Internship Stories: Chantelle Gourlay

One of the ways that Deakin students can gain industry insights and experience is through our Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programs. There are a range of internship opportunities advertised at any given time and students always come away with valuable knowledge and increased networks to draw upon throughout their study and after graduation.

Below, Bachelor of Arts (Professional and Creative Writing) student Chantelle Gourlay shares her insights from a recent internship with Platform Arts. As Chantelle has shared here, undertaking an internship can lead to great opportunities!

In Trimester 3 2019, I completed an internship with Platform Arts, which is a small arts organisation that runs out of the old courthouse in Geelong.

My main task was to craft the new writing program that will be implemented in 2020. There were three main parts to this.

First, I created a partnership program between authors and artists. As part of this partnership program, an emerging author is partnered with an artist to craft a creative writing response to their artwork.

Second, I worked on ‘Blurred Lines’, a new literary journal that contains work from the author and artist partnership, competition winners, and pieces chosen from Platform Arts events throughout the year.

Finally, I was involved in the planning of Firelight, the newly proposed poetry night to be held once every season. At the event, artists will have the opportunity to perform poetry readings, slam poetry, manifestos, songs, etc.

There was no prior information for me to work with when I was given the chance to develop these three components of the writing program. I was given complete creative control to essentially ‘go nuts’ with the planning stages of this program.

It was so exciting to be able to let my ideas out no matter how crazy they were. It also taught me a good lesson on how to work independently and without too many restrictive guidelines.

At the end of my internship I was offered the chance to apply for the Platform Arts creative residency program. This is a short three-month mentoring program that includes access to a studio that is available 24/7 to craft a creative product of my choosing.

I have also been reassured that if I ever want to return to Platform Arts to curate some of my own creative work that I would be more than welcome.

I made a lot of great friends and connections and feel a lot more confident in my abilities not only as a writer but a creator in general.

 

Thanks to Chantelle for so generously sharing her insights here.

For students who are keen to find out more about internship opportunities in the Faculty of Arts and Education, you can contact the Work Integrated Learning (WIL) team – contact details available here. They are always happy to help!

 

*Featured Image (Cover) by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash