The second session of the Gold Arts Award Programme focused our research and thinking into three areas; form and communicate a view, get involved in the arts world and research and review.

Form and communicate a view – For this section I intend to deliver a presentation looking at the lack of talent development programmes in the arts for young people in Cardiff.  Bristol’s offer for young people interested in developing careers in the arts is far greater and I believe that if Cardiff could better support emerging talent, a more vibrant and youthful cultural arts scene is sure to develop.

Get involved in the arts world – Much of my previous experience is within photography organisations and so I’m keen to use this opportunity to gain more of rounded insight into the arts world.  As I am already in the process of organising volunteering at g39 in Cardiff I may focus on this experience for the programme, however I would really like to become more knowledgeable about performance art and so I’m interested in contacting In Between Time.  Equally, it would be fantastic to gain experience volunteering at the Arnolfini and so I have some thinking to do!

Research and review – The first part of this section is to interview an artist or arts professional and my initial idea is to try and interview Karen MacKinnon, the new Director of Artes Mundi International Visual Arts Exhibition and Prize.  Karen has been working as an international curator based in Wales for the past sixteen years and as I hope to progress towards a career in curating and/or programming, it would be a fantastic opportunity to gain an insight into Karen’s career and ideas for Artes Mundi.

At the end of September I will be heading to Venice on the Wales in Venice Invigilator Plus Programme.  Reviewing exhibitions is a skill I would really like to develop and so whilst in Venice, I’m going to challenge myself to write a review a week, which will amount to three reviews in total.  I will also be carrying out my own research as part of the Invigilator Programme, which will consider international engagement between the represented countries at the Biennale and so I would also like to include this research in my portfolio.