The Toolkit is the work behind the work.

As an artist, it can be hard to find your way through the tangle, especially when you're working solo. That's why I created The Toolkit : a place for grounded, practical support for artists who want to build a sustainable and fulfilling practice.

I offer two ways to work together: 1-to-1 mentoring for tailored, strategic guidance, and four-week group workshops that build skills, structure, and momentum alongside peers.

WHAT I OFFER

1:1 Artist TOOLKIT Mentoring

PERSONAL Creative Strategy & Career Support

A one-hour personalised mentoring session for artists and creatives at any stage of their practice.

You'll send materials in advance and I’ll review it carefully before we meet. During the session, we’ll focus on where you are now and where you’d like to go, with clear, actionable advice to help you move forward.

5 sessions - 100/session (save 15%)
3 sessions - 108/session (save 10%)
1 session - 120/session.

WHY ME?

I've spent over 12 years finding ways to make ambitious creative ideas actually happen, figuring out the systems, funding, and structures that make a sustainable practice possible along the way.

Most artists I work with are not short of ideas or ambition. It's the practical side - the finances, the funding applications, the marketing, the project management - that gets in the way. My professional practice toolkits exist to change that.

I am a site-responsive visual artist, producer, curator, and entrepreneur with a particular interest in the intersection of art and ecology. I am co-founder and Co-Director of Lay of the Land, an arts organisation that creates collaborative, large-scale outdoor sculpture exhibitions in wild locations across Ireland, supported by major Arts Council funding and local authority grants. My career spans large-scale outdoor exhibitions, collaborative residencies, public art, artist-led initiatives, artist-run spaces, venue management, festivals, and experiential brand activations - including work with Body & Soul, Clonmel Junction Festival, Jameson, Ballymaloe Lit Fest, Cork Midsummer's Festival, Clifden Arts Festival and Tullamore Dew. I also co-founded Basic Space, an artist-led initiative in Dublin that supported high-quality independent exhibitions and residencies.

I bring all of that experience into the room when I work with artists. Over 200 artists have completed my professional development programmes across Ireland — many going on to secure Arts Council funding, launch new projects, and build practices they can sustain. One participant recently told me that The Crow Gallery, which showcases artists working through the lens of disability justice, would not exist without my Toolkit programme. That kind of outcome is exactly what I am here for.

I have delivered mentoring and workshops through Graphic Studio Dublin, Creative Frame Leitrim, Mayo County Council, Sligo Arts Office CPD, Florida State University, LUAN Gallery and Solstice Arts Centre to deliver 1-to-1 mentoring, once-off workshops, and longer-term mentorship programmes across all arts sectors.

If you are ready to build a practice that is as ambitious, visible, and sustainable as your creative work deserves, I'd love to work with you.

What others are saying?

“I have been receiving emails and comments from artists who have done individual workshops on funding and project management previously but feel that following an entire process with Kari has been most useful when piecing all the information together.”
Mayo Arts Office - CPD Programmer

The Crow Gallery would not exist without the Scaling Up programme. The Crow Gallery showcases artists working through the lens of disability justice — exploring perceptions of disability, ableism, and inclusion, and sparking dialogue about the lived experiences of disabled people. The programme gave me the tools and structure to make it a reality: I ran an open call, selected four artists, secured a venue, and ran a pilot during Westival. I couldn't have done it without Kari's workshop."
Anna Wall, Director - Crow Gallery.

“Funding applications are frustrating, in part because they seem to require so much certainty in advance. I was looking for a boost in conceiving of bolder project ideas and help/inspiration in applying for funding. Over the weeks, I have redirected my energy to a project that has been on the back burner for 15+ years and I have emerged from these sessions feeling energised about going for it--thanks for all your efforts, expertise and enthusiasm!”
Fiona - Writer & Musician

“I feel more confident just speaking about my ideas now and it really helped having such a supportive group and great leader. I really enjoyed hearing about what others were doing which I also found inspiring. The course helped me to focus my ideas and I hope to use the template again and again.”
Anon - Musician & music Therapist

“I feel I now have the building blocks and scaffolding to think/act more productively. Keep it all bite sized and build from there. Kari gave great organisational tips, which make the mountain of a project seem so less daunting, messy and impossible.”
Christine - Artist

“In the initial weekend of the Scaling Up programme I had the opportunity to really spend time reviewing and workshopping with the other attendees what I wanted to apply for. In that time I was able to take on the "big project" in my head that was scaring me and allowed me to break it into smaller pieces so I could get my head around it. This is the project I have now fully committed to and fleshed out and whatever funding streams I am successful with I have now formed a network and team that are excited by this developed idea.
Tom - Artist