As the year comes to a close we bid farewell to Jennifer Paterson, All or Nothing Artistic Director and our longest-standing Board Member. Her insight and generosity over the past twelve years have massively strengthened Articulation’s work, helping to ensure the continued success of the organisation. Here, she shares some reflections on her time in the role.
As a performer involved in circus and outdoor arts in Scotland, I became aware of Articulation through Chloe Dear and Sarah Jean Couzens. Articulation had initiated lots of opportunities for the very small handful of companies and artists that worked in our sector, were driving the Briggait project to create a circus centre, and Chloe and Sarah Jean had just written a Circus Strategy for Scotland. I became involved from then, it was 2012!
Time totally flies and after Chloe then Sarah Jean moved away from Scotland, and other key players left, Articulation’s activites still continued on a smaller scale with a group of us in the sector running things on a voluntary basis.
During the pandemic it became apparent that we needed to shout about, and share our experience of working in the outdoor arts and the potential of it all. That the experience was here in Scotland. This sense of purpose and the activities we ran helped raise Articulation’s profile, and led to a successful funding application to have a paid Director and a programme of activites.
Articulation has not looked back. Firstly with Martin Danziger, then Angela Adams-Gray stepping into the role in 2023, it is amazing to see how much Articulation has developed in the last few years. Helping advocate and support an ever growing establishing sector and number of artists, to being taken seriously by those making policy and funding decisions. It’s definitely time to step back and can’t wait to see where Articulation goes next, it’s in brilliant hands.
About Jen Paterson
Originally trained in dance before being persuaded to take her feet off the ground and try aerial, Jen performed internationally for various Companies and Events. She is currently Artistic Director of All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre, a company she founded in 2006. Having put performing onto the back burner, she is focusing on creating work, developing her ambition to make aerial integral to the arts in Scotland.
Image credit: Brian Hartley
About Articulation
Our vision is that Scotland is a place where outdoor arts, circus and spectacle can flourish, now and in the future. We seek to realise this by growing and developing a network of members working across all areas of outdoor arts, circus and spectacle in Scotland; supporting their needs, celebrating their work and giving collective voice to these artforms.
