How we do it

Artists take many forms and make lots of different kinds of artwork. We are not fixed in our definition of who is an artist and recognise that there are lots of paths that may lead to this work.

We collaborate with artists as expert worldbuilders, relational and aesthetic magicians, conjurers of alternative systems, knowledges and ways of being in a time of polycrisis. Artists move beyond dominant knowledge systems (analytical, logical, head over body, objective) through other ways of knowing, which can create alternative realities in the face of existential challenges. When we talk of rehearsing new worlds, this wouldn't be possible without artists.

Generally we work with artists through specific 'types' of work or relationship:

• Residencies
  Artists contracted for Residency Commissions or undertaking Independent Residencies.
• Collaborators
  Artists who are invited to work with other artists on their Residency Commissions - e.g. performers, facilitators, filmmakers, designers and others.
• Community members
  Artists within our local communities in Aberdeenshire.

We are committed to developing and embodying artistic and organisational practices that are fair, uncolonial, anti-racist, queer, ecological, anti-oppressive and transformational, including in our relationships with artists.

Our Artist Handbook is made available to all artists who work with us - this details our rigorous and transparent supporting structure for artists who are working with us. We are committed to paying Scottish Artist Union rates. You can read our Fair Work statement here.

Deveron Projects is inseparable from Huntly and its communities. Residing here for 30 years, working in public, our organisation is of this place and the communities who live here. This is to say that what we make and how we make it is led by the communities who constitute our organisation.

We build relationships with community members in the long-term and rely on their expertise, knowledge, ideas and experience in making our collective work. In line with our lifetimes approach, we have formed various roles / connections, woven through the organisation, that meet the needs and ambitions of people as these change over time:

• Participants - community members come along to events and use community resources. We love getting to know you, your friends and families.
• Volunteers - we value community members who give time and energy to sustain regular events and care for the community garden. We are developing robust volunteer protocol that enables alternative modes of exchange, plus access and travel budgets to support volunteer participation as funding allows.
• Collaborators - collaborators on artist's projects are offered equitable rates and terms with artists. Collaborators work with artists to form and realise the artwork. This could include working with an artist in developing research, running an event, making an artwork, or in other ways.
• Community programmers - paid community members who work with our team to develop and deliver regular events and projects. These are new roles and we are in the process of developing how we work together.
• Team members - Community members become team members and team members become community members. We also offer a local Traineeship and other learning positions as funding allows.
• Governance - 50% of our Board of Trustees includes local community members who feed into the strategic development of our work and hold overall responsibility for the charity.

Everything we do is formed to enable equitable and mutual exchange between artists and communities, ensuring shared and fair benefit and credit for everyone involved. If you ever feel that this isn't happening, please let us know.

We are an arts organisation, not a business organisation. This means that we see all of our work as creative work - from our programme right through to how we work together, our policies, finances, communications etc. To enable this, our team members work across all aspects of our work - co-developing and testing new policies, practices and structures within the organisation in tandem with co-developing and testing new ways of producing artistic programmes, building communities and community infrastructure.

Rigorous existing organisational practice and legacy remains a vital touchstone for this work, offering learning, experience, networks and know-how. Likewise, a kind, collaborative and supportive organisational culture, where we enjoy our work and working together is something we continue to uphold and value.

In 2024, we initiated a new Co-Directorship model, an early step towards decentralising decision-making within our organisation and shifting how we work together so our organisational structure aligns more closely with our values and better reflects equity, access and justice – principles that underpin our approach and vision. We have continued to build this model with the creation of Co-Producer and Caretaker roles. You can find out more about our current team here.

Since 2025, we have been experimenting with a new organisational structure, borrowing from sociocracy, a decentralised, consent-based governance system.

Emerging from an ongoing research project called Conditions (2024-present), our work is organised into 7 areas, called Circles. These are programme, communications, operations, buildings, archives, finance and human relations. Within each circle are various roles, detailed on Role Cards. These were inspired by Dark Matter Labs and developed with thanks to #beyondtherules, an initiative that practices organising and governance for an economy designed for life.

Each team member holds a 'deal' of Role Cards. Role Cards are intended to foster agency within our team, to make the breadth of our work visible (including much invisible labour - generally related to domestic/caring work) and to better reflect the fluid and collaborative nature of how we work together as a team. Cards can be swapped, parked, updated and shared.

These changes have been developed in parallel with wider updates to our organisational infrastructure, e.g. policies, protocols, procurement, finances and data management systems among others. This work attempts to align how we work with our values and the ideas explored in our programme. All of this internal work is creative material and scaffolding for realising our ideas, values, aims and vision - as important as our programme. If our infrastructure is designed for liberation, creativity, trust and equity - what can this enable more widely?