Artquest Salon

Painting Salon 1 – Thursday 8 September 2022

This session included guest presentations by artists Malca Mizrahi and Scott McCracken of Turps Banana. Salon members Ewelina Skowronska and Alice Wisden presented work for feedback.

Activism and Social Change Salon 1 – Thursday 29 September 2022

This session included guest presentations by Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas of Peer Sessions. Salon members Rudy Loewe and James Paddock presented work for feedback.

Painting Salon 2 – Thursday 17 November 2022

This session included guest presentations by Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas of Peer Sessions. Salon members Kathryn Armitage and Katya Robin presented work for feedback.

Activism and Social Change Salon 2 – Thursday 26 January 2023

In this salon artist and experienced peer mentor Chloe Cooper, introduced the Liz Lerman critical response technique. A version of this process was used to facilitate feedback for Salon members Lila Chatfield and Luke Anthony Rooney.

Painting Salon 3 – Thursday 16 March 2023

Facilitators Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas of Peer Sessions used their silent crit model to structure the conversation at the final painting Salon. Members Tony Linde and Laura Moreton Griffiths presented work for feedback.

Activism and Social Change Salon 3 – Thursday 20 April 2023

Chloe Cooper facilitated this session using the Liz Lerman critical response technique. Members Sarah Strachan and Nikkan Woodhouse presented work to the group.

Painting Salon 1 – Thursday 26 August 2021

This session included presentations by independent curator Becca Pelly-Fry and artist Elizabeth Murton who also facilitated the peer mentoring at this session. Becca talked about her interest in materiality in contemporary art practice and how it led to the curation of a series of exhibitions under the moniker ‘Perfectionism’. The session also included presentations and feedback with two participating artist members Ewelina Skowronska and Sam van Strien.

Activism and Social Change Salon 1 – Thursday 16 September 2021

The first Activism and Social Change Salon saw presentations on approaches to peer mentoring by artist and experienced peer mentor Chloe Cooper and a talk by Elizabeth Gleave of Land Art Agency. The session also included presentations and feedback with two participating artist members Anne Krinsky and Laura Moreton Griffiths 

Painting Salon 2 – Thursday 18 November 2021

The evening featured presentations by Benjamin Murphy, artist and co-director of Delphian Gallery. Artist Chloe Cooper also talked about her experience of peer mentoring. Artist members Claire Brewster and Anna Tveritinova presented for for feedback at the session.

Activism and Social Change Salon 2 – Thursday 27 January 2022

This session included guest presentations from artist Aphra Shemza on their experiences of developing a sustainable practice, and Alison Surtees of the Future’s Venture Foundation, discussed ideas around activist practices. Artist members Gen Doy and Walter Lewis presented projects for feedback.

Painting Salon 3 – Thursday 17 March 2022

The third painting salon was facilitated by artist and experienced crit facilitator Emma Edmondson and included a presentation by international artist and curator mepaintsme. The evening also included presentation of work by salon members Fernando Holguin Cereceres and Judith Walker who shared work for feedback.

Activism and Social Change Salon 3 – Thursday 21 April 2022

The third Activism and Social change salon was facilitated by artist and experienced crit facilitator Emma Edmondson and included a presentation on peer mentoring by Artquest’s Nick Kaplony. The evening also included presentation of work by salon members Aishling Muller and Lottie Bolster.

Artists working in painting, drawing, sculpture, performance art, photography, video/film/moving image, installation, text, craft/maker, sound art, comics, book art, new media/online, socially engaged practice, printmaking, interdisciplinary or any combination of the above. Our definitions, set by our funding agreements, do not include dance, theatre, graphic, fashion and product design.

Remember that Exchange Salons are focused around medium or working approach, so will be more appropriate for some forms of practices than others.

We anticipate there will be a core group of between 6 – 12 artists who regularly attended all the salons. In addition to this there will be those who attend salons on an ad-hoc basis. Artists from anywhere in the UK or the world can attend, but approximately half of the places will be reserved for artists based in London.

This is a new project so we’re not sure of total numbers but we anticipate between 12 – 30 attendees at each session.

Two artists will present work at each session.

Presenting artists get approximately 50 minutes that is broken up into presenting or feedback depending on the feedback format being used. Information about feedback formats are shared a week before the session.

Presentation slots are allocated on a first come first served basis among artists who are eligible to present. Artists who are able to commit to the full programme are prioritised.

As well as attendees presenting and feeding back on their work, there are other presentations that take place.

• A guest artist led talks for strategies for peer mentoring and other forms of collective support
• Or a specialist speaker (curator, gallerist or other art world professional) on medium-specific or thematically focused topic.)

Yes.

Only artists who have joined Exchange AND have experience of peer mentoring with Artquest (or another artist-led peer mentoring initiative) can present work for feedback at a Salon.

To present work for feedback at a salon you need to have participated in any one of the below

• Artquest Crits (Formerly known as Z-Crits)
• Peer Forum
• A public peer mentoring workshop that has taken place as part of the Bloomberg New Contemporaries programme
• One other Salon meeting
• Another artist-led peer mentoring programme

We will get in touch with you in advance of the Salon if you are selected to present work. You will be asked to provide material / images of work to share at the session. If you do not provide these by the deadline specified your presentation slot will be offered to someone else.

No. To give as many people as possible the chance to show work you will only be able to present work for feedback once at an Artquest facilitated session. We do encourage and support Salon attendees to organise their own meetings outside of these. These will give you the opportunity to get feedback on the progress of your work more than once.

Exchange is an online community, built on your real and online social networks, to help you find collaborators, extend your professional network. Joining Exchange is free and simple. You can join here.

Any artist can attend the Artquest Exchange Salon, though you need to be a member of Exchange and have experience of peer mentoring to present work for feedback. Priority will be given to artists who are able to attend all three sessions and half of the places will be allocated to artists based in London.

Artquest exchange Salons are intended to foster ongoing relationships between artists, so we hope that artists who present work will then also attend sessions where they feedback to peers. Ideally there will be a core group of between 6 – 12 artists who attend all three sessions. Priority will be given to artists who are able to attend all three facilitated sessions.

Yes, but please only book if you are able to commit to coming.

If you can no longer attend a session, please email Nick Kaplony to let him know as soon as possible.

While it’s not compulsory to organise and attend sessions outside of those facilitated by Artquest, to get the most out of the programme we encourage participating artists to collaborate in running their own peer mentoring sessions outside of the three Salon meetings organised by Artquest.  Salon participants organising independent sessions will be eligible for additional funding from a redeveloped Peer Forum programme (to be announced December 2022).  Read resources on running peer mentoring groups here.

If you are participating in the Artquest Exchange Salon programme we can support you in running your own sessions by

• Providing advice and resources on organising, administrating and running sessions
• Giving presentations or signposting to resources on most aspects of an artists career
• Providing an online platform to meet on (dependent on availability)
• Suggesting artists to participate in the session

Yes.

Yes.

No, you must choose one or the other.

Yes, email Nick Kaplony as soon as possible to arrange alternatives.