Interview: Making a real difference for emerging creatives

Min Gilby and Eve Wilson on winning the Cardboard Adventures Designer/Maker Award

In an industry seeing constant cutbacks even at the most distinguished organisations, it’s sometimes hard to imagine how freelancers and emerging creatives can get a foot on the ladder, let alone take a breath to consider their future. Sometimes a little practical help makes all the difference, and this month sees Min Gilby and Eve Wilson named as the first winners of the Cardboard Adventures Designer/Maker Award, which will hopefully do just that.

Initiated by Cardboard Adventures’ founder Sam Wilde, this award is open to designers and makers of physical objects working in theatre, covering set and costume, puppetry and props. It offers an annual fund of £1,200 for one recipient a year, along with a year’s mentorship from Sam and the judging panel. Amazingly however (and with a bit of financial wiggling), it’s managed to start off by offering support to two winners in its first year! We pulled Min and Eve in for a chat to ask their thoughts on their success.

Hello both! Firstly, congratulations on being chosen for this award. Can you tell us a little about your background in design and making and how you are eligible?

EVE: Hello I’m Eve and I graduated from Royal Welsh in 2023 and since have been working freelance primarily as a theatre designer. I discovered this as route whilst on my art foundation in Camberwell and I fell in love with the nature of creating a live experience and all of the exciting problem solving it brings. Since graduating I have worked in a range of projects in and around London and Wales, try to tap in to work which engages with local communities and creates sensory experiences.

MIN: Hi! I’m Min (they/he) and I’m a freelance Prop and Puppet maker. I’ve been working in the industry for about 2½ years with the last 18 months being as a freelancer.

I had a relatively non-standard route into theatremaking – I trained at The Watermill Theatre, doing a paid traineeship in Prop and Costume Making through the ‘Careers through the Arts’ programme.

Since then, I have continued to work with them and other mainly regional producing theatres, as I’ve built more industry connections as a freelance maker.

What are the challenges for you as an emerging designer/maker in the current climate?

EVE: I absolutely love working as a freelance designer for theatre, doing new things every day and meeting people who feel as passionately about the arts as I do. However, while I do feel so privileged to work in this industry, there are so many times when its feels the odds are stacked against you. The instability of work can often feel difficult to navigate. Especially when it feels like all the jobs that were there a month ago have suddenly evaporated. Budgets tightening on the arts make it hard to progress to the next stage as a practitioner, squeezing design process times, leaving less and less time for you to really interrogate the decisions you are making. I find this can threaten the collaborative nature of the work that I love so much. Despite this, I have worked with some really amazing teams of people in the past couple of years, who have found ways in which tightening budgets can allow for more creative and interesting designs. 

MIN: Personally, I face challenges around navigating inaccessibility in the industry. Being disabled, neurodivergent and managing complex variable health conditions means my body hasn’t the same reliable resource others have, and I have to constantly work around that.

It’s an additional workload when day-to-day you’re encountering barriers and constraints that non-disabled peers simply don’t have to consider and plan around. At a time when funding, time and resources are tight, access is unfortunately rarely prioritised.

Simply because of the nature of the industry, deadlines tend to be tight and inflexible and burnout is incredibly common. When you’re already working with less energy than most, these problems are compounded. I’ve found I’m often not yet recovered from the intensity of one project before its time to start the next.

It can be difficult to navigate sharing these challenges – on one hand I need to communicate my needs in order to be accommodated, but on the other I don’t want to be perceived as ‘not up to the job’ for fear of losing out on work. It means there’s so much additional nuance in finding work, networking, promoting yourself, and that’s especially tough if you’re also neurodivergent.

Despite all of these additional challenges, I’m so thankful to be in an industry that welcomes and values diversity as an incredible wealth of varied perspectives and experiences to learn from. People are generally aware that we have a way to go in terms of access and want to help where they can. I have met some of the loveliest people, been offered unexpected opportunities and seen the impact that our community working together can have, even with limited resources or funding. I’m very proud to be a small part of that.

How did you feel when you heard you had won, and that there are two of you for this inaugural year?

EVE: Completely shocked and so honoured. I am surrounded by so many talented freelancers who I am in awe of, and it definitely took a while to set in, especially as the email initially went to my spam inbox! And the fact there are two of us made it even more exciting. It is really tough to start out in this industry that I am so thankful for the generosity of Sam, Mary and this award in supporting two emerging artists.

MIN: Honestly, I was very surprised to hear I had been selected. It still doesn’t quite seem real!

I feel so lucky to have been chosen – there are so many incredibly talented early-career artists and craftspeople in the industry so I know the judging panel will have had a really tough job.

It’s fantastic to have a co-winner to experience this alongside – what a great way to start off this incredibly impactful award! I wish this support could be offered to all who applied – I think everyone working in theatre could use more support right now. It’s remarkable that Cardboard Adventures have committed to providing feedback to all applicants, really acknowledging their efforts. It’s a wonderful representation of being the change you want to see!

I’m very grateful for the opportunity this support will provide. I’d like to give a massive thank you to Sam for setting up this award and Mary whose generosity made it possible for two of us to benefit this year, as well as to the judges for their no-doubt countless hours of hard work.

There were a huge number of talented applicants. Why do you think your application stood out?

EVE: I think my love of play and experimenting may have made me stand out. I let materials, research and a constant flow of sketchbooks guide me to what I feel are the most interesting solutions, and through this find little sparks of joy and protest. Whether making, designing or painting through a very collaborative in-the-room practice, I try to make decisions that feel tactile and sensory, which pull the viewer in to the world, making them feel part of the piece as a whole.

MIN: I think giving an honest account of my challenges was a big part of it. It can be tricky to share your vulnerabilities at times, as some may misread them as a lack of capability. But I think it’s vital to remember people are complex: I am both great at what I do and I struggle at times; I love this job and I need more support in place to really thrive. The limiting factor for many isn’t the quality of their work but the reality of their circumstances. That’s who this award supports.

I’m determined to carve a path for myself, doing what I love, despite the barriers in my way. I identified key areas that, with that extra investment, would significantly improve the viability and trajectory of my career long-term, whilst demonstrating I have a potential worth investing in.

The award offers practical help for practical work. You’ll be receiving a cash prize and additionally the offer of mentorship, not only from Sam but all the judges, who are also successful designers and theatremakers: Alex Berry, Oliver Hymans and Jesse Meadows. How do you think that might help you going forward?

EVE: I think this prize will be huge for allowing me to further my work as a designer. I’m hoping it will help me say yes to more opportunities, which are further away from my current base and allow me to make work and contacts over the whole of the UK! The mentorship is an invaluable opportunity and I can’t wait to chat to all of the wonderful judges, hear any advice they may have which may help me progress as a designer and hopefully meet new people.

MIN: The funding will enable me to set up a properly accessible, at-home workspace and organise and invest in my freelancing kit. As a disabled maker, the physical environment I work in has a significant impact on how manageable a project is for me. A reliable working environment and effective equipment will enable me to take on the kinds of technically complex projects I aspire to.

Maybe less glamorously, I also plan to put money aside for software and subscriptions to help manage the admin associated with being self-employed. In the past, when I’d looked into this, I hadn’t been able to justify the ongoing cost given my income.

These changes will remove significant drains on my time and energy, and crucially, allow me to create the scaffolding to support my continued development.

Access to mentorship is an invaluable resource, especially if like me, you haven’t taken a standard route into the industry. Working in theatre is unique with its own distinct challenges that mean generic freelancing advice from the internet isn’t always relevant. It will be a huge help to me being able to draw on the expertise of Sam and the judging panel – people who have experience navigating this industry’s quirks, have faced its challenges and found ways through them. I can’t wait to pick their brains about everything from self-promotion to plastizote techniques! I’d particularly welcome their honest feedback on my practice and the areas that would most benefit from continued development.

I feel this award, with both the funding and the wealth of knowledge provided, will be genuinely transformative in shifting my practice from being sustained through improvised solutions and overexertion, towards stability and success long-term.

So, where do you hope to be in your career in a year’s time, with the additional support now available to you? And what are your ambitions for the future?

EVE: I hope that I will continue designing, working across the whole of the UK, saying yes to jobs where I can be engaged and in the room, interacting with the content and meeting new practitioners that I can make more new and exciting art with. I would love to work with audiences in a tactile and personal way, using my playful attitude to engage with local communities and hopefully ignite within the viewer their own sparks of joy and protest, allowing everyone to get involved with the arts.

MIN: Over the next year, I hope to work with a wide array of theatres and props houses, to extend my professional network and establish a more stable, reliable income. I feel mentoring could really help me work towards establishing this. I’m looking for regular opportunities to work on inventive projects that test my capabilities and deepen my understanding.

I’m always looking to discover new materials and techniques. A year from now, I hope I will have had the opportunity to explore for myself, as well as learn from other industry professionals, to grow an even wider skillset to draw from. 

I have ambitions for a stable freelance career doing what I love, with a strong reputation as a skilled craftsperson known for their technically complex and interesting makes. Thanks to this award, I can continue working towards these goals knowing I have the support to make them achievable.

Thanks very much to Min and Eve for telling us about their fabulous success. We look forward to hearing more from them as their careers progress.

You can read more about the Cardboard Adventures Designer/Maker award below.