Blog #10 - "Work Experience"

4/07/18

Welcome to our first ever guest-blog, written by our work experience students Lauren and Mia who recently spent a week with us. We are passionate about helping  everyone connect with their creativity as you know, so it was only fitting that we should provide work  experience placements for young  people who know they have an interest in the arts and are considering pursuing it as a career .

Lauren

My work experience week at Brave Bold Drama has given me many chances to work creatively, as that is what I would like to go into as a job. I want to be an artist.

We worked mostly at Creative Workspace which is where Brave Bold Drama are based. We helped organise their craft supplies and costumes one day. Another day we talked about how to build connections with the primary school next door to Creative Workspace, and came up with a plan to have a little ideas exchange postal service through the fence.

From this we had a conversation about how to make children enjoy their time here even more and I suggested that Creative Workspace had a mascot. So Gill and Paul gave me the task of designing a mascot which was great! It was brilliant to have an element of art included in my work experience. So I first drew on paper and then made up the designs on my electronic sketchpad that I like to use using the Krita programme. I created a toucan, and Paul said it could be the “You Can Toucan”.

I drew him freehand on a blackboard surface that Paul had painted on one of the doors at Creative Workspace, with the words “Welcome to Creative Workspace” above him.  And next, for my Silver Arts Award qualification which I am also doing with Brave Bold Drama at Creative Workspace  I’m going to design the Toucan doing lots of different kinds of creative things like art, dancing, music and theatre. Gill and Paul are going to have a badgemaker soon and then children can earn their “You Can Toucan” badges when they have done different kinds of creative things.

Overall my work experience week gave me lots of different creative opportunities and it was a very good choice for me.

[Find more of Lauren's work on her facebook page here or on  instagram here]

Mia

This week I have been working at Brave Bold Drama in Withywood for my work experience placement. I chose this place because I want to pursue a career in the performing arts. My dream is to play Christine in The Phantom of the Opera.

On Monday I was nervous at first, but when I got to Creative Workspace where Brave Bold Drama is based everything was fine because Gill and Paul made me feel very welcome and also I met a lovely girl called Lauren who was on work experience here too.

Our first day we tidied and organised the craft shelves, labelling the boxes so Gill and Paul know where everything is when they next open up for the summer holidays. It was a fun activity and helped us get to know each other.

On Tuesday we took photographs of all the Brave Bold Drama costumes to make a catalogue and then put them on hangers. Some of the costumes were amazing. There were lion onesies, doctors outfits and so many more. My favourite was a gold sparkly prom dress that had jewels on. It was so beautiful!

On Wednesday we went to The Park in Knowle West and helped Gill and Paul with a songwriting workshop. We worked with people who have a learning disability. We helped them tell us ideas for lyrics, riffs and rhythms for a new song called A Song For Knowle West which Gill and Paul are writing. It was engaging and fun. I enjoyed singing with the group, and listening to them talk about their favourite places in Knowle West and people they knew there.

On Thursday we went shopping for materials to make sun visors out of paper plates! We were getting ready to run a craft activity at the primary school next door for their summer fete. I researched how to make the craft online and then made up demonstration sun visors so people could see how to do it. In the afternoon we went to a meeting at Knowle West Children’s Centre. I listened to lots of different people talk about how to help the families with young children in Knowle West.

On Friday we took our craft stall to the primary school fair. I helped lots of children make a sun visor and it was really fun.

I had so much fun on my work experience, it was the best work experience week ever!