By Wenancjusz Ochmann

The Artist Circles are the unique methodology developed by partners of Global FemART project with the aim of helping female artists and creatives to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills, supporting them in marketing their artistic activities and extending this internationally. The methodology is based on a series of meeting in small groups with a mentor. The participants have the opportunity to discuss their problems, do exercises and set their goals for the future. Mutual support is very important in the process.

In December 2019 and January 2020 four meetings of Global FemART Artist Circles were held in Poland. All meetings took place in Zabrze in the Kurort Qultury  Gajowa 9 near the headquarters of the ARTeria Foundation. The Polish facilitator was Wenancjusz Ochmann. He is a trainer, mentor, academic lecturer and musician with 25 years of experience in running workshops and training courses for adults, mostly in the Creative Sector. He prepares training and workshop programs to help artists and representatives of CCI to develop entrepreneurial and soft skills. Wenancjusz Ochmann has created and implemented several projects funded by the European Social Fund, among others for women in the artistic sector, to enable them to return to the job market after a maternity break.

Seven female artists and creatives completed the whole process in Poland.

Information on the subject of Global FemART Artist Circles was disseminated over two months before the first meeting using various methods and channels.

The first session was organised on Monday, 16th of December 2019. The entire first block of workshops was based on exercises breaking barriers and promoting communication in the group. And also two exercises were done to help participants create a vision for their businesses and how to internationalise them. The participants discussed about challenges, tasks and opportunities in the context of achieving goals.

The second session was organised on Friday 27th of December 2019. This session focused on setting SMART goals, which sparked discussion among the participants. For some, setting goals was difficult. The facilitator explained the Flow Theory. After the break, a discussion began about what motivates us to work and how we reward ourselves and about Flow Theory. The participants discussed challenges, tasks and opportunities in the context of achieving goals and then they continued working on their International Action Plans.

The third session was organized at request of participant on 6th January 2020. This time the emphasis was on internationalization. The PESTL model was discussed, which triggered a discussion on copyright.

The fourth and final session was organised on 28th January 2020. We returned to the discussion about challenges, tasks and opportunities in the context of achieving goals, especially the internationalization of our activities. Final Soft Skills Assessment Forms were completed and progress made was discussed.

Between sessions, some participants were in contact with the facilitator via e-mail. In addition, the participants were in contact with each other. There was an automatic self-help initiative. In addition, the participants formed a closed group on Facebook. The participants had access to materials between sessions. They could take their exercises home.

In general, the methodology contained in Artist Circles has proven itself very well in Poland.