Volunteering at the British Art Show 8

I've volunteered to invigilate at the British Art Show 8 at Leeds City Gallery, it's been a great experience to see how they have put it together and how the exhibition is organised throughout the time is is on display. I've met some great people while volunteering at the gallery as well, and what their roles are and how they all work together as a team to manage the gallery. I learnt a lot about the pieces on display in the exhibition as well and was able to confidently talk about the artwork to the public who asked questions about the art. Sorry about the picture, but this is me looking very excited on my first morning shift at the gallery in the staff room!!

Royal Academy of Art: visit from current students

This was a fantastic opportunity to hear what it's like studying at MA level at the Royal Academy. They were very down to earth and were happy to talk with us as a group and individually giving tutorials and advice.

Sculpture strand visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Tuesday 27^th October

Schedule

11:00 – 11:30 with Natalie Rudd Viewing the Arts Council Collection

View exhibitions:

·         Anthony Caro

·         Bill Viola in the Underground Gallery and Chapel

·         Rob Ryan in the Restaurant

·         Bob and Roberta Smith in the Garden Gallery

·         The poppies on The Cascade Bridge

·         Eileen Adams in NAEA Building

2:00pm - NAEA building for an introduction to the Archive with Anna Bowman

This was a really good day getting a chance to see behind the scenes at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Finding out about the Arts Council Collection and how it runs was very interesting. It has been going since 1946 (70 years next year!) and has been show casing artist around the country making art accessible to everyone. With nearly 8000 works by over 2000 artist, when it is not on show somewhere it is all kept save in storage at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in a building at the far side of the site. The talk that Natalie gave was really interesting but I would of loved to see how the collection is actually stored but it was till amazing to hear about The National Collection in Yorkshire!

The NAEA- or the national arts education archive, was really interesting to see the history of how art is taught in the UK, they have gathered work by children and students as well as educators and relevant artists. The wide variety is brilliant collection that tells a story of art in this country. Being able to walk through the collection as well was a brilliant experience, to see how the collection works and how it is managed an kept safe. There was so much in there we had to go in two separate groups and in single file around the collection, shelves stacked high of papers, books and art. A fascinating history all in one place.

Visit to the Henry Moore Foundation.

We visited the Henry Moore Institute and got to look at the archive collection which was an amazing experience because you could see the original works of artists. They even bought out the tools of an artist, which was very exciting seeing the actual tools he used to carve his sculptures. We has to wear white gloves when handling the archive material, it's all very professional. It was an exciting opportunity and an invaluable experience. I will definitely be heading back there for further primary research!

Artist talk: Rachel Maclean

Rachel Maclean, one of the exhibiting artist's in the British Art Show 8, came to LCA to give an artist talk. She was a brilliant speaker and explained her ideas behind her work in the BAS8 'Feed me'

Third and final year at Leeds College of Art!

Thinking about going into my final year at Leeds College of Art, I need to start thinking about what's next and start planning for when I leave University! I've started volunteering over summer at Inkwell Arts, a fantastic charity based in the area of Chapel Allerton in Leeds. Their ethos is to support mental health and well-being through the arts. They run a variety of different classes from song writing, painting, pottery and jewelry making. Starting out there has been a great experience and everyone is very welcoming and friendly. I am in talks about starting up a sculpture class at Inkwell that I could run monthly, I also help out at the Craft Cafe on a Thursday afternoon where I help support students to create there own jewelry or pottery. It has been a great experience and I look forward to continuing volunteering there!

LCA summer school

I took part in the Summer School Workshop which was a great opportunity to get some information on how to be a professional creative in the UK. We talked with leading professionals who work in the creative industries and they gave us great advice on how to start your own business, how to sell your work, how to publicise your work and get feed back. There was a lot on and it was only a week long course but I got a lot out of it! There was great advice on giving talks too a great chance to practice and receive feed back. There was some great legal advice as well on contracts you sometimes sign when exhibiting your work, and information on insurance, what to do if your work gets broken and who is legally responsible for it in different situations. Handling fees and costs. All the nitty gritty information that you don't normally get these guys were great!