, yeah. So many fundamentals came from doing graphic design.

BC
This it’s funny that you both sort of stumbled into what you were doing when you were thinking of zigging and then you zagged the other way. I think what is probably really valuable is the practical skill sets you’ve gained. Learning something like the Adobe creative suite. That’s a useful thing and an industry standard.
Eliott 
It was interesting when I was at university and like being able to see the difference between my classmates who had never touched the digital side of things or the graphic design side of things. But I was like, oh, this is actually helping me so much with what we’re trying to do here.

BC

It’s like a real world skill, isn’t it? The like employee, you know, employers would value.

Emmett Green  
Yeah. I would even say beyond the technical like it’s visual problem solving as well and that it’s a particular set of thinking that you might not get in a different environment. I mean, I would campaign for graphic design to just be renamed to visual communication because I think that describes it better. It’s almost learning an extra language.

Eliott   I think that it’s very rare that your illustrations are going to be just your illustrations, unless you are doing a gallery show and it’s just sitting on the wall. Like every social media post my art has been alongside a bunch of text, they’re always a part of something else.

BC  What’s your favourite part of the design process?

Eliott  – I really enjoy drawing a really diverse sets of characters. It’s one of my favourite things. That’s the number one thing I want to do because I enjoy the difference of, like creating people.

And if I’m struggling to think how can I draw this person? I might think of people that I know or see.

BC
When you’re drawing people characters, do they literally just come out of your imagination, or is there any visual reference?

Eliott  
I sometimes use references for like the poses, especially if it’s scenes of people I will look up images of people and be like, right and I will draw almost everyone as completely blank figures in the poses I want and then in terms of like the characters and what they look like, that just comes straight from me just choosing and picking random things and giving them as many different like characteristics as I can have a go at.

BC
What about backgrounds?

Eliott  
I don’t know, some days I might even use my own photos that I’ve taken of my family, we’re big hikers and walkers. So we go to a lot of very pretty places around the UK. So I’ve got a lot of photos of like hills and things. One project I did when for a book was based in a small town in Australia and it had to be that town and I obviously can’t go to Australia. I was on Google Maps and I would just walk in Street View down the streets and I was taking screenshots of certain buildings. I remember when I sent the artwork to the authors who lived there and they looked at it and they’re like, Oh my God, like, that’s our town. Oh, like certain buildings, I’d like mashed bits together like it was never a direct reference. But I’d sort of like, taken features.

BC

What has been big influences for both of you whether that be other illustrators or animators, animated movies, children’s books. Are there any people who have influenced your work?

Eliott 
I mean, I have a whole shelf here of children’s books that I’ve liked. I love making children books. I think that’s like all I ever buy. If I go to a bookshop, I’m just like in this children’s section, like buying all the children’s books! It’s nice when some of these books are made by illustrators that I follow online and a lot of these are actually people that graduated from my university.
So there’s this full circle moments where like I see all these published books. And I’m like, oh, they went to my uni. They went to my uni, they were in the class above me. So I think that that’s very cool! I’m on Instagram a lot. I I think it’s the best for looking at art. So I’m I’m always like saving stuff and looking at stuff.
So I might be like influenced by certain things, but I think at this point I’ve been doing it long enough now, where sometimes when I’m working on a new project, I make a mood board of like my own art. It’s nice to be my own reference and I can look back and think, oh, I really like what I did for that project.
So it’s less an influence for the people at this point and more of like building on what I’ve done in the past that I’ve really liked like moving on that way.

Emmett Green 
I am heavily influenced by video games, and although that’s not animation all the time they move, and like stylistically in terms of characters and stuff. Yeah, all the Nintendo stuff that’s my kind of inspiration based really, but there are a lot of motion designers and animators that I follow around a lot and a lot of studios that are really lovely. And there’s one particular studio in London called Animate. They make really lovely work and their whole ethos is that they bring character and personality to everything, even if they’re animating a shape, it still has a personality and it’s still like a character.

BC
Lovely to speak to you both. Is there anything else you want to say about your work or the Bucks Culture project before we go?

Emmett Green 
I certainly don’t reflect on projects enough. Especially when you’re working to a deadline, it’s so laser focused on that. And then when it’s finished, it’s just on to the next. So it was really lovely actually to reflect on this project and say actually we did this really well. We work together really well. Everyone was really happy with it. It was a great project because we don’t do that enough. So it’s been lovely for that, for sure.

Eliott’s work can be viewed here – https://eliottbulpett.com/

Find out more about Emmett’s work here – https://www.emgreenanimates.com/

Bucks Culture was formed to support the creative and cultural sector to develop and grow whilst also providing a talking space to tackle the agendas faced by the communities we work with and the creative organisations we support. 

Working in collaboration across Bucks allows us to support the cultural sector to address key issues and climate change features highly.

The Going Green Gatherings offer an opportunity to not only build connections but also share insights into best practices. The team at Bucks Culture co-produced the Going Green Gatherings with Amersham Museum as part of their 12-month Going Green project, funded by Museum Development South East. The idea behind the group was for like-minded organisations to discuss and support one another in their green initiatives. 

The only approach to tackling climate change is a joined-up one 

Collaboration provides opportunity to widen reach and share information both within the sector and beyond. Increasing impact demands working, not only within the creative and cultural sectors, but across sectors to share knowledge and resources as we support each other in our endeavours towards lasting change. As a creative and cultural sector we are presented with the opportunity to help raise the profile of great causes and projects, working towards a more sustainable future for all. Art and creativity are essential tools for sharing information, translating complex data into more accessible formats, reaching new audiences and initiating behaviour change. 

Session Content 

The sessions are peer-led, with host spots available for suggested guest speakers to share top tips for greener futures. This series of fun and engaging sessions delivered mostly online allowed attendees to learn from each other. 

Going Green Concepts

The first session, “Going Green Concepts,” covered the language of climate change and actions that organisations might take, presented by Samantha Free from Sustainable Amersham. During the ensuing conversation, we heard from Jim Davey-Hewins, Environmental & Sustainability Lead at Chiltern Music Therapy, who provided insight into creating a Sustainability Strategy and shared the following links. 

Link to Chiltern Music Therapy’s latest Environmental Report

https://www.chilternmusictherapy.co.uk/stories/chiltern-music-therapys-2023-2024-environmental-report.

Link to Greeenhouse Gas Reporting Conversion Factors 2024

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2024

How Sustainable Is Your Venue?  (session 2)

With many community spaces tasked with reaching Net Zero by 2030 the struggle is real, the target is unrealistic, and the sector is under–resourced to attain impactful change. So, where do we start?

Mike King from Project Zero, formed by Bucks Business First to support businesses on their journey to Net Zero shared an approach and resources https://bbf.uk.com/net-zero-ngage Rory Cullen, Historic Buildings Consultant, introduced the concepts and practicalities behind improving the thermal performance of listed buildings in his work at Cullen Conservation.

How Green Is Your Digital Practice, and how can museums manage their collections more sustainably?  (session 3)

Digital practice is a big challenge for the creative sector, and we were delighted to discover that actually making something uses less carbon than digital creation, rendering and storage. 

Learning from the experts. 

In February we were treated to a journey through film and digital creativity with researcher and educator Dr Rebecca Harrison, who leads the Environmental Impact of Filmmaking Project. Rebecca shared how to work to reduce the carbon footprint of online digital practices and urged participants to consider the impact of generative AI.  

Read more about Rebecca’s work here  –  eifproject.com and writingonreels.uk.

In the second part of the session, Lorraine Finch, Director LFCP, took us on a journey through real-life case studies. Lorraine’s session provided insight into actionable, low cost solutions to motivate the sector towards positive and sustainable behaviour change for arts, culture, and heritage settings. 

More about Lorraine’s work.  – Creating Change in Cultural Heritage

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecaringconservator

Joining the dots (session 4)

Melissa Linsey from Dacorum Heritage Trust led our final workshop to explore some of the ways in which we might make greener choices for our visitor events. Appreciating that much of our environmental sustainability work focuses behind the scenes to reduce our carbon footprint, such as on insulation, heating and lighting, Melissa asked whether the choices we make for our visitor activities, shops and displays are of equal thought and value.

From how to complete carbon calculations to implementing sustainable strategies, we emerge from the first series of sessions with plenty of work to complete. We have opened the conversation around AI and the environmental impact thereof and this is just the beginning. The sessions offer the opportunity to process new information in a group setting. We aren’t tackling the problem alone and can go so much further as a collective. 

We are working on shared resources to signpost the sector to new information, championing great work and inviting creative orgs to make energy-saving steps towards a more sustainable future. We hope we can all be part of supporting positive behaviour change towards best sustainable solutions within our sector and beyond.. 

A big thank you to all for forming this group, coming together to support impactful change.

Join us on the creative journey to net zero 

We aim to meet quarterly for the next year and are working on a collective marketing campaign sharing Top Tips for Greener Future to support more sustainable practices in our working lives.

Interested in being involved get in touch with Kerry – Email – Kerry@buckinghamshireculture.org

We are delighted to share an overview of feedback from our online session on the 20th March, expertly facilitated by the Team at Axon Black, using the interactive feedback platform, Butter. The format was fun and engaging capturing a broad range of responses, which we are busy transforming into programme content. A big thank you to all who joined us.

Read all about it below

Hopes & Concerns

Hopes for collaboration with Bucks Culture:

• Establishing community partnerships for impactful cultural projects.
• Support with funding applications and networking within the arts sector.
• A thriving cultural sector with increased funding, accessibility, and participation.
• More engagement from mid-level and entry-level employees, not just senior leadership.

Concerns & Desired Support:

• Sustainability challenges due to funding cuts and low engagement.
• The need for stronger networking and collaboration across Bucks.
• Financial reliance on funding, with interest in exploring alternative revenue streams.

I Like, I Wish, I Wonder

Likes: Freedom in creative work, Bucks’ heritage, volunteer collaboration, large-scale creative events.
Wishes: More funding, better attendance at training events, stronger networking, better transport to cultural venues.
Wonders: Possibility of pub theatres, better tech solutions, a shared membership scheme, a Bucks Fringe Festival.

Challenges & Solutions Discussion

Top Voted Challenges:

1. Geographic size and connectivity across Bucks.
2. Understanding community appetite for culture.
3. Managing workload and avoiding overwhelm.

How Might We…?

• Leverage Bucks’ geography for stronger cultural connections?
• Gain deeper insights into community engagement with arts and culture?
• Streamline cultural project delivery for better efficiency?

Successes (Rose), New Opportunities (Bud), and Challenges (Thorn)

Successes: Growth in cultural projects, strengthened networks, volunteer engagement, securing funding for historic preservation.
New Opportunities: Mentoring young creatives, environmental projects, new plays and exhibitions, collaboration with film studios.
Challenges: Overwhelming funding processes, time constraints, difficulty in marketing/sales, economic impact on visitor numbers.

Other Ideas for Impact

• Guest speakers from community groups to provide direct insights.
• Funding and grant seminars.
• Networking events that bridge diverse cultural groups.
• Exploring new income streams (retail, venue hire, events).
• Training, mentoring, and upskilling young professionals.
• Wellbeing sessions to support those working in the sector.
• Developing a shared volunteer pool across cultural organisations.

The opportunity for partners to continue to share support needs, ideas for programme content, and ambitious project plans remains open. 

You are invited to share ideas and input into programme content via Padlet. Please note, Padlet allocates quirky animal names to new users. Nothing to do with us, honest!

Click link below to share your ideas via Padlet  

Add your input to Creative Culture Conversation Padlet

The Bucks Culture Creative Collaboration Conference took place in November 2024. The Conference successfully brought together professionals, creatives, and community leaders to explore the power of collaboration in the arts. Held at the newly opened Garsington Studios, the event provided an inspiring setting for insightful discussions, creative exploration, and networking opportunities. The conference aimed to facilitate meaningful conversations on the challenges and joys of creative collaboration while fostering new partnerships to enhance cultural engagement across Buckinghamshire. 

The venue provided a beautiful backdrop to a cultural event that invited audiences to share insight into practice and disseminate learning to support future collaboration whilst providing opportunity for creative exploration.  

The event was well attended and allowed Bucks Culture to work closely with new partners. The event supported sector-wide conversations surrounding the challenges and joys of creative collaboration both within the sector and beyond, and examined what it means to co-create with communities. The conference was established with the intention to connect, collaborate and co-create, an outcome we continue to pursue in the delivery of Buckinghamshire’s Cultural Strategy. Our 2024 event incorporated the inaugural Bucks Spark Award Ceremony, now set to be a regular feature of the cultural calendar.

We are proposing that future conferences be developed by a small group of key strategic partners working together to shape the format and programme the conference read more about the conference and feel free to send us your suggestions. 

Process 

Our partners, the board, the creative sector and the internal team were invited to make suggestions for the programme during board meetings, lead-in sector development sessions, and via the newsletter with a call for contributions surveyed online. 

In addition to the open invitation for contributions the development of the programme was informed by feedback and evaluation from 2023, aiming to capture suggestions and implement changes to build a model better suited to the needs of audiences.  

Three Words Analysis 

This is what Chat GPT thought of responses to our ‘what 3 words describe your experience’ question. 

The responses to the “three words” question reflect overwhelmingly positive experiences, with key themes emerging: 

1. Inspiration & Engagement 

Many attendees described the event as inspiring, engaging, thought-provoking, and enlightening. This suggests that the conference successfully delivered fresh perspectives and meaningful discussions, resonating with participants on both an intellectual and emotional level. 

2. Networking & Connection 

Words like welcoming, friendly, vibrant, connection, and collaborative indicate that the event fostered an inclusive and supportive environment for attendees to interact, share ideas, and build relationships. 

3. Learning & Insight 

Terms such as informative, insightful, educational, and paradigm-shifting reinforce the idea that the event provided valuable knowledge and challenged conventional ways of thinking. 

4. Energy & Atmosphere 

Words like dynamic, lively, fun, happy, and exciting suggest a positive and high-energy atmosphere, making the experience enjoyable beyond just the formal content. 

5. Areas for Improvement 

A few words, such as inaccessible, poorly attended, and tiring, indicate that some participants experienced challenges, possibly around accessibility, turnout, or event pacing. These could be key areas to address in future iterations. 

Overall Takeaway 

The conference was largely seen as an engaging and enriching experience, successfully fostering inspiration, connection, and learning.