Internships Summer 2025
On this page, you can read students' reflections on the the Public and Community Engagement internships they did in summer 2025. This programme is funded by the Warwick Institute of Engagement but it would not happen without the work of the internship providers; we are hugely grateful to all of the organisations who hosted the interns in 2025, for their efforts to design valuable work experience for our students.
Click through the tabs below to learn more about the internships.
My internship making films for the Coventry Irish Society
Charlie Byfield
This Summer, thanks to an opportunity from WIE, I have dived into the world of solo documentary filmmaking. My internship has seen me planning, shooting and editing two short films for the Coventry Irish Society (CIS). I arrived at their offices in early July with a camera, a head full of ideas and not much else! Though I have been a fairly experienced video editor for a number of years, this was to be my first experience planning and executing a shoot.
Working with the team
Though I largely worked alone, I would be completely remiss without beginning by crediting the wonderful team at CIS. On my first day, I sat down with CEO Simon McCarthy and my supervisor Caroline Brogan and talked through the ambitions of the project. Other members of the team, including Liz, Manisha, and Margaret have been instrumental in providing me with expertise, inspiration, and entertainment. I loved working alongside this passionate group of people in their friendly, open-plan office for the duration of the project.
It can be easy to underestimate the sheer volume of work that goes into producing any video content, let alone extended video content. The team at CIS have long been keen to raise the charity’s profile and explain its story to the world, but access to professional production crews has been financially and logistically out of reach. As an intern with 6weeks of funding and access to high-quality equipment, I was given what I feel is a unique opportunity to produce something akin to the standards of a production crew, albeit one working over a few days.
Development Opportunities
The skills acquired through this process have been enormous for my personal development. My Film Studies degree, while fascinating, rarely touches on practical filmmaking, and going into my final year of undergraduate study I was very keen to gain experience planning and storyboarding a documentary, shooting video, and interviewing subjects. My technical expertise has been thoroughly tested and honed to satisfaction.
Watch my films about the work of the Coventry Irish Society
Through a series of informal interviews, I feel I have managed to extract what could be called the emotional core of the charity’s work. Broadly speaking, CIS provides welfare advice to the elderly Irish community in Coventry, as well as acting as a cultural centre for Irishness in the West Midlands. Their impact, though, is far wider and deeper than any words on a page can convey, and the first documentary details the role they play in supporting the lives of many wonderful people.
CIS also acts as one of three specialist centres in the UK that supports Irish Survivors of institutionalisation. This aspect of their work is less well-known, and so the second half of the project saw me unearthing archival imagery of twentieth-century institutions in Ireland. I was privileged to interview five Irish survivors and hear of their experiences at various Industrial Schools and Mother and Baby homes. The second film details the history and subsequent impact of widespread institutional abuse on Irish children.
The internship has challenged me to think more seriously about a future in documentary production. Beyond the fact that I am extremely chuffed with the final results visually,I think that the videos produced are hugely important in their own right. The ability to convey emotion with great depth has always been my favourite thing about film, and the story of the Coventry Irish Society is undoubtedly told best through this medium. I am looking at graduate roles at production companies specialising in documentary filmmaking, so as to keep producing things like this! Watch this space…
Top tip: one hour of doing is better than ten hours of thinking. This is not to say that you shouldn’t put thought into your work; rather, that more often than not I find acting on instinct and going back to think about it after garners the actual, tangible results. Arriving at CIS,I felt overwhelmed at the prospect of being a cameraman for the first time, and with my attitude I invariably produced some pretty shoddy footage in my first few days. However, with careful reflection, and persistence, my work improved quite rapidly. As my granny would say: ‘get on with it’!
My internship as a Public Involvement Assistant with the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) and Coventry City Council's Public Health team
Kezia Davies
Why I applied for this internship
After completing my undergraduate degree in Children, Young People and Families with Special Educational Needs and Inclusion and working for a couple of years, I decided to return to university. Specifically, I chose to study a Masters degree in Social Inequalities and Research Methods at the University of Warwick. I decided on this course because I have always wanted to do research that helps people and this internship, together with my studies, has really helped me to better understand what this looks like in practice. It has opened my eyes to the importance of public involvement in research, and the process of working together towards meaningful and informed change.
Evaluating the Public Voice Group
I completed a variety of projects during my internship and my biggest project was evaluating the HDRC’s Public Voice Group (PVG),which has been running for one year. The group is a space for members of the community to discuss local issues and input into many different parts of the research process. I used various documents to write the interview questions, including the HDRC’s Pillars, building blocks, and Principles of Public Involvement, the UK Standards for Public Involvement, the PVG member role description, and notes and feedback from previous PVG meetings. Once drafted, the questions were run by Coventry HDRC’s research fellows who gave useful feedback and suggestions. Additionally, one of the Public Co-applicants also reviewed the questions, giving their feedback and advice.
I used these questions to conduct seven semi-structured interviews with PVG members to hear about their experiences of being in the group so far. They also talked about research topics that they are interested in and gave suggestions for how to improve the group. It has been a privilege to spend time talking with members of the PVG and learning about their involvement in the group. Their passion for improving the lives of Coventry residents is evident, and they have so much value and insight to input into future projects and research. I summarised the interviews into a report which will be used to inform the direction of the group going forward. Writing this report also helped me to update the existing Public Involvement Principles document and evidence how the HDRC are fulfilling their commitment to inclusive opportunities.
Alongside this, I helped input into a rapid review around anti-social behaviour by researching policies and interventions. Through this, I learnt about the importance of having a clear research focus and how to work as a team in order to pull a report together to meet a short deadline. Furthermore, in the last couple weeks of my placement, I interviewed three of the council’s research ambassadors to learn more about their role, the impact this had on themselves and their teams. I used these interviews to write three articles to be used on the council intranet, alongside recruitment for additional research ambassadors.
My last day with the HDRC involved going to an event called ‘Family Hubs on Tour’.My colleagues and I were able to chat to members of the community and share about the public health team’s work around positive mental health strategies. This was a really nice way to finish the placement as I got to hear people’s stories and see the positive impact of some of the council’s work on people’s lives.
The teams I worked with have been amazing at including me in so many different department meetings, training opportunities, webinars, and workshops. This has given me a varied insight into the work that is happening in Coventry and has been a great opportunity to meet people working in different organisations. Some of these included HDRC weekly meetings, a public voice group meeting, a voluntary sector reference group meeting and planning meetings for a project called Pathways to Implementation for Public Engagement in Research (PIPER).
Alongside the council’s mandatory training, I also completed the council’s good governance training and engaged with a webinar titled ‘creative methods and practices to mobilising public health knowledge’. These complemented some of the workshops I attended during my internship, which included:
-
Improving Maternity Care for Black African, Caribbean and Mixed-Black Families workshop
-
Pillar 5 Research Ambassadors and Impact workshop
-
Coventry HDRC Cross-Pillar workshop
-
WIE Public Engagement Masterclass delivering neuroinclusive events workshop
-
Principles and Ethics of Community Research workshop
-
CollaborACTION workshop
Working on multiple projects alongside attending meetings and workshops helped me to further develop my time management skills. In addition, speaking to members of the public and professionals working in different sectors has increased my ability to connect with others and listen actively to what they share.
Before starting this role, I was unfamiliar with public health and the HDRC, so I have learned a huge amount in my time here. Particularly, what it looks like to have active public involvement in projects and how to engage people in ways that are meaningful and productive. I am hoping to continue working with the council to complete my Masters dissertation and feel inspired to continue pursuing a career in research after working within such a lovely team. Everyone who I worked with was incredibly friendly and supportive, which helped me to feel confident in asking questions and doing tasks which I had not had experience in before.
Advice for other students
My advice for other students doing work placements or internships is to get as involved as possible. Go to as many meetings, events, and training opportunities as you can and chat to people who you meet there. This helped me to learn about roles which I had not heard of before and broadened my area of interest for possible job options going forward. It is also really interesting to learn about the work that other people do and get advice on how they got into the field. I am exceedingly grateful for the opportunity to have worked with the HDRC and Coventry City Council. I would encourage anyone who is interested in an internship with Warwick Institute of Engagement (WIE) to apply. The people I have worked with, the experiences I have gained, and the skills I have developed have shaped my life invaluably going forward.
Farming and Community Engagement Assistant at Five Acre Community Farm
Catherine Williams
My story so far
In 2022, I started studying for my bachelor’s in psychology. After my first year, my passion for social impact and sustainability began to grow, which naturally led me to develop an interest in political and environmental psychology. This inspired me to take an intercalated year, so that I could explore these kinds of topics further through study and work. I was given the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Canada for four months. At McMaster University, I took two courses on sustainability, giving me some foundational knowledge; one on the psychology of well-being, in which I explored the impact of hiking on wellbeing in my assigned essay; one on science communication, teaching me the importance of making science accessible to the public; and a course on nutrition, in which I learnt about sustainable food practices. Following this, I did a work placement with Birmingham Friends of the Earth. I developed many skills over my four months there by getting involved in community outreach and marketing activities. Hungry for more experience in the environmental sector, I stumbled upon this WIE internship at Five Acre Community Farm. With my interest in the environment and nutrition, along with my newly developed skills in marketing, this internship sounded like the perfect fit for me – and it ended up being an absolute joy to work for the farm!
Life at the farm
For two days each week, I took the minibus down to the farm and got stuck in. As there was such a huge range of vegetables, the work was very varied, with no two days ever being the same. Over the course of my internship, I sowed seeds and planted seedlings; watered the seedling ‘nursery’ and set the sprinklers up to water the bigger crops; did some weeding and mowing; and harvested a huge variety of vegetables, including purple French climbing beans, pattypan squashes (or ‘flying saucers’, as we called them) and our very own local variety of plum – the Warwickshire Drooper. Throughout the internship, I met many different people. Each member of staff, especially my supervisor, Becca, acted as a mentor to me by passing on their knowledge and skills and supporting me every step of the way, making my time there a very welcoming experience. I also worked with many volunteers on the farm, including individual volunteers coming in from the local community, as well as groups of refugees, recovering drug addicts and corporate volunteers, giving me the opportunity to talk to people from different cultures and walks of life.
Working from home
For three days each week, I worked from home, focusing on marketing. My role was to work on recruiting more members (i.e., people who buy their vegetables from the farm) and volunteers. To do this, I helped to maintain, improve and expand their online presence. This involved reviewing their existing social media and creating new, engaging content. For instance, since most of their previous content consisted of photos of the farm, I decided to switch things up by uploading a video and some eye-catching graphics to promote their events. Another aspect of the marketing that I got involved with was looking through the websites of other community farms to get inspiration and make suggestions on how they could revamp their own website. What I was particularly proud of, however, was the flyer I helped to redesign using the graphic design platform Canva. I did this by following the feedback given from staff and volunteers on previous versions and iterations of the flyer. Moreover, I spent a large chunk of my time aiming to recruit corporate groups to volunteer at the farm. This involved researching the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of local organisations and getting in contact with those who offered volunteer days to their employees. Smaller tasks I did to promote the farm were writing for their newsletter; creating profiles for the farm on volunteer recruitment websites, as well as adding more volunteer roles to their existing profiles; working on a stall at the Coventry Cathedral Harvest Festival; and producing a survey that can be sent to members to gather marketing insights.
Clearly, the internship gave me varied experiences in community engagement and enabled me to develop several of Warwick’s core skills – especially digital literacy, organisational awareness, professionalism and sustainability. This role also gave me the opportunity to start to learn how to grow organic vegetables, what goes on behind the scenes in managing a community farm, as well as the importance of seed heritage.
If you want to get some experience in community engagement, I would definitely encourage you to apply for a WIE internship! In my experience, the application process was actually quite enjoyable. It involved sending in my CV and cover letter, followed by a relaxed interview where I presented my ideas and showcased the kind of social media content I could produce for the farm’s accounts. If you want help with your application, Warwick has so many resources for you to access on their Student Opportunity webpage, including help with CVs, cover letters and interviews – I would 100% recommend having a look at these. If your application was unsuccessful or you missed the deadline, don’t fret! There are many voluntary organisations seeking help with community engagement. Although most of these work experience opportunities are unpaid, I would certainly apply if you are in a position to do so. In my experience at Birmingham Friends of the Earth, the length of the work placement was entirely flexible, so you could work for as long as you could give. Doing an internship, and any kind of work or voluntary experience, in community engagement is such a rewarding experience, giving you the opportunity to positively impact your community whilst developing many skills along the way. If you’ve already got an internship lined up, whether it be in community engagement or another field, my advice would be to make sure you do a lot of research about the company in advance and look at the strategies adopted by similar organisations that are leading to their success. On top of this, jot down any questions you can think of, so you can get them answered on your first day. My final tip would be to set up weekly or fortnightly meetings with your supervisor, so you can get feedback on your work and support with tasks you may be struggling with. To everyone who has read this far, I hope my journey has inspired you and I wish you the best of luck in your career, whatever path you may choose!
My internship working at Coventry Museums
Neve Goodwin
This internship has taught me a lot about working with kids and within the heritage sector and how we can make museums and galleries more engaging for adults and for children. It has also helped me to see where my strengths are, and given me experience in areas that I haven’t worked in before. Spending my time across the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry Transport Museum, and Lunt Roman Fort has given me a wide range of new knowledge and ideas about public engagement, especially for younger children, that will stay with me and help me in my future career.
This internship was not only rewarding but also incredibly fun and the people I worked with were so friendly and supportive throughout my six weeks across CV Life, which made the switch from end of 1st year to full time work that much easier. Thanks especially to Lisa Ford, Head of Learning and Engagement, for the opportunity and the welcoming environment.
Herbert Art Museum and Gallery
I spent most of my internship working in the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, and got to work with Hareena Liddar and the Learning and Engagement team, who were all very welcoming and supporting throughout my six weeks there.
Part of what I enjoyed most about my internship is knowing that the work I did will play a part of future events undertaken by the Herbert. As part of my internship, I wrote a script for my own sensory story, which will be used in future sensory reading sessions which happen on Tuesday morning term time. This activity challenged me to think differently about storytelling than I had previously and also introduced me to the importance of sensory readings, especially the use of Makaton within stories as a form of communication even for young children.
During my time there, I also gave input on the creation of a ghost hunt for a new overnight camping opportunity for the Lunt Roman Fort. Due to my knowledge in ancient history as part of my degree, I was consulted on the appropriateness of the items included as part of the hunt, and the suggestions I made were taken into consideration and even became a real change made to the ghost hunt that was used in the final event. I relished the opportunity to use my knowledge to help in the formulation of this new activity, and to see my ideas taken seriously made me feel very appreciated in my position.
During my internship I spent a lot of time working in this year’s Early Years Exhibit, a space they set out every summer holidays to give a sensory play space to families with young children. This year’s theme was Playful Planet, tying in with the presence of Dippy the Dinosaur by showcasing the extinction event. Even though it’s not the obvious choice for a children’s playroom, the theme really allowed the children to explore a wide range of sensory activities in moving through the themes of space, dinosaurs, and ocean.
Working in Playful Planet helped me to appreciate the work that goes into running an exhibition like this, such as the creation of the artwork by artist Jessica Hartshorn, the curation of the different sensory pods and play areas around the room, even the selection of background music so soothing that even after hearing it for multiple hours straight on loop for six weeks you aren’t yet sick of it. All of it was planned with care to shape the best experience for the children and their families as possible. My favourite part, however, of Playful Planet was to be able to interact with the families throughout the day. It was so incredible to work with children across the ages, saying hi to babies as little as 10 weeks old, being educated in the different fossils by children in the sandpit, and having toddlers learn my name and show me what they were playing with at that moment. Across the weeks I got to know some familiar faces and become a friendly presence for the parents and kids alike, but even meeting people I would only see one time was always such a joy to see how the kids would play, each in a unique way, and how they interact with their parents and the people around them. Working in the Early Years Exhibition was such a rewarding experience and gave me invaluable knowledge of working with young people.
I also got the opportunity once a week to take charge of a craft session put on by the Herbert as part of their programme for kids over the summer. It was amazing to see the creativity from kids of all ages as they put their own stamp on whatever we were doing that day. The most popular activity had to be the Lego friendship bracelets, and it was so fun to see the kids create their own patterns and designs for their bracelets, that they made not just for themselves but for their family too. I was surprised at how often in my sessions kids would spend so much time and give so much focus and then proudly declare that they would be giving it to their friend when they saw each other next. The friendship bracelets really encapsulated the generous mindset that I saw the kids display so often (though it wasn’t the most fun to drill holes into so many pieces of Lego). The wide range of craft activities also meant we often had a lot of people returning multiple times over the summer so kids could have a full range of activities, from superhero masks and capes to carving soap dinos, and it was really great to see such enthusiasm from the kids about all the activities we had on offer.
Coventry Transport Museum
I only spent one day a week working with Anja Kietel-Campsall and the team, but coming over and spending Wednesdays at Coventry Transport Museum gave a new perspective on ways to interact with and capture the imagination of children in a way that was completely different from anything I had worked with before.
I spent the first three weeks of my time at Coventry Transport Museum working in the Mini Engineers section, which is a dedicated space in the museum for children of all ages to play, build, and create. Part of my job was to set out the different materials for the children to use as part of their play, such as crates and wheels to make go-karts, sleds, old phones and laptops, and interesting items that might otherwise be thrown away to help stimulate their imagination. Then we would observe as kids would build cars and working ball runs as well as setting up shops and hiding in dens, and I really enjoyed the freedom the kids had to play in whatever way they wanted to (with us making sure that everything stayed safe of course). We were also set different tasks by Anja to create different spaces for kids to investigate, such as an area dedicated for creating different sounds, which was a hit with the younger children, as well as creating dens and games for them to have a go at. This was a really fun way to challenge our creativity as well, to use all the different items at our disposable to create something on brief as well as fun for children. Mini Engineers was nothing like any other children’s play activity, but I really appreciated how giving the kids that freedom really allowed them to get truly stuck into the activity and have the most fun doing what they want to do with the materials provided.
I spent the last three weeks of my time there working at the HAF programme, led each week by Rob Bennett, who delivered fantastic talks and activities around engineering, playing on displays within the museum, that caught the interest of the children as well as myself. The talks were pitched for kids who had little knowledge of engineering (which suited me perfectly) but were very engaging and fun to listen to. The activities as well allowed children to express their imagination while also thinking about the real-life practicalities of designing cars in an exciting way, such as testing out safety features by having cars go down a ramp and crash into a table. This year was the first time they had two different groups, one for younger kids and one for teenagers, and I spent my time working with the older youth group. This particular assignment was the most challenging for me, as most of my experience working with kids had been much younger kids, and working with teenagers did not come naturally to me. However, I also learnt a lot from it and now feel more confident in my ability to work with teenagers in the future.
Lunt Roman Fort
As I am a Classics student, the opportunity to work with the Lunt Roman Fort was one of the many reasons I was drawn to this internship because I have great interest in public engagement with Greek and Roman history. It is very fortunate to have this historical site within Coventry, and I thoroughly enjoyed all my time working there.
To in keep with surroundings, I would dress up as Roman lady or soldier throughout my time there, even getting my own Roman name, Livia. This was not only a lot of fun for me (I loved dressing up, especially the week when they let me have one of the swords as well) but also was a great way to create some magic for the kids who came to visit. This is something I have not seen much of at other Roman sites I have visited and therefore was a fantastic experience of a unique take on public engagement with Classics.
My main tasks where to lead the visitors to the museum through Roman themed crafts within the main building. Over the six weeks visitors took part in activities such as roman sunhats (petasus), fans (flabellum), and moneybags (marsuppium) and it was great to see how kids and grownups worked together to make their crafts and the imagination and personalisation that the kids brought to the activities. I also helped with the battle drills, and while the kids were only armed with pool noodles as swords and foam javelins, they had such excitement and focus on their fighting skills. Watching a group of children from different families come together to attack another Roman soldier Gnaeus (or George) is one of the highlights of my entire internship. This also emphasises why I enjoyed this internship so much, because the experiences I had were so different to what other internships offer and gave me new ideas about how working with kids in museums can be like. Working with Richard Brooks and his team at the fort was always so much fun and they were all so friendly and willing to teach about everything on the site which really made my time there that much better.
Another highlight was working at the annual Lunt Roman Festival, again in my Roman soldier finery, and getting to see another side of historical engagement within the Lunt Roman Fort. While standing guard at the battlements I got to see historical reenactments of battles and gladiatorial fights and even dragons roaming about on the fields, and it was not only really fantastic to be a part of that and to witness it, but it was also amazing how much the families got involved with the events. The interactions I had with the public highlighted how entertaining the day was for everyone involved and that positive energy really made the day (one man even shouted ‘for the glory of Rome’ as I walked past him in costume). A big part of this was easy to see in the family battles we ran. We were doing a mock battle for both parents and kids, mimicking a great Roman loss in 9CE known as the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, and I was the leader of one of the Germanic tribes that defeated the Romans, more commonly known to everyone else as the green team. Again armed with pool noodles as swords, the energy and dedication the kids had to enacting this battle and taking down the Romans was incredible. The festival was so enjoyable to be a part of and seeing how involved everyone was as guests and workers there was really inspiring.
What's Next
I am interested in working more in the heritage sector after this internship, and I am hopefully going to continue volunteering with CV Life while I look further into jobs in this area. The people I worked with across all the sites were so friendly and welcoming that I am looking forward to continuing my journey there.
Advice for other students
My advice for other students taking on internships is to make sure to get involved with everything as much as you can and to take support and advice from people around you as much as possible. You’ll enjoy it more and get the most from it if you give everything your best, and the kids will have more fun as well if you do. The people you work with will offer support in lots of ways, even if they aren’t directly managing you and you will benefit from their experience.
My internship at the Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre
Throughout my time at university, I have visited many exhibitions and events held at the Mead Gallery so I was delighted to be selected for this internship. Over the summer, I was a member of a small team of curators at Warwick Arts Centre who manage the Mead Gallery exhibitions and wider art collection. My role was working on the upcoming Takuro Kuwata, Tea Bowl Punk exhibition and developing the future programme, with my main point of contact being exhibitions curator Thomas Ellmer.
There were two strands to my work. Firstly, I provided administrative support for exhibition preparation, learning about the practicalities of sourcing artworks and curation. Secondly, I created video content for the upcoming Takuro Kuwata exhibition that included a documentary promotional film, a trailer, an interview with Modern Clay artists, and an interview with Thomas Ellmer. This was an opportunity to learn about this amazing artist, who I was already excited to work with having had prior knowledge of his work.
I have just completed degree studying History of Art at University of Warwick, and been a practicing filmmaker for the last few years. This opportunity offered valuable experience allowing me to take these existing skills to a professional level, and learn much more!
Making an exhibition
While studying I have learnt about different methods of interpreting art; however, I have not learnt about the specifics involving creating an exhibition. Admittedly, I had never considered the extent of work necessary for these large-scale exhibitions, as well as the level of planning for future programmed exhibitions.
I came away knowing the final stages of exhibition preparation (Tea Bowl Punk opened 4 weeks after my internship), the early stages of planning the next exhibition, opening in April, and the initials stages of the two following exhibitions. This meant that despite only working there for six weeks, I left with a broad knowledge of the future programme, not just the upcoming most pressing exhibition.
I learnt the necessity of communicating with other organisations for exhibition planning, and how integral it is to learn from partner organisations. I contacted other institutions while researching to find a new publications distributor, sourcing books necessary for researching a future exhibited artist and for loaning artworks for exhibitions. The importance of this countrywide, and even global, network of organisations and curators seems obvious now at the end of my internship but is something I had no idea about before.
Working in a large arts organisation
I worked in the visual arts team, which sustains and curates the Mead Gallery exhibition and all the artworks on campus. Our weekly meetings provided a detailed insight into the daily work to enrich this collection, which offered me an understanding of this role despite not working directly with the collection, and more closely with the exhibitions.
During my internship, I also attended the annual meeting that everyone in the organisation goes to. This opened my eyes to the many different consideration involved in maintaining the arts centre including the financial aspects, insights about the audience and marketing strategies.
Meetings and informal conversations with the programming team (meaning the people that plan cinema, creative learning, theatre and music) were an amazing way to learn about the breadth and diversity of arts events at Warwick Arts Centre, that I was not fully aware of while studying here. Marketing and social media meetings were integral to the creation of the video content I made. I was also able to have one-to-one meetings with multiple people. Thomas Ellmer and Sarah Shalgosky offered me personal career guidance and valuable insights about curation. Dave, the cinema technician spoke to me about the technical software and hardware in the cinemas. Amy from social media offered guidance while creating digital content. Tara, head of creative learning, spoke to me about pursuing a career in this more education-led creative learning area. I am incredibly appreciative of everyone that took the time to enlighten me about their work, which opened my eyes to the range and intricacies of different jobs at the arts centre. These conversations provided an understanding of the ecology of the workplace environment for the arts centre, and how the Mead Gallery fits into this.
In the first week of my internship Thomas and I decided that making a film to promote the upcoming Tea Bowl Punk exhibition would suit my skill set, as I have prior filmmaking experience. This was an exciting prospect for me, as a future career path towards filmmaking or more specifically digital content creation for a cultural institution, has been something I have been strongly considering. I am also grateful that I was trusted to make many independent decisions and offered lots of creative freedom while making this, which really suited my method of working.
.png)
The first step was deciding what format this film would take. We could not interview the artist, Takuro Kuwata, or film him at his studio, as he works and lives in Japan. We were able to source footage from a videographer who filmed Kuwata a few years ago and decided that it was best to write an informational voiceover for this.
For the next couple of weeks, my time spent working on the documentary was mainly researching and writing a script for the documentary-like film. This was not too dissimilar from the process of writing an essay for my course; however, I had some new considerations. How could I make the information understandable and accessible, and how would this film encourage people to attend the exhibition? I was supported in this through edits with Thomas and conversations with my team.
My main aim for this film was to capture the explosive energy and intrigue of Kuwata’s work. I am drawn to the cracks and oozing forms of his sculptures and wanted to make the film to show his work in an exciting vibrant way. To do this, I sourced music by an artist Wildforms, and used flashing colour to achieve a dynamism in the film. However, I also wanted the viewer to gain knowledge of clay as a medium itself and Japanese ceramic history. The film presented Kuwata as an artist attuned with ceramic tradition with detailed knowledge of clay history, but taking all the techniques to an extreme, stretching the limits of the material itself. I enjoyed sharing my thoughts and fascination with Kuwata’s work, and presenting this to an audience, especially as I have admired his work for such a long time.
.png)
The final step was to record the voiceover and edit together the final product. As there were Japanese words in the script I thought it was most fitting to have a voiceover by someone that can speak both Japanese and English. Luckily, there was the perfect candidate, Fuyuko, who has worked with my team for different projects before. It was interesting to direct a voiceover and we were able to have lunch together afterwards and discuss her creative projects.
Altogether this was a great experience, as I used existing filmmaking skills, but had to really adapt to create something that would suit Warwick Arts Centre and the documentary promotional film format.
I also suggested filming interviews for more digital content, and Thomas was supportive of this idea. I filmed interviews with Modern Clay artists, who were curating a studio space and workshops in the gallery, and Thomas, who was curating the complete Tea Bowl Punk exhibition.
.png)
I have always watched art related content on YouTube, including interviews about exhibitions. It was exciting to make content like this, learn how to interview people on the job and overcome the challenges that come with this. So far, I have made films in an informal setting, often with my friends, so it was a transformative learning experience, bringing my skills to a professional setting and keeping the confidence to do this. I would recommend future interns to approach new and unfamiliar tasks with confidence, as despite it being daunting, I got a lot out of this experience.
Something that rarely happened on my course was talking to artists about their work, but it is clearly a core part of working in any job related to visual arts. I had the opportunity to do a studio visit with the Modern Clay artists, and also have a studio visit with Thomas to Ayisha Abrahams and Sean Steadman’s studio. Ayisha showed us some amazing films, that involved archival film and historical research. Sean Steadman showed drawings, prints and paintings, full of energetic forms that had an explosive sci-fi atmosphere. It was fascinating to hear about these artists’ work first hand.
The Sean Steadman studio visit involved me and Thomas travelling to London. On the same day we went to Pitzhanger Manor to have a tour of their exhibitions and discuss a future collaboration with their Head of Programmes. These meetings were great to be part of my internships and reiterated the importance of personal connections for future projects to be enabled. I am very appreciative of Thomas for organising these opportunities.
In the future, I plan on building on my film making skills and I am considering creating digital content for cultural organisations as a future job. I am also applying for entry level roles at galleries and museums, stating this internship experience as a reason for my suitability for these roles. I will continue to make films and art this upcoming year, as I have done throughout my time studying!