MASS CORRESPONDENCE COURSE 

*APPLICATIONS FOR 2024/25 ARE NOW OPEN*

Application Deadline: Monday 30th June 2024 (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 their 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.  Read, reflect then make!”

Marcus Harvey, Director

OVERVIEW

Mass Correspondence Course is an innovative distance-learning programme of online mentoring facilitated through critical, supportive written reviews by a dedicated mentor.  The course is aimed at sculptors based anywhere in the world and at any stage in their career who want to develop or reinvigorate their work, whether recently graduated from art school or those without any formal arts education.   

Since 2012, Turps Correspondence Course has offered over 500 painters a fresh perspective on their work within the context of current painting discourse. We are now extending the same opportunity to sculptors. 

Fees for 2024/25 are £1,850.

Applications Deadline: Monday 30th June 2024 (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

“MASS Correspondence Course has been such a rewarding experience. My practice has developed greatly over this last year as a result of MASS. I no longer feel out on a limb geographically without having to relocate. I have found that having access to this calibre of critique and support over a year period has been priceless. The strength of this approach of correspondence and mentorship is that the written feedback has time to embed deeply into your practice, working perfectly alongside your studio time. It's also been a great sounding board for preparing new work for exhibitions and residencies that I've been undertaking.”

–Donna Mitchell (MASS Correspondence Course 2021/22)

"I have gained so much insight into my practice from taking part in MASS cc. It's such a thrill to have a mentor who can interpret your practice and put into words what you instinctively feel when making the work.”

–Lucy Sheridan (MASS Correspondence Course 2020-22)

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

MASS CC mentors 2023/24:
Alice Wilson
Andrea V Wright
Annie Cattrell
Brian Griffiths
Sophie Newell
Tim Ellis

MASS CC previous mentors:
Ana Genoves
Ian Dawson
Kerry Stewart
Laura White
Nicky Hirst
Steven Claydon
Tim Ralston