WITH IN-PERSON Studios, co-working and creative mentorship for far less than a Creative Cloud subscription to Photoshop JOLT Studios Gloucester Creative Incubator is definitely breaking the mould.
Located in the heart of Gloucester, this creative incubator hub with 15 studios,1 pod spaces and an open co-workspace is at the forefront of Gloucester’s culture and business regeneration. Since it opened 4 years ago, it has become home to the Gloucester Culture Trust and globally renowned theatre company Complicité. Jolt’s cultural power is in the community it supports and the network it has created for emerging creatives. Jolt provides over 360 hours of free mentoring sessions a year and has helped over 250 creatives since opening. We spoke to one studio resident, illustrator Lydia Hartley.“The biggest thing for me is the network I’ve been able to go into. I set a financial goal in my monthly mentoring sessions, and my revenue was up 25% in my second year at Jolt. And the social aspect has been amazing, being able to work with people who have similar aspirations.”Lydia runs a monthly Patreon and sells online and at conventions in the UK and Europe under her company name PhaseMoth.
“We are a very lean charity; we do a lot with very little, and we have a bi-monthly PechaKucha networking event. We have hosted guest speakers who have talked about everything from Guy Debord and pigeons to how to have a good death. Jolt is all about giving creatives the tools they need to build successful businesses, and Pechakucha is an integral part of that.”
Jemma Skidmore, Host and Studio Resident
What does the future hold for JOLT?
In some ways, we have been a victim of our own success. We are at capacity for space, and to deliver more to the community, space is key. We have lots of projects on the horizon that we can’t talk about, but we would love to invite anyone to visit Jolt and see how the creative model can work in other cities around the UK and beyond.