June 21, 2019, by Jackie Thompson

My Experience as Arts Marketing Intern at Nottingham Lakeside Arts

By Alice Avis, BA (Hons) History alumna and Arts Marketing Intern, Nottingham Lakeside Arts

This time last year, I was celebrating completing the final exam of my degree. Now one year on, I am about to complete my Arts Marketing Internship at Nottingham Lakeside Arts.

My experience

I graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in history, and a sense of excitement and uncertainty about which career path to go down, but knowing that I wanted to work in the creative industry. I was Head of PR and Marketing for Crop Up Gallery, a student-run art curation collective, during my third year and we collaborated with artists and institutions in Nottingham to curate free art exhibitions, talks, and workshops for students and the general public. I really enjoyed this opportunity and it opened by eyes to the different roles available in the arts sector. Being part of Crop Up inspired me to immerse myself in Nottingham’s arts scene and I started attending exhibitions at Nottingham Contemporary, BACKLIT Gallery and Primary, and plays at Nottingham Playhouse and The Nottingham New Theatre.

I spent the summer after graduation worried I was never going to get a job, but the skills I gained during my degree and with Crop Up, as well as a demonstrable interest and enthusiasm for the arts helped me to get an internship at Lakeside Arts. I started in October and over the past 8 months I have learnt so much! The team at Lakeside are brilliant and it has been wonderful to work with such dedicated and talented people. They have been really supportive and I have learnt invaluable marketing skills, such as using social media to engage with different audiences, using Tessitura, a customer relationship manager system, and how to plan and deliver all aspects of a marketing campaign. I have also really enjoyed working with the Marketing and Digital Assistant to learn how to film and edit interviews, as well as gaining skills in Photoshop.

My favourite aspect of the internship is that every day is different. Lakeside is the University of Nottingham’s public arts venue presenting a large and diverse programme of performances, exhibitions, workshops and talks. Almost every day there is an amazing theatre or dance performance in the Djanogly Theatre, an inspiring art exhibition in the Djanogly Gallery, or an uplifting music concert in the Recital Hall, and so much more! There is always something new and exciting going on and it has been a brilliant opportunity to learn more about the variety of art forms that Lakeside programmes.

New opportunities

This week, Lakeside Arts announced their new Creative Pathways Graduate Internships across the city’s cultural partners: City Arts, Dance4, Lakeside Arts, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham Playhouse, Nonsuch Theatre, and UNESCO City of Literature. These are seven paid internships in Nottingham’s cultural sector to support diversification and graduate retention in the creative industries sector. Each Internship will provide practical vocational experience, training and development across a range of arts administration skills including: event planning, organisation and delivery; finance and fundraising; budget administration and management; together with an awareness of the importance of marketing, publicity, communications and PR. In addition, you can also gain insight into key operational areas including Box Office, Front of House, Technical and Production.

It can seem difficult to get into the creative industry after graduating but these internships will give you the opportunity to get your foot in the door and gain hands-on experience of working in an arts organisation. I have really enjoyed my time interning at Lakeside and I would recommend applying for one of the Creative Pathways Internships to anyone with a passion for the arts.

If you’re inspired by Alice’s interning experience and wish to explore opportunities within the cultural sector, then find out more about Creative Pathways and how to apply.

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