Nurturing craft talent and equipping makers with the skills they need to create a sustainable business and creative practice, Craft Scotland’s flagship learning and development programme welcomes its sixth cohort in 2025.  
 

Read about the programme’s successful track record in our recent Impact Report.
 

Our COMPASS: Emerging Maker Programme brings together a cohort of makers at a crucial point in their craft careers to explore new audiences and business models, whilst building personal skills to achieve their ambitions.  
 

From mosaic makers to basket weavers, glass artists to ceramicists, meet the eight makers taking part in the 2025 programme.
 

The 2025 workshops cover business fundamentals and pricing, marketing, branding and brand storytelling, and include Maker Journeys in Focus, in which established makers share their professional stories. Delivered online by knowledgeable workshop leaders who understand the day-to-day of being a maker, participants are guided through the fundamentals of running a craft business. 
 

The programme also includes a five-day immersive residential held at the renowned arts centre Hospitalfield in Arbroath. We are delighted to be welcoming back Jo Scott and Elaine Furnivall as facilitators for the COMPASS Residential. Participants will work through case studies, engage in peer-to-peer critiques, and explore their personal, professional and creative values. This element of the programme is an opportunity to address each participant’s unique needs and requirements.     
 

Following the residential, participants will then be paired with a mentor for a series of six one-to-one online sessions. To deliver this aspect of the programme, Craft Scotland partners with Cockpit, a London-based organisation supporting contemporary makers. These one-to-one mentoring sessions are run by Cockpit’s experienced and knowledgeable Business Incubation team.  

 

COMPASS: Dedicated Places 
 

Craft Scotland knows that specific groups of makers are systematically under-supported in the craft sector. Craft Scotland created dedicated places for makers on this programme who are under-represented in the craft sector. This includes those with lived experience of being Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage and/or a Person of Colour, D/deaf, disabled, working class or identify as LGBTQIA+. 

About COMPASS  
 

COMPASS is Scotland’s route to a flourishing craft sector.    
 
Craft Scotland’s dynamic learning and development programme, COMPASS, delivers tailored support for the craft sector. We want to support craft talent and equip individuals with the necessary skills to create a thriving creative and business practice. 
 
COMPASS approaches learning and development holistically exploring values and self-development topics alongside business subjects such as finance and marketing.    
 
Originally launched in 2018 to focus on makers, COMPASS has since expanded to also provide support for curators and craft professionals. It is a continuously evolving programme of support responding to the unique needs of the community, informed by industry experts and feedback from the sector. Current activity includes our year-long flagship Maker programme, Curatorial programme and COMPASS: Online.
 
Previous COMPASS activities have included free webinars, industry networking sessions, bursaries for established makers to develop their practice and for graduates affected by the pandemic, and residencies for Next Generation makers.