Creative Kernow Associates x New Creatives Cornwall: Museum & Culture Group Mentoring

Deadline: 5pm on Monday 13th Janurary

Lauren is the Engagement Manager at Royal Cornwall Museum. Based in Truro, the museum looks after over 1 million objects. It also has a lively programme of exhibitions, events and community projects, and hosts many school groups each year. A large-scale development will be finished in March 2025, where there will be 3 redeveloped and reinterpreted exhibition spaces.

Lauren leads the engagement programme and is leading the reinterpretation for current redevelopments.  She has worked both freelance and with organisations in creative youth work, socially engaged art projects and health and social care between Bristol, Cornwall, Glasgow and northeast Scotland. This has included working with Impact Arts, Deveron Projects, Edinburgh Art Fair and Open Mind-Ed/Bristol University.

Undertaking a Postgraduate degree in Museum Education led to a research interest in how museums can reduce loneliness. Lauren enjoys ceramics in her spare time.

This mentoring opportunity aims to support and guide those at the early stages of their creative careers working in/with museums and cultural institutions or those who are interested in doing so. Over the two weeks mentoring period in February 2025 (10^th – 23^rd Feb) Lauren will offer at least one 1 to 1 mentoring session each, one online group session and one group field trip, tailored to the group.

There are 5 places on this mentoring scheme. Areas for mentoring support could include:

• How museums / cultural institutions operate in general
• Working on exhibitions and events
• Commissioning special projects
• Working with collections
• Engaging wider communities
• Marketing and communications
• Working with museums / cultural institutions as an artist / creative
• Working with museums / cultural institutions as a freelancer

The mentoring programme is fully-funded and there is no cost for the selected mentees to be part of the programme, and travel costs to attend any in-person meet-ups will also be covered. The mentees will also benefit from a 1-year free membership with Creative Kernow Associates.

The application is open to two types of applicants:

• (Prospective) Museum/Heritage Professionals: Those who have just started working in museums and cultural institutions (including volunteering, placements and internships) or are interested in pursuing a career in museums and cultural institutions;
• Creatives: Creatives and other freelancers who are interested in working with museums and cultural institutions.

To be eligible to apply for this opportunity, you must be based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Although this opportunity is open to artists of any age, due to the requirements of our funder, priority will be given to artists who are under 30.

You do not need to have a formal higher education qualification to apply. If you are already on the visual art or design mentoring group, you will not be able to apply to this opportunity as well.

Mentees will be selected based on:

• Suitability of the opportunity to your needs;
• The impact this opportunity may have on you;
• The coherence of the cohort.

The selection panel are:

• Lauren Campbell
• Tonia Lu, Director of Creative Enterprise, Creative Kernow

Application online via https://form.jotform.com/CreativeKernow/cka-mentoring

Application deadline: 5pm 13^th January 2025

We hope to select and inform applicants of the outcome within 10 working days of the deadline.

If you have any difficulties completing the application or have any questions, please contact us at associates@creativekernow.org.uk.