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Nurture Creative Incubation Program

An 8-month program to help 4 emerging creatives in Belfast establish their creative practice. Providing bespoke business support and free shared creative workspace in our new South Belfast studios. Each program participant will have 24/7 access to their own dedicated deskspace as well as use of shared communal facilities throughout the program. In addition they will benefit from the following support:

  • Monthly one-on-one mentoring sessions – for accountability with Blick founder Christine James
  • Monthly peer-mentoring group sessions with the other program participants – for peer support, learning, inspiration, community and accountability.
  • Quarterly finance mentoring sessions – to help with financial planning and advice with Blick and freelance finance manager Rosy James
  • Monthly industry specific skillshare training workshops for program participants – with current and past Blick residents and team members, sharing their skills and experiences with the program participants
  • Monthly online business resources, worksheets and exercises – to help you refine your idea, improve your skills and knowledge and for accountability and to establish your creative practice
  • Quarterly creative talks – by local creatives sharing their creative journey for inspiration and peer learning
  • Quarterly industry specific skillshare workshops – by local creatives sharing their expertise to improve skills and knowledge
  • Showcasing and promotional opportunities – on our website and social media and through presenting your work at a showcase event at the end of the project

 

Program dates:

1st October 2024 – 31st May 2025

 

Application criteria:

This program is aimed at emerging creatives who aren’t yet generating a full-time income from their creative practice. To be eligible to apply for the program you must have an idea for a creative business or be a self-employed creative, or creative freelancer generating your full income from your creative idea or practice for less than 6 months. Your creative idea or practice must be in one of the following creative industries sectors

  • Art
  • Design
  • Photography
  • Illustration
  • Crafts
  • Fashion

You need to be passionate and committed to making your creative idea a reality, whether that is running your own small creative business, working full-time as an artist or creative freelancer, or a combination of these. You need to be able to demonstrate you have a plan for how you will work on your creative idea over the course of the program to make the most of the facilities, resources and support provided.

Please note that due to the nature of the funding, screen and technology based businesses, including video games, film and tv, software, advertising etc are not eligible to apply. If you aren’t sure whether your creative idea or practice is eligible please get in touch.

 

Program commitment details:

We understand that when starting out you may have a number or different work commitments, so don’t expect you to necessarily be working on your creative practice full-time, but to contribute to the program and benefit from the facilities and support available we do expect all program participants to be in the position and willing to commit for the full duration of the program to:

  • Working on your creative practice in the studios a minimum of 3 days per week
  • Attending all mentoring sessions, workshops and talks, except in exceptional circumstances which must be agreed with the Blick team in advance.
  • Complete all program exercises and worksheets
  • Complete monthly progress reports and end of program evaluations and feedback reports

In addition we want to create a nurturing, supportive and welcoming environment within the program and our studios and we expect all participants to be willing to do their best to work hard, be kind and supportive to each other and all our studio members and visitors.

Application deadline:

Friday 27th September

Apply Here

Nurture Creative Talks

Quarterly creative talks for Nurture incubation program participants and the broader creative community by local creatives sharing their creative journey for inspiration and peer learning. Starting in November. More info coming soon on our events and workshops webpage

Blick Events and Workshops

Nurture Creative Workshops

Quarterly industry specific skillshare workshops for Nurture incubation program participants and the broader creative community by local creatives sharing their expertise to improve skills and knowledge. Starting January 2025. More info coming soon on our events and workshops page

Blick Events and Workshops

Nurture Creative Resources

Monthly online business resources, worksheets and exercises shared through our Resources for Creative webpage to help you refine your idea, improve your skills and knowledge and for accountability and to establish your creative practice.

Resources for Creatives

Project kindly supported by Belfast City Council

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In his interview today with us ahead of his creative talk next week, creative director and creative agency founder Ciaran shares about how he sets boundaries around his work for himself and his team

If you want to sign up for the talk next Wednesday evening just visit the events page of our website!
EVENTS AT BLICK THIS OCTOBER

Some of our upcoming events at Blick this October

DECOLONIAL POLITICS

Date: Sun 5th October 5, 2025

Venue: Blick Great Northern St

Time: 5.00pm - 7.00pm

Cost: £30

INTERMEDIATE POETRY WORKSHOP

Date: Tues 7th October 5, 2025

Venue: Blick Great Northern St

Time: 6.30pm - 8.00pm

Cost: £40

CREATIVE BRUNCH WITH INNOVATE UK BUSINESS GROWTH

Date: Wed 8th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 10.30am

CREATIVE ADVENTURE CLUB

Date: Wed 8th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 6.30pm

GETTING RETAIL READY FIELDTRIP

Date: Fri 10th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St & Various

Contributors: Born & Bred, Hunter Paper Co, Story Box,

Time: 10am - 4pm

CREATIVE TALK WITH CIARAN CRUDDEN CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE LAST BRAND

Date: Wed 15th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 7pm - 8pm

Cost: Free

DIGITAL BRUNCH: CREATIVE AUDIO FOR BEGINNERS

Date: Sat 25th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 10am - 1pm

WOMENFOLK X KITSCH SISTERS VISION BOARD WORKSHOP

Date: Sun 26th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 2pm - 4pm

WOMENFOLK PEER MENTORING

Date: Tes 30th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 7pm - 9pm

For more information or to book tickets visit the events page of our website: https://blickstudios.org/events/
Today in his interview with us ahead of his creative talk next week Ciaran shares with us some advice for other creatives on a similar path!

If you want to sign up for his talk next Wed 15th  just visit the events page of our website! https://blickstudios.org/events/
** THE CREATIVE ADVENTURE CLUB **

This Autumn we are collaborating with our friends at Homewerk @homewerk.project  with this new project. The Creative Adventure Club, a 9-week experiment in shaking up your routine.

Every fortnight we'll meet in person in our Hill Street studios to get quirky creative assignments and share our work with a small, friendly community, and between these sessions we'll meet online for creative check-ins and inspiration!

It’s totally free to join while we trial it—but if you’d like to toss a coin in the hat to help cover costs, we promise to spend it on snacks!

For more info & to sign up visit the events page of our website (link below and in profile)

https://blickstudios.org/events/creative-adventure-club-with-homewerk/
Today in his interview with us ahead of his creative talk for us later this month Ciaran shares with us about the biggest hurdle he faced when starting his own creative business

If you want to sign up for the talk just visit the events page of our website! https://blickstudios.org/events/
Today in our interview with Ciaran Crudden ahead of his creative talk for us later this month he shares some of his experiences running his own creative business!

If you want to sign up for the talk on Wed 15th October just visit the events page of our website! 

https://blickstudios.org/events/
In 2 weeks on Wed 15th October Ciaran Crudden founder and creative director of the last brand is sharing his creative story with us at our next Creative Talk.

Ahead of his talk we have done a short interview with Ciaran which we will be sharing over the next week or so. Starting today with an introduction to Ciaran, his business and why he wanted to start it in the first place!

If you want to sign up for the talk just visit the events page of our website! 

https://blickstudios.org/events/
* * * EVENTS AT BLICK THIS OCTOBER * * *

Some of our upcoming events at Blick this October

* * DECOLONIAL POLITICS * *

Date: Sun 5th October, 2025

Venue: Blick Great Northern St

Time: 5.00pm - 7.00pm

Cost: £30

* * INTERMEDIATE POETRY WORKSHOP * *

Date: Tues 7th October, 2025

Venue: Blick Great Northern St

Time: 6.30pm - 8.00pm

Cost: £40

* * CREATIVE BRUNCH WITH INNOVATE UK BUSINESS GROWTH * *

Date: Wed 8th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 10.30am

* * CREATIVE TALK WITH CIARAN CRUDDEN CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE LAST BRAND * *

Date: Wed 15th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 7pm - 8pm

Cost: Free

* * DIGITAL BRUNCH: CREATIVE AUDIO FOR BEGINNERS * *

Date: Sat 25th Oct

Venue: Blick Hill St

Time: 10am - 1pm

* * NEW Womenfolk EVENTS & WORKSHOPS TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY * * 

For more information or to book tickets visit the events page of our website: https://blickstudios.org/events/
* * Digital Brunch: Creative Audio for Beginners * * 

Are you curious about how to bring stories to life through sound? In this session we’ll be joined by radio and audio producer Owen McFadden from WhyFi Productions, who’ll draw on his experience of creating award-winning audio for BBC Radio Ulster, Radio 4 and more, to give insights into the basics of recording, editing, and shaping audio into compelling listening. Whether you’re curious about podcasting, oral history, or creative soundscapes, this session will give you time and inspiration to think about the potential and power of audio.

Workshop details
Date: Saturday 25th October
Time: 10.00am – 12.15pm
Location: Blick Studios, Hill Street, Belfast
Cost: £15.00

For more information or to book your place visit the events page of our website (link below and in profile)

https://blickstudios.org/events/digital-brunch-creative-audio-for-beginners/
BLICK VIRTUAL OFFICE SERVICE

As well as offering physical workspace we also offer virtual office space for creative businesses. You can use our Hill St address for your creative business giving your business a professional public image and keeping your home address private.

We offer 2 different services:

MONTHLY BUSINESS ADDRESS SERVICE

At the start of each month we will redirect up to 15 items of regular and standard large letter-sized business mail to the address of your choice. Post beyond the 15 letters will be charged at the price of postage, and the cost will be added to your following bill.

	
	
UK Based Creative* Business £22.50 (Monthly Rate Paid Quarterly) £200 (Annual Rate)
	

WEEKLY BUSINESS ADDRESS SERVICE

We will redirect business mail to the address of your choice weekly. Up to 25 items of regular and standard large letter-sized mail per calendar month. Post beyond the 25 letters will be charged at the price of postage, and the cost will be added to your following bill.

	
	
UK based Creative* Business £30 (Monthly Rate Paid Quarterly) £300 (Annual Rate)
	

For more info or all of our rates email rosy@blickstudios.org or visit our website: https://blickstudios.org/virtual-services/
Looking way back to our first Creative Talk of the year with Ian Pitt Founder and Creative Director of Me,Him&Her Design Studio, many thanks to @verahylands  for the video! We also have a new blog with a writeup of his talk on our website. Our next creative talk is on Wed 15th October with past Blick Resident Ciaran Crudden, creative director and founder of creative agency The Last Brand. You can sign up for your free ticket on the events page of our website (link in profile)
Creative Brunch with Innovate UK Business Growth 

On Wednesday 8th October at 10.30am Innovate UK will be hosting a brunch event for creatives in our Hill St studios.

Join us for a vibrant morning of inspiration, meaningful connections, and a delicious brunch curated by Yellow Door to find out more about Innovate UK and how they can support your creative business!

Event Details

Date: Wednesday 8 October 2025
Time: 10:30 AM
Location: Blick Studios, Hill Street, Belfast
Breakfast by: Yellow Door

Booking link in profile
Join us on Saturday 27th September to meet other creatives and learn more about using Canva for your creative business over coffee and pastries!

This is the first in a new series of collaborative workshops in partnership with Homewerk @homewerk.project for creatives, communicators and the digitally curious, to explore practical skills, emerging trends, and fresh ideas in digital media.

Love it or loathe it, Canva is now well established as an essential tool for creating social media posts, presentations, branding and much more besides, making graphic design accessible to everyone. If your creative or business projects have made you something of an accidental designer through Canva, this relaxed morning taster workshop will revisit some of the basics of the platform and principles of design, and demonstrate some of the ways to make the most of Canva’s capabilities.

Workshop Details

Date: Saturday 27th September
Time: 10.00am – 12.15pm
Location: Blick Studios, Hill Street, Belfast
Cost: £15.00

Booking link in profile