Shifting Sands: Scotland

Shifting Sands is a UK-wide research project investigating graduate preparedness for work in the Contemporary Art sector and the challenges they face in their first year post graduation. Shifting Sands is a collaboration between In Session and Pause or Pay UK in partnership with Creative Scotland and East Street Arts.

Shifting Sands: Scotland focuses on the experiences of 2020 graduates from Scotland. It will run from October 2021 – May 2023, and will involve interviews with art graduates from Gray’s School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, University of the Highlands and Islands, The Glasgow School of Art, Forth Valley College, City of Glasgow College and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.

The landscape of the Scottish Art scene has been changed beyond recognition by COVID-19, and the challenges now facing graduates will be very different in a post-COVID world. With this in mind we aim to identify the obstacles that have prevented 2020 graduates in Scotland from gaining entry to, and establishing a career in, the sector and the specific challenges they face in the wake of COVID-19.
Shifting Sands: England is running in conjunction with the Scottish strand of the project and with a focus on 2020 graduate experience across the Yorkshire and the Humber region. The research team leading this project consists of: Quinn Garrison, Co-organiser of In Session and PhD student at the University of Edinburgh and Ed Compson, Pause or Pay UK Co-founder.

Our findings will be used to develop an action plan with recommendations of how institutions can work with students to design and deliver professional practice courses that reflect graduate needs and provide the next generation of creative practitioners with the tools they need to thrive and improve their chances of securing future employment in the sector.
If you are a 2020 Fine Art graduate from Gray’s School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, University of the Highlands and Islands, The Glasgow School of Art, Forth Valley College, City of Glasgow College, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design or if you were due to graduate in 2020 from one of these institutions but prematurely ended your studies then click here to take part.
We encourage participation in the study from those who are underrepresented in the art world and who face barriers to entry. These could, for example, be associated with race, disability, age, gender identity, sexuality, socio-economic or geographic barriers.

The deadline to apply for participation in the first phase of interviews is 9th March.

If you’d like more information about the research project, please feel to contact In Session (insession@esamail.org.uk) or Pause or Pay UK (pauseorpayuk@gmail.com).