Creative Pathways

The creative industries can offer careers that are both stimulating and rewarding, where no two days look the same.

However, we know that many students that may be drawn to such a career often don’t know about the breadth of opportunities in the sector, or require more information and tailored opportunities to help begin their career.

Funded by the Office for Students between 2019 and 2022, the Creative Pathways programme is a new University of Nottingham initiative led by Lakeside Arts to help our students overcome these obstacles and to support diversification and graduate retention in the creative industries sector.  

The programme has two strands of delivery:

UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM CREATIVE ACADEMY

Meet and hear from inspirational individuals, start to understand and build links with cultural organisations, and gain insight into a vast range of careers available in the creative sector.

The Creative Academy is open to all University of Nottingham undergraduates, especially those who have come through a widening participation route to University. Through three events per year held at Lakeside Arts, current University of Nottingham students are armed with inspiration and information to help guide them into a career in the creative sector.

Upcoming Creative Academy dates are: 

• Tuesday 23 February 2021

Book for next event here

See below for the new strand of the Creative Academy events, Creative Focus on...

CREATIVE FOCUS ON EVENT MANAGEMENT

Tuesday 19 January 2021, 6pm
Free, Book via MyCareers

Start the new year with a fresh creative focus getting under the skin of what makes some of our major cultural offerings work. An additional strand of Creative Pathways Academy, this is an opportunity to meet some of the individuals behind major events, festivals, producing houses, galleries etc in the UK. We're starting with Angela Mann and Ann-Marie Franey, who are behind Great Northern Events, and are responsible for delivering Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair which has promoted some 3000+ makers since 2008 and generated £2.8m worth of sales in that time.

Book your place

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Angela Mann & Ann-Marie Franey are the founders of Great Northern Events, a not-for-profit arts organisation. They are responsible for the production and management of the 'Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair' brand of live and online selling events. The main aims of the organisation are to champion designer-makers and develop the market for contemporary craft.

Launching their first fair in Manchester in 2008, they have built up a national reputation in the craft sector and the GNCCF Manchester is now one of the top retail events in the UK. In recent years they have gone on to widen their reach and have produced GNCCF events in Sheffield and Newcastle. 2020 saw the launch of GNCCFonline, which was developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since Thomas Heatherwick opened their first fair, their live events have showcased over 3,000 makers, attracted over 75,000 visitors and sold at least £2.7m of craft.

It was their shared passion for craft that led them to set up Great Northern Events. Angela has a degree in nursing and specialised in Public Health, where she was involved in creating and delivering regional strategy and managing large public health campaigns. Ann-Marie studied biochemistry and worked in TV for 15 years, producing live programmes and documentaries. Their diverse backgrounds and experience have equipped them with a toolbox of skills for organising and managing events.

CREATIVE PATHWAYS GRADUATE INTERNSHIPS

The UK’s only city-wide paid cultural internships programme – Creative Pathways Graduate Internships offer seven graduates per year the chance to work for six months in one of Nottingham’s leading cultural institutions. 

Successful applicants have the chance to get a wide range of vocational experience, including event planning, organising and delivery; finance and fundraising; budget administration and management; and marketing, publicity, communications and PR – providing them with a significant springboard into a future career in the sector.

The internships run from October to April for three years starting in October 2019. They are exclusively for students from the priority groups listed below. This to ensure that students from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education can fully access the opportunities available to all students and to improve social mobility. To be able to apply, you must be a home fee paying student graduating in summer 2020 from the University of Nottingham, want to gain practical experience to support your future career development in the creative and cultural sector, and meet one or more of the eligibility criteria detailed below:

Eligibility Criteria

• Have been in local authority care/looked after
• Have a declared disability
• Be from a black and minority ethnic group
• Be a mature student (21 or over at the start of your course)
• Be a young carer
• Be under 25 and estranged from your family
• Be in receipt of a core bursary
• Be in receipt of a Nottingham Potential Bursary
• Be a refugee
• Your home address is in a neighbourhood where participation in Higher Education is low.
  • This can be checked by:
    • Enter your home postcode (i.e. where you lived before University) into the 'Contextual offers' postcode checker on the University of Nottingham's website:https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/applying/contextual-offers.aspx
    • If 'You may be elidible for a contextual offer' displays following searching, this indicates your home address is in a neighbourhood that meets the above criteria.

Cultural Organisations

The internships are based across seven Nottingham's cultural organisations: 

• City Arts Dance4
• Lakeside Arts, University of Nottingham
• Nottingham Contemporary
• Nottingham Playhouse
• Nonsuch
• UNESCO City of Literature.
   

Revisit this page for information about the 2021/2022 applications.

2020 Applications Closed