Attention to Detail
Project Management
Time Management
Public Speaking
Developing networks
Finance & Budgeting
As a mature student I bring many general skills forward from my previous professional careers, first as a tax specialist delivering multiple complex projects to demanding clients and then as a contracts negotiator:
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Time Management
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Research Skills
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Public Speaking
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Project Management
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Planning and organising
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Problem Solving
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Finance & Budgeting
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Attention to Detail
In a specifically arts professional context I have developed or further developed the following.
Marketing and Promotion
My previous experience was liaising with marketing to ensure that their contracts met their needs which required an understanding of what those needs are. One of the key points of this field is that people need to know that you exist and what you do, that is, visibility. And then after visibility, how do you convert that into, in our case, footfall.
The responsibilities I have taken on here include:
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Setting up and running the Facebook page to promote all activity of the artists on our course
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Organising additional events during the Crypt Gallery exhibition: I used both the event itself and the recorded interviews as promotional material
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Sharing on activities on other social media
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Writing, researching contacts and sending out the press release for the exhibition 17m2
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Promoting the exhibition 17m2 on other listing websites
Personally I have been working on developing networks using social media to promote the work of myself, and others, and by attending events and making connections through social media.
The key takeaways for me are the need to be organised and to pay attention to what my network is doing on a “be useful, be generous” basis. Networking, unlike my professional days, is here about finding your tribe, the people you might collaborate with or learn from, about being useful yourself rather than simply wanting others to be useful to you. This is more in keeping with my own collegiate approach to teamwork so fits comfortably.
Writing
My previous experience of writing is from a professional office context: advice letters, drafting contracts, negotiating and communicating via email. These forms have a particular way of speaking.
As part of this course I have further developed my writing skills through the writing of:
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Blogs/articles on the UAL Postgraduate Blog, for example: http://blogs.arts.ac.uk/pgcommunity/2017/09/22/on-the-occupation-of-space/
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Press release for the exhibition 17m2
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Giving written feedback on the art submissions at the Koestler Trust (an arts charity that runs an arts award scheme for people in prisons, detention centres and secure hospitals.)
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Applications and proposals for residencies and pitches for projects. For a successful application go here:
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Talks and presentations aimed at
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other art students,
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external visitors (for example, Dragon’s Den)
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general public – I have given a number of talks on the special exhibitions at the Estorick Collection where I volunteer as a Gallery Assistant.
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Public Speaking
Whilst it is true that in my professional office career I did give rather a lot of presentations over the years this is an area where confidence is best maintained through regular exercise. I have also extended my previous experience through:
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Giving talks and tours of the special exhibitions at the Estorick Collection
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Interviewing fellow students as an extra event at the Crypt
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For this I prepared a brief in advance for the interviewees as well so that we would come to the interview having already thought through what we might say.
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Participating in the performance of Act of Memory on the Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground at Chelsea College of Arts
Ideas Development
I have further developed my skills in this area by:
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Site specific working – my installation at the Crypt Gallery was a response to the space and its history using ephemeral materials to reflect on the fleeting nature of our life on earth but also anticipating deinstallation through the method of installation to meet the requirement “as if you were never there”.
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Working to a brief – the exhibition Life in a Shoebox had clear parameters with work intended to comment on the state of the housing situation in London. I developed my piece by reference to Bringing the War Home: House Beautiful, 1967-1972 by Martha Rosler.
Technical
The constant making of work pushes along the relevant skills that are required each time. On this course I have developed or further developed:
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Software skills – Indesign, Photoshop and Premiere Pro plus I have designed and made four websites in Wix
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Art Handling skills – particularly through volunteering as an arts assistant at the Koestler Trust: carefully logging in, setting up for judging and setting up the annual exhibition at the Southbank Centre.
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Curating: I was on the curation team for Life in a Shoebox and jointly curated the Sensing Place exhibition at Cloisters, Inner Temple (more information on these exhibitions is here). I gained further experience curating the walls at the Koestler Trust for the Open house and to assist with selection of work for the exhibition.
Performance
I participated in two performances prior to the degree show – Act of Memory and Maria la del Barrio (with Antonis Sideras and Marie Gerard). These required the following skills:
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Learning lines
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Learning choreography
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Working to direction
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Teamwork
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Speaking in Public
I was quite surprised at how quickly I picked up the choreography but perhaps this is because I have developed muscle memory from my years of dancing.
Dealing with the public
My previous experience of dealing with the public is in dealing with clients and suppliers in particular forms of professional context governed by business etiquette. (Note that people can’t be very difficult even when complying with business etiquette.) I have now extended my skills to include:
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Shop – selling tickets and merchandise, dealing with queries related to the museum, the facilities, the local area, travelling around London – queries are many and varied.
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Invigilating the galleries, ensuring the safety of visitors and artworks
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Leading tours and talks
