Our Placement Students Celebrate their time at Attenborough Arts Centre

Through the past 8 weeks we have had the pleasure of hosting three placement students from the University of Leicester’s MA Museum and Art Gallery Studies.

The placement at Attenborough Arts Centre allows students on the course to experience working within the cultural sector. Students get to experience different aspects of museum work including curation, marketing and audience engagement while also learning more about how galleries like Attenborough Arts Centre make events enjoyable and accessible to all. Students learn in the city of Leicester, a developing hub for the cultural arts which is famed for its diversity.

We heard what our placement students had to say about their experience of working with us.

I gained hands-on experience of setting up, curating and installing exhibitions as well as other professional skills needed for me to continue developing as a curator. My placement supervisor, Rachel Graves and other members of the Attenborough Arts Centre staff team have also been really supportive and have given me inspiration, suggestions and feedback on projects. It’s been fantastic to learn more about how museums and galleries represent different cultures and bring different groups of people together through objects and exhibitions.
– Jessie Sun

My placement at Attenborough Arts Centre has enabled me to explore a variety of different tasks, from collating information about current exhibitions, completing artwork condition checks and much more. Prior to my placement I had no curatorial experience, so it hasn’t been without a challenge. For this reason, I am very grateful to my supervisor Rachel and deputy director Jeremy Webster for the help and support they provided while on placement. You get to realise just how important even the small details are when it comes to curatorial work. 

My favourite project on placement has to be the Curatorial Project. I worked with two other placement students to create a display which is currently on show within the David Wilson Library at the University of Leicester. It’s been a fantastic opportunity to test my knowledge of exhibition interpretation and contribute to a project in a real-life setting.
– Wenjing Wang

Caption: Our placement students pictured installing their library display containing Laura Swanson’s Anti-Self-Portraits series of photography. 

I spent most of my time with the marketing department, where I got involved in the analysis of social media content, competitor analysis and a website analysis project. I really enjoyed being part of the Attenborough Arts Centre team and Sunita was very helpful and patient in guiding me on how to conduct market research for art institutions, and encouraged me to actively explore and integrate into the gallery. Through this placement, I am more confident in my work in the field of arts and culture and look forward to submitting applications to work in galleries when I return to my country.
– Chang Li

We wish all three students the best of luck on their future career ventures and know that they will go on to achieve great things.

Feeling inspired? Find out about current opportunities at Attenborough Arts Centre.
Check out our opportunities page where you can find a range of exciting volunteer and paid roles working in one of Leicester’s leading arts spaces. We also offer events and experiences dedicated to students including the music scholarship programme as well as creative arts events and workshops that will leave you feeling inspired.