In November, we launched our New Work and Artist Development department led by Sophia Griffin. She writes about the first few months in her role and some of the exciting opportunities ahead.

Every time we have artists in the building working on their ideas and developing their craft, I’m reminded why I love my job. At a time of great uncertainty for artists of the city, I feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position where we’re expanding our team and offer for artists.

We launched the New Work and Artist Development department last November and we’ve had a beautiful whirlwind of activity and planning. We’ve welcomed over 400 artists into the building, many old friends as well as lots of artists who had never been to the Hippodrome before. We’re the new home of Writer’s Block, an informal scratch night to test out early ideas with a supportive group of artists.

Since January, we’ve welcomed four different companies to Playspace, and last month, Gathering returned for a three day residency of workshops and connection building. We’ll soon be relaunching Hippodrome Creatives socials and workshops, and continuing our partnership with the Belgrade and Talawa to work on two co-commissions. All of these projects have been supported by the launch of our two new spaces, Studio 4 and The Artists’ Lounge (where you’ll often find the team having a cuppa and a chat!).

Growing the team is a commitment to the artists of the city and region and the New Work Manager will play a pivotal role in realising the vision of the department. There is space to shape the work being delivered and the department is deliberately agile so we can be responsive to the needs of artists in the city. This is a really hands on role, the New Work Manager will be working directly with artists to develop new work for the Hippodrome and beyond.

If you’re someone who cares about the city and its artists, who’s excited about working alongside the current and future voices of the region then we would love to hear from you. Find out more about the New Work Manager role here.