This interactive public discussion focuses on surviving as a creative in a turbulent economic climate. Offering different perspectives from Liverpool’s creative scene, together we will try to understand and help resolve the issues of surviving as an artist today.

Jon Davies is the co-founder of music events company Deep Hedonia, a freelance writer based in Liverpool and produces music as Kepla. For over 5 years, Davies has been involved in bringing together experimental music, technology-driven audiovisual productions and live art performance in cross-platform events, as well as collaborating with numerous artists to create mixed media installations and performances.

Jon Edgley is a currently a student at Liverpool John Moores University. Born in the Wirral, he has recently established an innovative exhibition space within a converted Wendy house called Gwendolyn.

Joe Fletcher Orr (b. 1991, Birkenhead) is the founder of CACTUS, a non-profit, self-funded gallery in Liverpool which supports less established artists by providing solo exhibitions at an early and crucial stage in their career. Orr is also an artist. His sculptures, performances and installations use humour to undermine the ‘seriousness’ of the art world, and the authority of the art object.

Frances Disley (b.1976, Warrington) is a Liverpool-based artist. She seeks to expose the thought processes of the artist when wrestling with form and colour. She uses her own body to animate crude painted objects and surfaces. Recent projects and solo exhibitions include the performance Roll Fix Slip, Bluecoat, Liverpool (2015) and Exchange Rates, a collaboration with Patte Loper, Schema Projects, New York (2015). Disley is a Liverpool Biennial Associate Artist.  

Gabriela Silva is an artistic entrepreneur specialising in education and community based projects. She has spent the last five years teaching artists how to develop their projects for selections and independent funding. She is currently the Mediation Coordinator at Liverpool Biennial 2016. 

This event is part of The City is a School, an experimental educational project that involves the Mediation and Volunteer team for Liverpool Biennial 2016. The public programme includes workshops, discussions, performances and film screenings.