CC OVERVIEW — TURPS BANANA

turps correspondence course

APPLICATIONS FOR 2025/26 ARE NOW OPEN

Application Deadline: Monday 30th June 2025 (midnight)

“Imagine you are in a very, very remote place and post takes a couple of months to arrive. Or you are above the arctic circle! You send images to an esteemed colleague and await response. The response comes months later. You are unable to ask questions of what you just read because it's a letter, no Internet, no phones. What then happens is that you slow right down, you listen to and digest every last drop of sense in that letter. You sniff it, you sleep with it under your pillow and you constantly re-read it until you suck every last ounce of anything useful from it. You then make work and any accompanying comments that are posted off with your next work upload will be very deeply thought about. That's it, period! Babbling, garbling impatient 'I must know now' hysteria has ruined people's ability to absorb and reflect. In doing this course you have enabled a slightly different process to take place. You learn from what you already know. The mentor is a guide. You do the work. It works! Read, reflect then make!”

Marcus Harvey, Director

WATCH TURPS CORRESPONDENCE COURS INTRODUCTION VIDEO (7 MIN)

OVERVIEW

Turps Correspondence Course is an innovative programme of online mentoring facilitated through critical, supportive written reviews delivered by a dedicated mentor. The course is aimed at painters who want to develop or reinvigorate their work, whether recently graduated from art school, mid career or those without any formal arts education.

The course is designed and structured to be delivered entirely online so that painters, based anywhere in the world and at any stage in their career, can participate and receive informed, critical feedback from a mentor who is practising painter selected by Turps. There are 5 review points throughout the year when you will be required to upload images of your work and a short statement or ‘letter’ to you mentor. Your mentor will then review what has been uploaded and write their response. It is a very different type of feedback from more conventional face-to-face tutorials but we believe this is what makes the correspondence course such an appealing and sought after professional development course.

Since 2012, it has offered over 600 artists a fresh perspective on their work within the context of current painting discourse. Once enrolled, many painters continue on the programme for 2 or more years, developing close connections with both the mentoring team and their peer network through participant-led initiatives and social media connections.

Turps Correspondence Course painters have gone on to feature in New Contemporaries, John Moores Painting Prize and the Marmite Prize for Painting, and it has also enabled painters to successfully apply for and be accepted onto MA and MFA programmes across the world.

Turps Correspondence Course 2024/25 applications are now closed.

Fees for 2025/26 are £1,850. To apply click here.

Application Deadline for 2025/26: Monday 30th June 2025 (midnight).

REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must have a personal email address, access to the Internet and reasonable facilities to document work digitally. Those accepted onto the course are expected to have basic IT skills to use the relevant online systems. Guidelines and instructions on how to use the systems will be provided at the beginning of the course. For more information, see our FAQ.

Participants will be expected to upload works, drawings, works in progress, sketchbook pages etc. for the duration of the course. It is important this is an ongoing process that best describes their output as this will allow the mentors to track developments and compile their observations at dedicated feedback points.

TESTIMONIALS

‘I entered into the Correspondence Course at a time when I really felt like I needed to engage in a dialogue about my work. I felt very conflicted about my process and practice and I was being extremely hard on myself. My mentor was great at encouraging play and exploration back into my studio as well as propagating intelligent discussion and providing thoughtful feedback that I still refer to. The long form/penpal format allowed things to ruminate, so much so that ideas discussed in the first review quietly started appearing as the year drew to a close. The CC showed me that ideas form and trickle in at their own speed and the structure of this course really encourages this. I would recommend applying to anyone that doesn't feel they can commit to a Masters for example, but has the inkling they could benefit from some critical feedback. My Fine Art BA was over a decade ago, but my experience with the Turps Correspondence course was 100 times more helpful. Also undoubtedly you will make good friends along the way and join the encouraging, nourishing community that is Turps.’

– Alice Neave (Turps Correspondence Course 2020/21)

‘Of course the one-to-one correspondence was incredibly valuable, but what I didn't expect was to meet so many new friends along the way. I'm glad to know a bunch of other motivated painters and like-minded individuals who are always down to put on shows and collaborate on other crazy ideas!’

– Monica Perez Vega (Turps Correspondence Course 2021/22)

The core programme is led and delivered by:

Marcus Harvey | Director of Turps Education
Helen Hayward | Director of Turps Education
Scott McCracken | Course Leader
Sukey Sleeper | Course Co-ordinator

Turps CC mentoring team 2024/25:

Previous CC mentors:

How to apply

FAQ

WATCH Q&A RECORDING

painters