Lisa Callaghan, Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Arts Management (2022-2023)
When I came across the Springboard+ advert online in May 2022 I was out of work due to health issues with no idea how I was going to get back to “normal life”. I suddenly suffered my first episode of psychosis in the second half of 2021 and as a result, had returned home to Ireland from living and working in Italy so that my parents could take care of me while I recovered.
I scanned the course options and the Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Arts Management instantly stood out to me. Although I had very little previous knowledge of arts management, I obtained a Bachelors of Architectural Science from UCD in 2013, had experience working in media agencies, and had always had a personal interest in the arts.
After discussing it with my family I decided to apply and by mid-July I was delighted to be offered a provisional place on the course. I decided to attend the first semester in person even though remote learning was also an option to meet new people and visit Galway. I found the course content very interesting, and the projects and seminars were thought-provoking. We were given an insight into the world of the arts from different perspectives and through research and interviews learned directly from people who had years of experience in their field.
Attending the course also gave me a new sense of purpose and motivation and alongside the course, I was inspired to become involved in the arts locally in Leitrim. By getting involved with my local Printmaking Group I started to meet many other artists and discover more opportunities in the arts in Ireland and the artwork itself was very beneficial for my own mental health.
In November 2022 our Professor Patrick Lonergan invited the course participants to the AIMday Exploring Creative Innovations event at the University of Galway. As part of this one of the workshops I attended was with Helene Hugel, the CEO and founder of Helium Arts where I learned about their arts workshops with children with lifelong health conditions that are based in hospitals and in the community.
The second semester of Creative Arts Management was online which suited perfectly as it was more flexible and by that time I had also regained enough confidence to return to part-time work with the HSE as a Clerical Officer in the Children’s Disability Service. The focus of our second-semester project was mainly on developing funding and grant proposals and various aspects of planning and managing an arts event. I decided to focus my project on the arts and mental health based on my own personal experience of recovery from an illness. Later in the semester we also had a work experience element, and I was lucky to secure a placement assisting with the Bealtaine Festival in Sligo which gave me some great hands-on experience. By then I had decided that I was interested in working in the area of the arts and health in the future.
After the AIMday event, I had always kept up to date on the work of Helium Arts and one day saw a post online recruiting for a part-time position of Grants & Development Coordinator. After a competitive application and interview process, I was overjoyed to be offered the position just before my graduation. My graduation day was a brilliant celebration of how far I had come over the previous two years and how much had changed.
I’m currently completing induction training with Helium Arts and already learning so much, finding the work fascinating and the team is all lovely. I’m really grateful for the Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Arts Management and the impressive impact it has had on me personally and I’m looking forward to what the future brings. If you’re considering taking this course as a way to begin or further a career in the arts I’d really recommend it.
Springboard+ courses for 2024/25 will be announced in June 2024.
Centre for Adult Learning and Professional Development 
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