Our incredible Arts Centre staff team often includes talented interns in a variety of fields. The Project Search Supported Internship Scheme with Hereward College in Coventry, from charity DFN Project SEARCH, is designed for young people with special educational needs or an education, health and care plan who may need additional support to get a job.
The scheme provides an opportunity to develop skills and gain experience. It aims to ‘challenge and change cultures, demonstrating how young people with a learning disability can enrich the workforce, bring incredible skills and talent, encourage greater diversity and meet a real business need.’ It also gives us at Warwick Arts Centre the opportunity to work with young people at the start of their careers!
Meet Joanna
Joanna is 23 years old and lives in Coventry with her dad and her dog, Hunter. She completed two courses in Performing Arts at Hereward College and, in 2023-2024, was an intern at Warwick Arts Centre.
Joanna worked as a Visitor Experience Assistant which she said was a “valuable experience”. She worked across multiple areas of the Arts Centre including the Mead Gallery and the Cinema. This included welcoming people, giving tours of the Phantom Sculpture exhibition and the Summer exhibition, and carrying out surveys.
What was Joanna’s favourite part about working at Warwick Arts Centre?
“The staff. They are always eager to help.
“The different places like the Gallery, the Music Centre, and the Cinema. I would recommend to others to work at Warwick Arts Centre because it is an enjoyable experience.”
Joanna’s time as a Project Search intern taught her “to come out of your shell, leave your comfort zone. It’s worth it.”
She wants future Project Search Interns to remember that! She hopes to work at Warwick Arts Centre in the future as a volunteer Visitor Experience Assistant.
Meet Mitch
Mitch spent four years at Hereward College. In 2022, he came to the Arts Centre for eight-weeks of his year-long internship.
“At Warwick Arts Centre, I was in the office with the Creative Learning team – I interviewed people from different departments to learn what they do and did research tasks to help make creative packs for the outreach programme.
“In the morning, we’d open up and do all the fire and safety and accessibility checks, so it was important work.”
Mitch says he learnt a lot during his internship
“I’ve really enjoyed it and I can now interact with new people a lot more comfortably than before. I’m a lot more independent than when I started, definitely.”
Mitch’s job coach, Craig, provided support as an advocate for him and other interns. He said: “They get the chance to go into a business and show what they’re capable of without any additional provision or adjustment. The interns want to get the full experience, and some organisations soon realise they can offer more opportunities.”
Meet Ryan
After studying Art, Design and Fashion at college for 5 years, Ryan began his internship at Warwick Arts Centre. The challenges and unpredictability of the Covid pandemic impacted Ryan’s experience. Meeting people virtually was “not my cup of tea.”
He had to manage the new experience of the internship with the new experience of lockdowns, but he said it gave him “lots of time to reflect on how far I have come in learning about roles which I would have never considered as a job.”
What did Ryan enjoy most about his internship?
“I enjoyed ‘mucking in’ putting together kids’ crown-making kits for the Christmas holidays with the local community. My favourite part of this internship was an incredible tour of the art exhibits that are scattered all around the main campus. Equally interesting, hearing from core team members about their roles and what each entail. I would never have thought that I would be so interested in the roles which make the Art Centre a success, like a beehive working together!”
“Part of the Project Search experience was to complete an exercise in listening to job roles that could pique my interest and introduce me to possible roles of employment (generally or in an Arts setting).”
At the end of his time working at Warwick Arts Centre, Ryan said: “I am happy to report, I think I have the perfect role for me. A Curator!”
Our Project Search Interns have gone on to permanent jobs with employers like Holiday Inn, Severn Trent, Citizen Housing and West Midlands Police, or onto further study.
These are just a few of the stories of Warwick Arts Centre’s talented Interns. Warwick Arts Centre staff find it an honour to be a part of young people’s journeys into their careers.
We always love to see previous interns return to the Arts Centre, as visitors, artists, students or staff. If you were once an intern, why not pop in and visit us for our 50th birthday? We’d love to see you!
Interviewed by our Creative Learning Project Officer, Beth Russell-Tsuro.
This a guest blog. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in this content are solely the interviewee's and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Warwick Arts Centre.
