Outdoor artists and companies often act in isolation. Would there be use in them coming together more often to share resources and share their creative processes - to experiment, develop and make work?

If artists wish to collaborate, maybe they need to be vocal and make this known. How do we support more of a sharing economy?

Artists and companies could benefit from more producers and programmers who are good connectors - producers who have an interest and a skill in bringing artists together because they think that there might be mutual benefits or interesting outcomes. Producers can be useful people to fulfil this role as they tend to be people who get out there and see work. Some artists might expect a commissioner to have a hands on approach to the creation of a piece of work.

Theatre commissions tend to come with some kind of curating - with conversations throughout the process about how things are going, whether aims are being met and if not why not. Outdoor arts producers and commissioners don't always have the relevant experience to facilitate or curate a creative process - or have the time to do it. It would be useful if commissioners were more open about whether creative facilitation and putting interesting people together could be a part of their offer. Loz from Devizes is very interested in getting together with artists who wish to experiment with collaborations and other producers. Stav, an associate of 101 is looking to investigate this very issue, exploring the potential for collaborations at 101

Could NASA be a useful place to share ideas and broaden out calls - it's includes members who have many years of experience and young emerging artists, so people who could make useful mentors and people who would benefit from support. Without Walls will be developing from 2018 as an NPO - they want to know how they can support artists development and become more open. Gavin from Readibop is an artist and a programmer - there can be a tension between having the artist hat on and being open and investigative and a programmer when he needs definition, to know 'what it is' so that he can fill in the gaps in his programme. So - we're talking about the bit in the middle - the bit before the commission, exploring how we can develop what we do and make the outdoor arts sector more vibrant, exciting, innovative, diverse etc. before we get down to making work for sale. Can we have more get togethers, where artists share practice - come to For the Love of It! At Cobden Works in Salford on 2nd-4th March 2018 ACTION: Loz, Stav, NASA and whoever else is interested to work together to identify connectors and people who wish to be connected!