We’ve had some really engaging weeks with work experience students recently and It’s been great way to mark the end of school engagement for this academic year here at The Whitworth.

We wished to share feedback from the work experience participants who have shadowed artist led sessions, developed new resources and gained a new understanding as to what makes an art gallery tick.

I’ve always wanted to endure in the creativity of art and how the past is reflected on the art history in todays world. Having a weeks work experience at The Whitworth has accomplished that and it has opened my eyes as I’ve become completely immersed in the world of art. I was able to see how a gallery operates and what goes into creating exhibitions. Unlike having paintings or buildings and portraits on blank canvases, The Whitworth has endless variations or interactive activities and volunteering work. Engaging in the beauty and wonder of the art world is an astonishing experience that I would love to persist in the future. I was able to witness first hand how a gallery operates and helping with various tasks and going behind the scenes of what this art gallery offers. This experience gave me a new found appreciation for the art history world and allowed me to gain valuable experience in a professional setting. I learned so much about the industry and the incredible people that make this all possible. To design an interactive task, print workshops to being introduced to the wonders of art in video games. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been part of it and can’t wait to see where this experience takes me in the future. Each gallery had something astounding about them and the environment The Whitworth gallery has portrayed is mesmerising. This week has given me limitless opportunities that can exist is the artworks. Having this unforgettable week has made me want to enhance my learning in art history. This experience has taught me the beauty and power of art and forever grateful to have been involved in it.

The past few days participating in an art gallery doing what I thought to be ‘helping others’ was different. I understood some of the deep meaning and purpose of art in general as it isn’t what I thought as ‘just a drawing’. As a person who was in love with drawing and pencils, it was shockingly interesting toward famous artists like Durer. It seems like art is deeply rooted in me.. temporarily.

On our second day, we continued with the drawings. It bought me back to my childhood when I was obsessed with art and skills. In addition, I thought a day in an art gallery would be tiring, boring and melancholy but with the people around they made it entertaining. On the third day, I unexpectedly had to help younger children and I felt like I was a teacher somehow. It was awkward at first but with the friends around me, comforted me a little. Not only it made me more confident but taking care of children needs a lot of patience. It was more helpful and beneficial.

It is the last day in a blink of an eye. We talked about one of my favourite topics, gaming, which I had a lot of fun discussing about. It was fun competing with my friends on building things like animals or houses in Minecraft. overall, I am astonished with the work they gave and it is more entertaining than working on other things.

In the past few days I have met some great friends so far in The Whitworth. I have met some great people like Denise and Steven who have given us a tour around the gallery and also given us tasks to complete throughout the day. I also had fun looking around the gallery and admiring photos and the background info on it. Interacting with visitors offers the chance to share your knowledge and passion to answer questions and facilitate discussion. These interactions create a dynamic and enriching experience for all involved. With helping out staff in the art gallery and helping out primary school children with their drawing and painting skills I believe I had helped out others and also myself as I had learned something throughout work experience. The best part of work experience was being able to play Minecraft with others as gaming is one of the things that I enjoy. Working in an art gallery is a truly unforgettable experience from being surrounded by awe inspiring artworks to engaging with artists and visitors everyday is filled with creativity and inspiration whether you are passionate about curating exhibitions preserving art or promoting events, a career in the art gallery allows you to contribute to the thriving art community and make a lasting impact.

This last few days I have had a phenomenal experience or rather a journey at The Whitworth. In all honesty, I expected a lot less of this transcendental time but every time I step into the great red building it never fails to amaze me.

For this work experience, I had 4 days planned out for me and each day they’d be something new, something extraordinary. On the first day I was lucky to have spoken to one of the staff working here and using his words ‘The Whitworth is not the white hall with paintings hanging around kind of typical museum you’d expect, but more of an interactive place which makes it more special’. And indeed I have gradually ticked off all the boxes in the special category. The Whitworth has the traditional galleries but also individual halls that gives freedom to artists and groups to utilise their creativity. Taking the ‘School Of Creativity’ for example, there are toys to play with within the hall, some wallpaper art and there are some consoles for people to play Minecraft. However this did not manifest from thin air. Our leader Steven shared to us the galleries struggles to install Minecraft consoles because of instability of the internet connection. However as brilliant and as intelligent as they are, the engineers programmed the game into raspberrypi computers so it can now be enjoyed by anyone.

Of all the things that impressed me, it was the utility of art in and outside of the gallery community. Notably the project called ‘company drinks’ who harvest fruits and plants near the gallery and using their overflowing creativity tamed them into interesting and artistic drinks and sell them at a reasonable price. There are also other examples such as creating art and selling them for a higher price in order to support the local community. It is the galleries artists, creators and managers kindness that deeply touched me. Never in a thousand years would I have thought art can be so refreshing and useful. Thanks to all.

The last few days at The Whitworth has been amazing and fun as I have tried many things like sketching and helping children with a printing press. There was not one time that I found boring and I could tell all artworks in the gallery had creativity and passion in them. They were all indeed magnificent. On the first day I was welcomed by a member of staff who showed me around the place. It was fascinating how you could find out what artwork truly meant. On the second day I had to produce a sketch on an original art piece by Durer and have a presentation about it as well. It was quite enjoyable because the feeling of sketching a masterpiece can make you feel like you have achieved something. Later on, I helped to organise some materials in the art room which was a little tedious but I managed to have a few laughs with other people.

The third day was helping out young children with their drawings and the printing press. It felt like a real job because I was helping them out. The kids also looked like they enjoyed their time. In my opinion, the last day was the most fun as we were able to play a Pi version of Minecraft which was enjoyable as we got to build many structures. Working at Whitworth Art Gallery was truly an unforgettable and fascinating experience and I hope to go back again some time in the future.W

During my time at The Whitworth I have been able to expand on some of my key skills such as confidence when talking to strangers and being able to start and experience multiple ways of communication. I have also been able to show and demonstrate my punctuality skills.

During my time doing work experience here I have been able to experience all the different jobs and opportunities there are within an art gallery and how all the roles and jobs come together to form the team here. For example, over the 4 day period I have been here I have been able to see many different jobs in the gallery such as the technicians and conservator and learn about what they do and how it’s done.

I have also been able to explore the gallery as a whole from the exhibition spaces to the art stores. During my time here I would say I enjoyed exploring the gallery the most especially the storage facilities. 68’000 object in the storage and seeing the different art styles.

Thank you to all work experience participants this year with us here at the Whitworth

Steven