Capitalising Creativity - Developing earned income streams in Cultural Industries organisations
Sarah Thelwall
Proboscis commissioned Sarah Thelwall to become their Consultant
in Residence. The goal of this three year appointment was to bring Sarah’s insights and experience to bear on Proboscis’ creative and business activities in an organic way that could be free of the traditional client/consultant relationship and the constraints of a set
brief. During this period Sarah became a key member of Proboscis, working not just as an advisor, but becoming enmeshed in their creative projects. Her contribution has been much deeper than providing business advice – it has helped them to refine their notion not only of what they do, but why they do it – what aspects are crucial to their sense of individual
and collective ethos within the organisation. It also helped them to define what they are not, and what they do not want to sacrifice.
This essay represents part of the approach to helping creative firms become more stable and financially independent of the funding system that Sarah has developed over the past four years in collaboration with clients such as Proboscis, Snug & Outdoor and SCAN. The ideas and arguments it contains are pertinent for the whole sector and Proboscis are
pleased to be able to offer the platform of the Cultural Snapshots series to bring them to a wider audience.