For many years, Lakeside Arts has given opportunities to students from the University of Nottingham to enable them to gain an insight into working in the arts. From our music traineeships to our work experience placements through the university’s Advantage Award scheme, Lakeside prides itself in being a bridge between students and the working world.
In May 2019, a new chapter began as Lakeside and the University successfully secured funding from the Office for Students’ Challenge Competition fund to expand on such initiatives and to subsequently deliver a three-year long programme called Creative Pathways. The programme is two-fold in its endeavours to engage students in the creative industries: firstly, there will be an internship scheme whereby University of Nottingham graduates will be placed in cultural hubs across the city. Secondly, is the Creative Academy branch, an employability based event for current students, a series of evenings complete with networking, workshops and career-specific talks.
Having launched back in October 2019, Creative Pathways is in its first cycle of delivery. At present, seven University of Nottingham graduates are placed in seven different strategic cultural partners including City Arts, Dance4, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham Playhouse, Nonsuch, UNESCO City of Literature, as well as Lakeside Arts. Rooted in a need to diversify the arts, Creative Pathways, and in particular the internships, are aimed at students coming from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education. By targeting this group, the programme intends to provide students from these underrepresented backgrounds with the opportunities available to all students, thus improving social mobility.
Whilst our internships are open to recent graduates, the Creative Academy is open to current students. Every academic year there will be three events held at Lakeside Arts, featuring a mixture of keynote speakers, panel discussions at networking opportunities. The first two events have been a success, with each evening reaching capacity, with an expansive waiting list to match. Examples of speakers we’ve had include: Georgina Wilding (Nottingham’s first Young Poet Laureate), Sarah Longthorne (Narrative Director at SUMO Digital) and Jem Collins (Journalist and Founder of Journo Resources).
If you’re a current University of Nottingham student, or a final year student soon to graduate, keep an eye out on our website for updates regarding the next Creative Academy event and for information about applying to our 2020-21 Graduate Internships Programme.
Visit our Creative Pathways webpage to find out more.