I’ve long dreamed of going to art school. Studying art in a lofty building, with ample studio space, and paints galore. But as a working class person, it’s hard to take a chance on an investment that might not pay off. In light of that, these are some of the ways I’ve become a self-taught working artist;
1. Find people
Some of the things you might benefit from at school such as teachers, mentors, equipment, peers – you’ll have to find in the world for yourself. In a way, designing your own kind of school. Start by looking up organisations in your city; do any of them offer artists’ outreach programmes, writing programmes, workshops? With these opportunities, you can meet, like minded artists, potential collaborators or mentors, who can guide your next steps.
A couple of the programmes I’ve done include; Barbican Young Poets (for poetry), FLAMIN, Film London ( for moving image) and now the Turps’ Correspondence course (for painting).
If you’re based in a smaller city, and a lot of the opportunities are London based, see if any of the programmes in London offer remote options (like the ones above do), or if they might support some of your travel into sessions.
2. Find your practice
This is a great opportunity to experiment. Start by going to different exhibitions, familiarizing yourself with your local and national scenes. Whose work speaks to you and why?
Practice critiquing the work you see, think critically; what’s successful and what holds it back. This will help you work out what your drawn to, and what you would like to make.
A lot of artists may have started out making work in one discipline, for example moving image, and later transitioned into a different discipline like installation or performance. A lot of this depends on the contexts that you might like to show your work in; galleries, books, informally, online. The research and inspiration of your work might also inform what medium you use.
Once you get an idea of what you might like to do, start experimenting and learning.
3. Learn
As I mentioned above, there are a lot of alternative learning spaces. As I mostly wanted to hone my writing and filmmaking abilities. I applied to programmes focused on that.
But depending on what you’d like to learn, you can find workshops on photography, screenprinting, ceramics ect. Some of these might be discounted, others you might have to pay for. Some courses might offer classes for free, or even pay you a small bursary to attend.
These programmes are great opportunities to experience ‘crits’ where peers and programme leaders might provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your work. This’ll help you grow and develop as an artist.
They may also give you an exhibition opportunity or a showing, afterwards. This is great to work up confidence in your practice, and allows you to get comfortable discussing your finished work with people.
Many organisations host free talks programmes, screenings, workshops and exhibition tours, which is another great avenue to learn.
4. Alternative art schools
If you love a school environment like I do, and might like to be involved in something more formally organised, then here are a handful of alternative school/learning programmes, you can have a look at.
- No Evil Eye Cinema International
- Radical Film School London
- Other Cinemas London
- Barbican Young Poets London/Remote
- Soho Writers London
- Bush Theatre Writers London
- Turps Correspondence Course Remote
- East Bristol Contemporary Bristol
- School for Poetic Computation New York/Remote
- Tinhouse Writers Workshop International/Remote
- School of the Damned UK
- Syllabus VIII UK
- FLAMIN, Film London UK
5. Residencies
Residencies are also another great way to get a bit of time to think about your practice, and work on it. Usually, you get supported with a stipend, accommodation, and sometimes a materials budget.
If there are any countries or organisations globally you are curious about, make a list of them. Make sure to include in your application what you would benefit from being in that specific place. Is it broadening your networks, or does your practice align with some of the traditional craftsmanship of that country? What would you like to do with your time? It helps to be ambitious, but also realistic i.e. you may not be able to finish a whole film, but you could write the script in that time.
6. Mentoring
If you have the chance to be doing a residency or another opportunity somewhere. Don’t keep to yourself. I know the urge is there. But, I recommend asking a few people for a coffee. Maybe, their practice is interesting to you, or you’d like to know how they got to where they are. All these questions are great, and most people are willing to give up a little bit of their day to speak to someone passionate about their work.
If you click with anyone during one of these meetings, and you feel like you might learn from them, then feel free to ask them to be your mentor. I think mentoring is a great way to have some guidance in what can be a tricky industry. And you can pass on the favour, one day.
In terms of choosing a mentor, choose someone on a path that you’d like to go down too. Perhaps they’re a few years ahead of you, or you really enjoy their practice. You might need to apply for funding to pay the mentor a fee for their time.
7. Think out of the box
And finally, one of the key things that I learnt in this journey is that you don’t need a lot of fancy kit or classes to make work.You can make work quickly and cheaply with materials around you.
You can teach yourself how to edit audio, cut film, paint ect online (there are loads of tutorials on Youtube).And even if you do live somewhere more remote, share your work. Even the unfinished in progress parts. Have an online blog perhaps or even an Instagram, this will help you archive your own work and processes and you may find a virtual community of artists and maybe even collaborators from afar.
Endnote
And with those tips, hopefully, you’ll expand your networks, meet friends, and co-workers. And build your own programme of learning and self development, to become a working artist. It isn’t necessary to go to art school, and not everyone can, but thankfully there are many routes to becoming an artist.
Asmaa Jama is an artist working across text, painting, moving image and performance, with her practice deeply preoccupied with the image and texture of burning. Drawing from Islamic cosmology, they explore jinn as metaphors for spectres, ghostliness, and the crossing of realms. Their work is equally concerned with reworking myths, particularly those rooted in East African tales, examining what myth and ritual reveal about the human condition: our beliefs, fears, and stories we create to ensure our survival. They’ve had solo shows at Spike Island (Bristol), The Africa Centre (New York), and most recently showed at Bloomberg New Contemporaries (2024).
This work has a