The idea of forming a collective group of people with shared ideas is not new. It is not radical. It is not revolutionary. It also is rarely simple. But it can be transformative and extremely powerful.

There are many different types of networks: - networks which form for social connectivity - a group of friends for instance. Networks that form out of shared interest - a book club/a team sport. Networks that form for economic reasons - growing business links/partnerships. Networks that form in an emergency - such as a multi skilled rescue team/community response. And then there are networks that share a common purpose, whose aim is to create change.

Over the last fifteen years we in Ireland have built a network of street and circus artists which share a collective voice and purpose. I am going to share with you some of the key steps we took along that journey which may be applied in many different circumstances.

The first step was an individual self-realisation. Noticing that our own particular need was not being met anywhere and that if we didn’t do something about it, nobody else would. That our hopeful dreams of being artists for change would likely wither and die if we didn’t taking affirmative action. This action was built out of belief in the potential that what we brought as artists could actually offer real social impact and that our art was really breaking barriers. But why could nobody else see that? We needed something to change, but how? We realised one voice was simply not enough, our own need was not enough, the self on its own was not enough. We needed a multitude. We needed a network.

Forming a network inevitably involved sacrifice. Putting our ideas all out on the table ready to be thrown out if nobody else felt the same way. This was a risk we had to take. We sacrificed our ideas and we sacrificed our time through calling and talking at length and with passion to everyone we ever knew who worked in the sector in Ireland.

In other words, we set about activating the sector. We realised that if we wanted to affect change, we could not just fight our own corner - we must cover the whole playground. We had spent a lot of time fighting our own corner and getting nowhere fast, so we knew that what we needed now to affect change was a tribe.

To form a tribe required finding a shared viewpoint. There was no point in talking in silos individually, we had to get into a room together - hear, learn, exchange, share, disagree, fight and find consensus. We needed to find the basis for a shared understanding. That required conversation - much conversation.

The important part of these conversations was that we ensured as wide a viewpoint as possible. We specifically sought diversity and representation from across the sector - those who were new to it alongside those who were well established. We needed experienced voices, and we needed fresh voices. It was absolutely vital to ensure that everyone was invited and welcomed into the room and that they were heard, included and felt relevant. We could not afford for people to feel left behind, everyone needed to be on board or it would fail.

The next bit of our journey was to identify what the collective need for our network was. This was surprisingly simple, as after all the talk and all the needs were discussed we realised unanimously that what it came down to was the need for “Recognition” above all else.

Following this realisation, it became evident that investment of both time and money would be required to ensure that this idea didn’t just became another stone in the graveyard of ambition. Someone would have to drive the bus, and we needed permission from the ‘network’ to seek financial support to pay that someone. So, we asked the question – do you want us to seek funding to run this network? Ultimately, we were asking permission to create another organisation which would compete for the already limited resources available. The answer was a resounding YES. We had a mandate.

What I have described so far is how together we created a shared vision of how we could affect change. These were crucial steps in starting the journey. Next, we had to figure out how to build our voice collectively and constructively.

This is where we needed the voices to be strong. We talked and listened and shared and connected and talked some more. We worked hard to instil confidence and belief into every single person associated with ISACS. We sowed seeds of ideas everywhere we could. We needed everyone to start asking for recognition, demanding attention, seeking the spotlight. Building this takes time, especially when as an artist so much of your time has been spent being knocked down. More and more we encouraged people to put themselves forward, to fill in that application, to ask for that residency, to reach out to that person and to ask for support. We wrote countless letters explaining what our sector could do, what it did do, or what an incredible artist this person was or what potential that artist has. We talked about our art forms in new ways, we shared information about our artforms across every platform we could master, we refused to be invisible. It worked.

The sector grew and our understanding of the sector grew, our understanding of our role as a network grew and the understanding of our artforms from beyond our sector also started to grow. We were finding our language, we were finding our voice and we were finding our place.

But nothing stays the same, when you create change things ultimately change and so too the network must also be prepared to change. What started as a very shaky uncertain hand has now grown into a mighty ladder which constantly requires to be extended. To keep the network relevant, it must keep growing itself, climbing the ladder and evolving with the sector.

There will be setbacks, the ladder may occasionally wobble, people will climb at different speeds, but the trick is not to let the whole ladder crash down, but to keep it supported and to keep looking up and forward.

The next generation of artists will not be the same, the ladder has brought them to a different arrival point, and how they shape the future of the network will ultimately be different, because that is what we have been trying to do. Create change. But we are not finished yet.

To quote Fernando Sabino: “Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it is not yet the end”.

And so, I think it is not yet the end. There is still a need for change, there always will be. Keep changing.

Lucy Medlycott

Founder & current director of the Irish Street Arts, Circus & Spectacle Network. She studied Sculpture in the early ‘90s. After which she went on to co-create & manage a carnival arts company for 20 years which toured all over the world. She believes passionately in collective & community thinking.