Mudlarks receives further funding to support artists

We are delighted to announce that our idea development programme for artists, Mudlarks has received further funding from Jerwood Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation.

This funding will go directly towards supporting 37 artists over the next year by offering space, time and resources, and access to knowledge, insights and international connections gathered by Complicité across four decades of creating work.

Dedicated to identifying and supporting outstanding artists, often at the early stage of their career, Mudlarks allows artists to develop their ideas freely, encouraging creativity without the constraints of rigid methodologies. It resists target-driven pressures and the urge to define something as soon as it is conceived. Mudlarks provides artists who share elements of Complicité’s practice such as ensemble work, working across multiple disciplines, and across borders, with the tools they need to interrogate an idea and find a shape or form that truly serves the work.

Tim Bell, Senior Creative Producer at Complicité said:

“Mudlarks is an idea development programme with one simple function; putting brilliant ideas in front of audiences. We believe this is the best gift that we can give artists today. But first we must enable artists to go to the hinterland of their idea. Complicité is a company whose lifeblood has been a dialogue with international practice; our work is the result of countless international exchanges, conversations and collaborations. Now Mudlarks provides those opportunities to others too. In a time of increasing division, we must find more and more opportunities to listen, to understand, and to be inspired. We hope the Mudlarks programme does just that.”

Paula Varjack, an artist supported by Mudlarks said:

“Over the course of my engagement with the Mudlarks programme since February of last year, I have been encouraged with my artistic vision, brought into contact with brilliant artists in the midst of their own explorations and most importantly, I have been given trust and time with the ‘not knowing’ that is inherent in any creative process but rarely given space to breathe in artist development programmes. I have found their approach incredibly unique at a time when so much of the arts sector has such a product over process focus.”

Mudlarks relies on funding from trusts and foundations to continue to deliver development support to a range of extraordinary artists. Find out more about ways you can support

Mudlarks is also generously supported by The Golsoncott Foundation, John Ellerman Foundation and Noël Coward Foundation.

Read the press release in full

For further information contact: Shaadi Khosravi-Rad – Creative Campaigns Producer shaadi@complicite.org

© Camilla Adams