Hi everyone,
My name is Lisa and I was part of Illuminate for two months. Yes, you’ve got it – only two months and no they didn’t throw me out.
My name is Lisa and I was part of Illuminate for two months. Yes, you’ve got it – only two months and no they didn’t throw me out.
As you can see from the heading I am not actually British, but German and I was in Nottingham on Erasmus. Some of you may be wondering how the unique Erasmus experience can be connected with a youth group dealing with modern art and museum works – I can tell you that being a part of the group was one of the best things I experienced during my stay abroad.
To be honest- at the beginning I didn’t really want to be part of Illuminate. It just didn’t appeal to me and although I have always been hugely interested in museums and galleries, I found modern art a little uninspiring and boring. But as I really wanted to get involved in the community during my short time in Nottingham and since I always like to volunteer I thought I would give it a go.
Compared to volunteering back in my home country, everything is really organized and well structured: starting with the volunteer fair on my university’s campus, to a detailed application form including several references and role descriptions and finally leading to a Volunteer Welcome Day and a short interview at the castle. As my remaining time in Nottingham was already quite short and I still wanted to get involved as much as possible, the Volunteer Coordinators recommended Illuminate Group. I was really curious and although I didn’t know what to expect I was excited to start.
My first meeting with the group was arranged spontaneously in the morning and after that every single week was exciting and new to me. I went to places like the Lakeside Art Centre, Nottingham’s Castle OPEN, a small and really cosy room in the Brewhouse Yard and the V&A in London. I got insights into aspects of daily museum work that I never had before and I am not sure whether I will ever have these opportunities again. I also learnt a lot about the many various tasks that are involved in running exhibitions and organising events; the urgent need of a Twitter account in order to survive in today’s world and a lot about the serious addiction to jaffa cakes.
I don’t regret a second of my time spent with Illuminate! I met artists, lots of enthusiastic and dedicated people, a curator and an amazing group. Every single second I felt welcome and as part of the group – although I still have a strange accent and my time was far too short!! There should definitely be more youth groups connected to museums and art galleries all over the world…
Lisa Meisch