CREATIVE LEADERS | Katie Evans

20 October  2026

What were your thoughts when you first received the Bursary?

I was awarded the Young Creative Bursary at Norfolk & Norwich Festival in January 2025. Receiving the email that I had been awarded the bursary was a defined moment, it felt like a gift from the universe, helping all my future opportunities and experiences take form. The ability to run your own project, to focus on one idea, and work with a diverse group of people every day for 6 months, gave me a strong sense of purpose. At times it proved challenging, but it was a chance to learn valuable new skills, gain confidence and push myself.

Tell us about the project…

The Ipswich Docks Art Project connected more than 80 pupils at Springfield Junior School with Ipswich’s maritime heritage. Through oral histories, archival research, creative workshops and waterfront visits, children explored local dockside stories through art, dance and sea shanties. Developed with Ipswich Maritime Trust and local creative and heritage partners, the project culminated in an exhibition celebrating the town’s working waterfront and passing its stories on to a new generation.

‘I chose to partner with the Ipswich Maritime Trust, creating a small-scale funded community arts project aimed at connecting primary school aged children with local maritime history and people. There was a clear lack of support available to young communities in Ipswich; I read a statistic about Ipswich that said, ‘In 2021, 38% of its children were living in poverty, and since 2014 this figure has risen faster than the national average.’ It’s often easy to ignore the parts of a place you don’t want to see. The work the Ipswich Maritime Trust was involved in spoke to me, it’s about peoples’ pride of place of an area they live in. However, there was very little engagement from younger generations, so that became the focus of my project. I also wanted the Ipswich Docks Art Project to nourish intergenerational relations, allowing children and elders to learn from one another, creating community and connection.

What, if anything, did the bursary change about you and your practice?

‘Receiving the bursary was an opportunity to challenge myself. Having recently completed an Art Masters at university, I was often painting or partaking in volunteer and community work, which developed individual skills. This project was a chance to bring all these skills together, and develop new ones, while doing something new. The biggest change for me was my shift in confidence. Being awarded the bursary instantly pushed me outside of my comfort zone and challenged me to do something that felt daunting. Working on the Ipswich Docks Art Project, and hearing feedback from participants and those involved, was extremely rewarding. I proved to myself that I could do it, and do it well, particularly the aspects I found most challenging, such as managing the budget and contracts. The bursary built my confidence significantly, giving me valuable experience for my CV and direction to move forwards with my career. As a young creative, it’s given me an understanding of my style as an artist and the methodology of my artistic practice, shaping every project I’ve gone on to do. Overall, the experience improved my confidence and gave me a new perspective on putting myself out there for future opportunities’.

What opportunities have come from the bursary?

‘Since receiving the bursary earlier this year, I’ve worked in an art gallery, hosted workshops at the National Centre for Writing and DanceEast, collaborated on a project with the Maritime Trust and participated as a young artist in a live art piece in London, called Longplayer. There was a moment during the project when Isabel Morgan, Festival Connect & Create Manager, described me as a ‘Community Engaged Artist’ which helped me to see myself in the same way that others saw me. Importantly, I created a new community through putting on this project, including the other bursary recipients who I’m still in contact with’.

What were the challenges and rewards of the project?

‘During the 6 months I undertook the Ipswich Docks Art Project, I experienced many challenges which I worked through step by step to find creative solutions. Seeing everything come together at the end and witnessing the positive outcomes the project had on others, was a very special and rewarding experience’.