The professional pathways for artists in Northern Ireland are of long-standing interest for PS². As an artist-led organisation, we mostly work with artists and creatives at the start or mid-career. Especially through the 5-year-long Freelands Artist Programme, PS², together with the Programme curators, supports artists, learns and gains considerable insight and knowledge. Though each artist, their arts practice and aspirations are different, there are general requirements for organisations and funding bodies to review and adapt their policies to create a flourishing arts ecology in the region.
In recent years, several organisations in Belfast and Northern Ireland have also started (emerging) artists support programmes, for example: Flax- Emerging Artist Hub, DAS- Support Hub  or CCA- URGENCIES.

But are we doing enough?

PS² has teamed up with Siobhán Kelly who took the subject of artists’ career pathways in Northern Ireland as the subject of her MA Arts Management dissertation: Perpetually Emerging: A Qualitative Study of Visual Arts Managers’ Perspectives on the Barriers Facing Emerging Visual Artists in Northern Ireland. [2022].

Drawing together current academic literature and interviews with local arts managers, the report presents a preliminary overview of the arts ecology in Northern Ireland.

Siobhán will present her research into this topic to open the discussion in this forum, together with Ciara Hickey and Jane Morrow.
We hope to kickstart or assist a debate about a cohesive Visual Arts Strategy for Northern Ireland across organisations and funding bodies.