The Republic of Parenthood

15 mins Introduction How the workshops emerged from Corby's experience of teaching and writing as a new parent. How this lived experience has informed her professional practice and thinking (recent writings on painting, motherhood, masculinity, studio/practice-based practice and embodied knowledge), offering a model of ways of negotiating this transformation of professional life.

20 mins Shared discussion of lived experience of parenthood, considering issues of body, time and space for working practices and thinking. Sharing experiences of support from colleagues and institutions or the lack of it.

15 mins Development The narratives that begin to emerge will then be developed by introducing participants to the practice of journaling which combines drawing and writing, to equip them with tools to negotiate their continuing journeys as parents beyond the workshops. The workshops will foreground strategies for working effectively in short periods of time in haphazard circumstances around the demands of family life and being honest and generous about our limitations in order to develop a healthy approach to a work-life balance.

10 mins Evaluation How might we use this different sense of identity, time and the bodily experience to produce new work and forge alternative approaches to creative production? In so doing they will challenge the career deficit model which currently structures perceptions about having children.