Whilst volunteering at the Hepworth I learnt many different skills and forged important contacts for the future.
My main role was to be present in the gallery and be open and willing to talk about the art pieces on display. This meant I needed to have a foundation knowledge of all the exhibitions and had many interactions with members of the public. This was a very immersive experience and meant I had a strong knowledge of the gallery pieces. It gave me time to study each piece of exhibition branding and consider how I would change it myself to be more receptive to the public. I made many sketches experimenting with the alterations I would make.
During this time I also did a lot of networking with the other gallery volunteers. Many of these people are heavily involved in the art world. So it was interesting to hear about their events, ideas and opinions. It also gave me a chance to talk about my own practice and plans for the future. This got be comfortable with talking about my practice and style of design and also lead me to give some of them my business information for future design work for their events and other design needs. Many of the volunteers and gallery hosts had insights and advice about work within the art world too. They suggested people to look at and avenues into work. This was also extremely useful.
Whilst being there it also gave me a strong sense of gallery organisation and the types of roles they have behind the scenes. This means that I understand the complicated inner-workings well and when I am to work in galleries in future I will be familiar with the set-up and will also be able to offer alternate ways of working. This even led me to consider that I might be happy in one of the 'organiser' roles in gallery running and not necessarily just the design aspect.
Either way, this work experience will also be useful for the future when I look for work in other galleries. They are more likely to accept someone who has volunteered in a gallery before and therefore gives me some merit above others. Part of my plan for the future is to begin volunteering in a Birmingham gallery and then get familiar with the design team - allowing me to work my way up into a paid role.
At the Hepworth I made sure to contact the graphic designer there and meet with her for lunch. This turned out to be a very inspiring and motivating experience.
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