In April 2025, CAMP launched KINections, a project part-funded by Arts Council England and The Fenton Trust. Supporting a group of 10 rurally based emerging artists and 6 artists from Torbay over 14 months, the project offers professional training, group facilitation, skills development, and opportunities for networking and exhibiting. Using the existing model of CAMP’s KIN groups, the participating artists have been offered the skills to form an ongoing group that will sustain itself beyond the life of the project. This can act as a network, peer-group, or practice group for the participants in the longer term.

This project has been developed in response to feedback from CAMP members and published data on multiple barriers practitioners in Devon and Cornwall face to developing their creative careers.

• Coastal and rural region parts of the South West have a low wage economy, high rates of poor mental health, and this impacts cultural engagement.
• There is a lack of public and cultural infrastructure and practitioners face rural isolation.
• CAMP members encounter personal barriers to full engagement, and face systemic inequalities, including caring responsibilities, low wages, are disabled & neurodivergent, LGBTQI+ and from working-class backgrounds.

KINections seeks to address these barriers by creating a programme of activity and support that enables rurally based CAMP members in early practice stages (including those returning to art practice) to develop the tools to establish their creative careers. Drawing on the experience CAMP has built up across the region, and working in partnership with professionals in the cultural sector, the project supports a range of ‘real world’ professional experiences. 

The timeline for the project is April 2025 to June 2026.