what is cockpit Arts?

WHAT IS COCKPIT ARTS?

 

Cockpit Arts was established in 1993 as a registered charity with a mission to support designer-makers at various stages of their business development. We are now the largest provider of affordable workspace and business support for designer-makers in London, and have two centres in Holborn, WC1, and Deptford, SE8, housing a total of 165 small creative businesses (100 in Holborn, 65 in Deptford). 

 

Workspace

 

Both of our workspace centres are ideally situated. Cockpit Arts at Holborn is in the heart of the West End and is very close to the Hatton Garden jewellery quarter. Cockpit Arts in Deptford€™s Creekside is next door to the new Laban dance centre, and is part of an exciting new community of artists and art organisations within a designated Creative Enterprise Zone.

 

Workspaces are available by application to those who have never had a studio, as well as those that are more established. The rental structure is designed to encourage start-up businesses and starts at £8.75 to £9.60 per square foot. Thereafter there are incremental increases for occupancy up to a maximum of eight years. Most studios are occupied by between two and five makers, which encourages a sharing of experiences, ideas and contacts, as well as collaborative projects. 

 

Business support

 

Cockpit Arts now provides year-round business support to all its designer-makers through a rolling programme of group workshops and seminars, €˜one-to-one€™ consultations and specialist advice €˜surgeries€™. In addition, we continue to run our highly-acclaimed €˜Developing Professional Practice€™ (DPP) course, that runs part-time over one year and provides highly-customised support in the areas of marketing, business, IT, photography, resources development and €˜one-to-one€™ mentoring.

 

 

The aim of the DPP is to increase the viability and success rate of the participating businesses. Twenty places are available on the course which runs from July to June each year, and now attracts more applicants than it can cater for.

 

A €˜Train the Trainer€™ programme has recently trained additional specialist trainers who can deliver the course at Cockpit Arts as well as other venues. In addition, Cockpit Arts ihas undertaken a €˜Mid-Career Practitioner€™ research project to examine the sustainability and growth opportunities for practitioners who have been in business for between three to eight years in order to plot a way forward both personally and professionally and enable them to realise their potential.

 

Promotion

 

Our designer-makers take part in our bi-annual Open Studios twice a year (in the summer and winter) at both centres. These events attract over 7,000 visitors including trade buyers, exhibition curators and press, and are a fantastic opportunity for the general public to view a vast range of work and purchase or commission individual designs. Cockpit Arts also takes part in selected exhibitions including the forthcoming Deptford Design 04 at the London Design Festival, and trade fairs that have included Designersblock and 100% Design. Cockpit Arts website, www.cockpitarts.com, hosts a webpage for each designer-maker with images and information about their work.

 

 

§       Nicolas Darreieulat €“ lafw 2004

§       Hikaru Noguchi €“ striped scarves

§       Scott Wilson €“ glitter earring

§       Sorensen Grundy – 3

 

Education outreach

 

 

As a charity, Cockpit Arts is keen to encourage and inspire people of all ages to consider a creative career. To do this, we work with local authorities and other partners on a range of projects including the Camden Summer University and the Creative Futures mentoring project (which links designer-makers with pupils from Camden schools), and teacher training and classroom activities with Lewisham schools.

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Head Office: Cockpit Arts (Holborn), Cockpit Yard, Northington Street, London WC1N 2NP.  T 020 7419 1959.   F 020 7916 2455

Cockpit Arts (Deptford), 18 €“ 22 Creekside, London SE8 3DZ.  T 020 8692 4463.

E This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
   Website: www.cockpitarts.com

COCKPIT ARTS BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAMMES

 

Cockpit Arts provides year-round business support to designer-makers through a range of programmes that aim to help participants dismantle the conflict they perceive between their creative selves and their desire for commercial viability.

 

Developing Professional Practice                                              

 

Cockpit Arts has pioneered a new approach to the professional development of creative practitioners through its Developing Professional Practice (DPP) course. Now in its fourth year, the aim of the DPP is to increase the viability and success rate of micro creative businesses. The course runs part-time over one year and provides highly-customised support in the areas of marketing, business, IT, photography, creative resources development and €˜one-to-one€™ mentoring. Twenty places are available on the course which runs from July to June each year, and now attracts far more applicants than it can cater for. The course is open to Cockpit Arts€™ resident designer-makers as well as visual arts practitioners from elsewhere. 

 

     Supported by The Moose Foundation.                                                   

 

Training the Trainers

 

A €˜Train the Trainer€™ programme has recently trained four additional specialist trainers who will be able to deliver the DPP course – and other targeted support – at Cockpit Arts two centres, as well as at other venues. This support includes facilitating group activity, guest speakers, mentoring, peer networking, and €˜one-to one€™ consultations. See attached list for trainers and their background. The €˜Train the Trainer€™ programme is funded by the London Development Agency.

 

Professional Development Support

 

A new Professional Development Support programme, organised by Cockpit Arts in partnership with Business Link, will commenced in January 2004. This is a rolling programme of group workshops and seminars, €˜one-to-one€™ consultations and specialist advice €˜surgeries€™, available to designer-makers resident at Cockpit Arts. The programme will take place on a monthly basis at Cockpit Arts€™ two centres in Holborn and Deptford.  

 

Mid-Career Practitioner research project

 

Cockpit Arts is has recently conducted research into the €˜mid-career€™ issues confronting micro creative businesses as they grow. The research is focused on practitioners who have been in business for three years plus, and examined the sustainability and growth opportunities for these businesses in order to plot a way forward both personally and professionally. A pilot course targeted at this group is planned for 2004/5.

 

Programme Partners

 

Cockpit Arts recently commissioned an evaluation of the impact of the programme on participants to date. This is being undertaken by Lorna Dallas Conte, an independent arts consultant, and is available on request. The evaluation is funded by the London Development Agency. In addition, Cockpit Arts has commissioned Liz Lydiate from the M.A. Professional Development course at the London Institute (LCP) to create a pedagogic evaluation of all Cockpit Arts€™ business support materials. These will be edited to form an electronic manual which will be made available to the new trainers.

 

Further Details:

 

Sarah Palmer, Consultant Director (DPP),

T 020 7430 2942, Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Clare Denham, Project Manager €“ Professional Development Support,

T 020 7419 1963, Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Cockpit Arts (Holborn), Cockpit Yard, Northington Street, London WC1N 2NP.

T 020 7419 1959, F 020 7916 2455, www.cockpitarts.com

TRAIN THE TRAINER PROGRAMME

 

Trainers Backgrounds

 

Libby Anson

Libby originally trained as a painter and printer maker although established her career in education within the gallery sector. She currently works as a freelance professional practice development advisor and has recently worked as a consultant for The Enterprise Centre, a careers advisor for the Bankside Arts Trust and led surgeries for creative practitioners at Space studios. She has wide knowledge of the sector and is a member of the Artists Professional Development Network.

 

Paulene Hamilton

Paulene has a wide experience of arts management. She is currently the Project Director for Greenwich Craft Foundation, prior to which she was Chief Executive of Cockpit Arts for three years. She has considerable experience of partnership working, fundraising and project implementation. Paulene is currently being commissioned by Cockpit Arts to carry out research into the needs of mid-career practitioners.

 

Sally Labern

Sally has worked as a freelance consultant for Arts Council England, National Arts Association and Creative Arts & Therapeutic Arts. She has considerable experience of fundraising, project management and mentoring and developing her own practice as an artist. She also has experience of running workshops for vulnerable children with low self-esteem.

 

Sarah Palmer

Sarah is the Programme Director for Cockpit Arts€™ Developing Professional Practice programme as well as an arts practitioner. Sarah project managed and implemented the first Developing Professional Practice course in 2001, and is currently responsible for directing all Cockpit Arts€™ business support and professional development work. She maintains a studio in Hastings where she enjoys developing her practice, making and marketing her own work. Her work has been sold extensively in the UK and abroad.

 

DID YOU KNOW€¦

 

 

That over our two centres, we have:

 

 

§     45 designer-makers involved with textiles, knitting and leather craft

§     28 jewellers

§     48 fashion and accessories designers

§     5 interiors and homewear designers

§     4 milliners

§     2 shoe designers

§     11 glass workers

§     27 ceramicists

§     7 metalworkers and silversmiths

§     3 designers working in plastics and resins

§     19 working in furniture, lighting and product design

 

€¦alongside a guitar-maker, furniture restorers, sculptors, a theatrical costume maker, two mosaic artists, a book artist, framer and mixed media artists

 

DO YOU NEED A WORKSPACE?

 

When you take a studio at either of Cockpit Arts€™ two centres in London €“ Holborn WC1 and Deptford SE8, you join a dynamic community of established designer-makers who have achieved national and international recognition, alongside those who are just starting out. A wide range of disciplines is represented at Cockpit Arts, including jewellers, silversmiths and metalworkers, ceramicists, glass artists, fashion and accessories designers, leatherworkers, lighting designers, furniture makers, and mixed media artist practitioners. 

 

The studios

 

Studios vary in size and the majority are shared by between two and six people. 

All studios have 24 hour, 365 days access, natural light, heating and electricity, as well as office services. They are licensed on easy in/out terms and are inclusive of all charges, except electricity used, insurance and office services. The serviced office is open five days a week and provides you with facilities that include: photocopier, fax, computers with broadband internet access, a meeting room, and an education space for hire. There is also a reference library which carries periodicals such as AN Magazine, Crafts, Ceramic Review, Elle Decoration, Blueprint, Icon and wallpaper* and useful publications on grants and starting a business.

 

How do I apply?

 

Studios are available by application to those who have never had a studio, as well as those that are more established. The rental structure is designed to encourage start-up businesses and starts at £8.75 – £9.60 per square foot per year (see separate License Terms and Charges). Thereafter there are incremental increases for occupancy up to a maximum of eight years. Applicants who have previously had a studio elsewhere should apply for a Standard Award which starts at £15.65 per square foot per year. If you are seeking to move into a studio immediately, our centre at Deptford opened in September 2002 and has no waiting list at present.          

 

Selection criteria

 

The Selection Committee meets regularly to consider applications and comprises practising makers and senior staff, and Trustees of Cockpit Arts. Applicants need to satisfy the following criteria:

 

§      evidence of skill in production, and innovation in application of ideas and use of materials

§      potential for personal and professional development including marketing and finance

§      commitment to use a studio regularly and take part in Cockpit Arts events

 

We are able to offer a limited number of subsidised Seedbed Awards to designer-makers who are setting up a studio for the first time. Priority is given to those who need the greatest amount of financial and business support in the first three years. 

 

Benefits

 

Cockpit Arts now provides year-round business support to all its designer-makers through a rolling programme of group workshops and seminars, €˜one-to-one€™ consultations and specialist advice €˜surgeries€™. In addition, we continue to run our highly-acclaimed €˜Developing Professional Practice€™ (DPP) course, that runs part-time over one year and provides highly-customised support in the areas of marketing, business, IT, photography, resources development and €˜one-to-one€™ mentoring.

 

The aim of the DPP is to increase the viability and success rate of the participating businesses. Twenty places are available on the course which runs from July to June each year, and now attracts more applicants than it can cater for.

 

A €˜Train the Trainer€™ programme has recently trained additional specialist trainers who can deliver the course at Cockpit Arts as well as other venues.

 

 

 

 

In addition, Cockpit Arts recently undertook a €˜Mid-Career Practitioner€™ research project to examine the sustainability and growth opportunities for practitioners who have been in business for between three to eight years in order to plot a way forward both personally and professionally and enable them to realise their potential.

 

Our designer-makers take part in our bi-annual Open Studios twice a year (in the summer and winter) at both centres. These events attract over 7,000 visitors including trade buyers, exhibition curators and press, and are a fantastic opportunity for the general public to view a vast range of work and purchase or commission individual designs. Cockpit Arts also takes part in selected exhibitions including Deptford Design at the London Design Festival, and trade fairs that have included Designers block and 100% Design. Cockpit Arts website, www.cockpitarts.com, hosts a webpage for each designer-maker with images and information about their work.

 

Cockpit Arts organises a number of education outreach activities providing designer-makers with opportunities to teach or demonstrate. It also has links with other organisations for mentoring and work experience programmes. 

 

 

 

 

Contact for application form and guidelines:

 

Mandy Meaden, Studio Manager, Cockpit Arts, Cockpit Yard, Northington Street, London WC1N 2NP.  T 020 7419 1959.   F 020 7916 2455.

E This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
   Website: www.cockpitarts.com

 

To arrange to view the studios at Cockpit Arts at Deptford, please contact

Lucy Everett, Studio Manager, Cockpit Arts, 18 €“ 22 Creekside, London SE8 3DZ. 

T 020 8692 4463. F 020 8 692 3735, E This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Studio tours and talks at Cockpit Arts

London WC1 and SE8

 

Cockpit Arts is a thriving workspace complex for over 160 of the UK€™s leading designer-makers and has two centres, in Holborn WC1 and Deptford SE8. A wide range of disciplines is represented at Cockpit Arts, including jewellers, silversmiths and metalworkers, ceramicists, glass artists, fashion and accessories designers, leatherworkers, lighting designers, furniture makers, and mixed media artist practitioners.

 

 

Studio tours and talks are a useful way of giving your students an insight into a working studio environment and enabling them to talk directly to established designer-makers.

 

During the tour, the students will also be told of the business development support programmes and marketing initiatives offered at Cockpit Arts and the staff are available to answer any questions from the group in regard to studio space and their own career progression.

 

The studios are available for tours to groups of approximately 20 students and last around an hour: longer if a designer-maker is asked to talk.

 

Cockpit Arts is a charity and a fee of £3.50 plus VAT per head is charged for tours. Talks from designer-makers can be given at an additional cost of £100 plus VAT.

 

For further information or to book a tour at Cockpit Arts Cara Courage, Marketing Manager, Cockpit Arts, Cockpit Yard, Northington Street, London, WC1N 2NP,      t: 020 7419 1961, e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
, w: www.cockpitarts.com

 

12 August 2004

 

 

Cockpit Arts Deptford €“ space available for the fashion industry!

SE8 centre has room for fashion and textile designer-makers

 

 

Creative workspace is at a premium in London and so fashion and textiles designer-makers should make a note of Cockpit Arts on Creekside, Deptford €“ and also be aware that there are some spaces available in the studio complex right now.

 

Cockpit Arts Deptford is currently home to over 70 creative businesses and is looking for applications at present from those working in fashion and textiles to join the 30-plus creative businesses that work in fashion and textiles already at the centre.

 

Lucy Everett, studio manager, comments: €˜Its such a diverse creative community at Cockpit Arts, with people at all stages of their careers. New-comers to the studios find they soon become part of the family and start to work together and learn from each other. Also, with the support of Cockpit Arts€™ business support courses, there are a number of people here who have seen their work and career really take-off since joining.€™

 

Studio space can start at as little as £7.30 plus VAT per square foot per year and includes access to a comprehensive business support programme of courses run with professional partners, marketing support and retailing and high-profile showcasing opportunities.

 

Studios vary in size and the majority are shared by between two and six people. All studios have 24 hour, 365 days access, natural light, heating and electricity, as well as office services. They are licensed on easy in/out terms and are inclusive of all charges, except electricity used, insurance and office services. The serviced office is open five days a week and provides facilities that include: photocopier, fax, computers with broadband internet access, a meeting room, and an education space for hire. Secure car parking is also available.

 

For more information and an application pack please contact Lucy Everett, Studio Manager on 020 8692 4463 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ends

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Cara Courage / Jessa Dick

Marketing Manager / Press and Marketing Officer

Cockpit Arts

Cockpit Yard

Northington Street

London WC1N 2NP

t: 020 7419 1961 / 020 7430 2949

e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
/ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Notes to editors

 

Cockpit Arts was established in 1993 as a registered charity with a mission to support designer-makers at various stages of their business development. We are now the largest provider of affordable workspace and business support for designer-makers in London, and have two centres in Holborn, WC1, and Deptford, SE8, housing a total of 165 small creative businesses (100 in Holborn, 65 in Deptford).

 

Cockpit Arts is a dynamic community of established designer-makers who have achieved national and international recognition, alongside those who are just starting out. A wide range of disciplines is represented at Cockpit Arts, including jewellers, silversmiths and metalworkers, ceramicists, glass artists, fashion and accessories designers, leatherworkers, lighting designers, furniture makers, and mixed media artist practitioners

 

Cockpit Arts is supported by the London Development Agency and Silwood SRB.

September 2004

 

 

Groundbreaking support from Cockpit Arts

rolls into its second year

€˜Professional Development Support€™ facilitates lifelong learning

 for small creative businesses

 

 

Finding relevant and affordable business advice can be hard at the best of times, but especially so when you are a micro-creative business working as a designer-maker.

 

Cockpit Arts recognised this need last year and created its pioneering €˜Professional Development Support€™ (PDS) programme to help its 170-plus designer-makers over its two centres in Holborn WC1 and Deptford SE8.

 

Unlike other courses, the PDS is uniquely programmed it to suit the needs and lifestyle of Cockpit Arts€™ design-maker, based on consultation with them. Many of these small businesses will be cash and time poor when it comes to training and professional development and also find it hard to assess their skills needs and gaps.

 

Cockpit Arts€™ PDS programme facilitates direct learning and small networking groups within both centres to help articulate these needs and incorporates elements of customised support sessions that build one upon the other in conjunction with 1-2-1 advice sessions from specialist advisors in the areas of export, employment, legal, manufacturing and business growth for example.

 

The programme was a great success and is now being rolled out into its second year.

 

A core team of trainers deliver the courses, working alongside business partners and guest speakers; all geared to help Cockpit Arts€™ designer-makers embed new skills and advice into their business practice in the most appropriate way for them.

 

The PDS programme begins again at the end of September and all sessions, unless indicated otherwise, are priced at £10.

 

For more information please contact Clare Denham, Education Manager via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
.

 

 

Ends

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Cara Courage / Jessa Dick

Marketing Manager / Press and Marketing Officer

Cockpit Arts

Cockpit Yard

Northington Street

London WC1N 2NP

t: 020 7419 1961 / 020 7430 2949

e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
/ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

September 2004

 

 

Cockpit Arts Winter Open Studios 2004

Dates announced for this excellent Christmas shopping opportunity

 

 

Cockpit Arts was one of the first studio spaces to open its doors to the public and it has kept this fine tradition going twice a year with its weekend-long Open Studio events.

 

Christmas shopping will be made all the easier this November and December when Cockpit Arts holds its Winter Open Studios 2004:

 

Cockpit Arts Holborn will be open Friday 26 to Sunday 28 November, 12 to 7 pm everyday. Cockpit Arts Deptford will be open on Friday 3, 11 am to 6 pm, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December, 12 pm to 7 pm, with Friday at this centre being a free Open House day. 

 

Cockpit Arts is home is some of the best UK design and crafts talent, with jewellery, soft furnishings, lighting, furniture, fashion and bespoke crafts all under the one roof. With over 170 creative enterprises at Cockpit Arts, visitors will be sure to find the prefect presents for friends and family €“ and also buy or commission work for themselves!

 

Tickets are £5 for entrance to Cockpit Arts Holborn, which entitles you to free entrance for one day to Cockpit Arts Deptford Open Studios. Entrance to Cockpit Arts Deptford Open Studios alone is £2. Free to under 16s if accompanied by an adult. Café and disabled access.

 

 

For more information please visit www.cockpitarts.com or call 020 7419 1959.

 

Ends

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Cara Courage / Jessa Dick

Marketing Manager / Press and Marketing Officer

Cockpit Arts

Cockpit Yard

Northington Street

London WC1N 2NP

t: 020 7419 1961 / 020 7430 2949

e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
/ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Notes to editors

 

Cockpit Arts was established in 1993 as a registered charity with a mission to support designer-makers at various stages of their business development. We are now the largest provider of affordable workspace and business support for designer-makers in London, and have two centres in Holborn, WC1, and Deptford, SE8, housing a total of 165 small creative businesses (100 in Holborn, 65 in Deptford).

 

Cockpit Arts is a dynamic community of established designer-makers who have achieved national and international recognition, alongside those who are just starting out. A wide range of disciplines is represented at Cockpit Arts, including jewellers, silversmiths and metalworkers, ceramicists, glass artists, fashion and accessories designers, leatherworkers, lighting designers, furniture makers, and mixed media artist practitioners

 

Cockpit Arts is supported by the London Development Agency and Silwood SRB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes to editors

 

Cockpit Arts was established in 1993 as a registered charity with a mission to support designer-makers at various stages of their business development. We are now the largest provider of affordable workspace and business support for designer-makers in London, and have two centres in Holborn, WC1, and Deptford, SE8, housing a total of 165 small creative businesses (100 in Holborn, 65 in Deptford).

 

Cockpit Arts is a dynamic community of established designer-makers who have achieved national and international recognition, alongside those who are just starting out. A wide range of disciplines is represented at Cockpit Arts, including jewellers, silversmiths and metalworkers, ceramicists, glass artists, fashion and accessories designers, leatherworkers, lighting designers, furniture makers, and mixed media artist practitioners

 

Cockpit Arts is supported by the London Development Agency and Silwood SRB.