Case Study
Lizzie Lovejoy
Supporting an already successful artist to strategise around arts project management
Lizzie Lovejoy is an illustrator and spoken word artist who has built a phenomenal portfolio since graduating, winning Visual Artist of the Year at the North East Culture Awards (2023). We first commissioned Lizzie to illustrate the testimonies of diverse domestic abuse survivors collected in our Us Too soundscape back in 2019 and it has been a pleasure seeing them flourish in subsequent years.
What They Asked For
For this reason, we were absolutely delighted when Lizzie reached out in 2024 asking if our Managing Director Lisa Charlotte Davis might be able to offer mentoring on a new project they were developing, based around the figure of Circe from Greek mythology, a goddess sent to live on an island as punishment for her knowledge of the magical transformative properties of herbs.
Lizzie had conceived of a project themed around Circe’s Island, and was looking for support at key points of project delivery to reflect and plan, to help them meet the objectives they had set for their first solo arts project. Of course we were delighted to help, having watched Lizzie’s career go from strength to strength since graduating from the Northern School of Art shortly before our Us Too commission.
What we delivered together
Needs Analysis
Our first conversation was before Lizzie submitted their project proposal to Arts Council England, supporting them to consider the way in which their concept met Let’s Create outcomes and investment principles. We reconvened once they were awarded the funding to map out the points at which it would be useful to gain our support and input.
Reflection and planning
We created a space for Lizzie to reflect on their project aims and how best to achieve them whilst also protecting their wellbeing, given the multiple demands of a freelance creative career. We considered participant inclusion, approaches to gathering feedback, marketing and engagement and timing project phases to be manageable and achievable.
Delivery support and next steps
We supported Lizzie to plan and deliver a training event in order to share their Circe’s Island concept for others to use in health settings, as well as considering the structure of the supporting toolkit. We then reflected on the next stage for the project, considering the pros and cons of possible pathways and partnerships for Lizzie to achieve their goals.
