Creative Mentorship & Consultancy
There are few things I enjoy more than helping people realise their ideas, whether it is an exhibition, a sculpting project, a band, a festival, a meditation school or an online course. Together we look at where you are and where you want to go, and you leave with a concrete plan of action.
Finding the wordsbiographies, statements & framing
A large part of my work is helping people find the right words. Many artists and makers know exactly what they do, but struggle to explain it, or to present themselves in a way that does their work justice.
I write biographies, artist statements, press releases and project texts, usually developed from an in-depth conversation, and I help people find how to frame themselves and their work for an application, a website, a gallery, a label or a new audience.
What we can work on
- Your biography, artist statement & press texts
- Framing your work and finding the words for it
- Shaping an idea into a plan
- Artistic & creative direction
- Business model & creative entrepreneurship
- Funding applications & financing strategy
- Positioning, PR & reaching an audience
- Finding partners & growing your network
- Production & organisation
- Launching a school, course or programme
- Mediation within a team or collective
How it works
- 1
Tell me what you need
Describe your project and what you would like advice on in the form below. If I think I can help, I’ll invite you for a free ten-minute introductory call.
- 2
I study your work
Before we meet I go through whatever you are building: plans, portfolio, website, texts, courses or recordings. This preparation, usually an hour or two, is included.
- 3
The session
An hour together, in person or by video call. We look at the current situation and your goals, and end with a tailor-made plan of action.
- 4
Afterwards
One session is often enough to get going. Some people check in again after two or three months; others I guide for longer, for example monthly for half a year.
Experience50+ artists, entrepreneurs & organisations
I have advised more than fifty people and organisations across disciplines, and written biographies and texts for many of them: visual artists, sculptors, poets and writers, musicians, cultural institutions, festivals, and founders of new schools, practices and initiatives.
My background is in philosophy and the history of science, and in more than a decade of building things in culture: a record label and a publishing company, Subterra Studios (for which my team and I raised €2.2 million), cultural programmes for De Groene Amsterdammer and Strandhuis hito, and an online course on dreaming for Advaya. I have taught creative entrepreneurship and creative direction at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Codarts, ArtEZ and Abbey Road Institute.
My approach is creative and hands-on, with solid business sense: sometimes the established route, sometimes a more unconventional one. Having solved many of the problems you may run into myself puts me in a good position to help.
Clients and partners include De Groene Amsterdammer · Gemeente Den Haag · NPO · NTR · Crossing Border · Super Sonic Jazz · Combo Magazine, Paris.
Free introductory callten minutes, no obligation
Tell me a little about yourself and what you would like advice on. I read every request, and if I think I can help, I’ll get back to you to plan a call.