Written in March 2019 following the culmination of my time at Sheffield Theatres
“Take the work seriously, not yourself. You’re allowed one tantrum a year; pick it wisely..."
End of the day ramblings. This is a quick blog post detailing my time as a Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries Fellow. Please follow this link to find out more about the programme.
It’s not just your everyday graduate entry level job. You aren’t just sitting in the corner, making the tea, watching the hours pass by. I feel like I was given an opportunity that was, at times, really quite challenging. I worked as a part of the development team at Sheffield Theatres; writing funding applications, co-ordinating events, learning. Working for Sheffield Theatres was so inspiring, from the people to the productions to the place. It’s a venue that has the people at its heart and that shines through whenever you speak to someone within that building.
When I was approaching the end of my time at university, I always thought that I would have to make do with unpaid arts work balanced with retail work for a few years before I would be recognised in a financial sense. Unfortunately, that is still the case for many but schemes such as the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries are fighting the good fight to ensure that early career arts professionals can access these opportunities and not have to suffer physically, mentally and financially because of it.
Jerwood Arts aren’t just a funder but they are a support network. From the people behind Jerwood, the fellow alumni and everyone associated with the creative bursaries, there is a real sense of togetherness. The sense that we are all pushing to make a change in the arts. I’m excited to build upon relationships with the current cohort and see where we will all end up.
More and more we are seeing government departments tightening their belts as budget cuts increase year upon year. It is vital that, despite this, arts organisations continue their efforts in supporting early career professionals and giving people that vital experience early on. It is for that reason that people need to look at schemes such as Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries and share it far and wide so organisations and people alike know that opportunities are available.
“We’re working in arts organisations, not hospitals.”