SELECTED programme extended to students in business, as well as arts.
Galway International Arts Festival and The University of Galway have announced the expansion of the joint internship programme SELECTED.
SELECTED is the partners’ professional development programme for emerging artists, theatre makers, curators and producers studying at the University of Galway.
Now in its 12th year, the internship programme was previously open the University of Galway students with an interest in the arts, including drama, film, music, writing and is now being expanded to students interested in business, including management, social media marketing and communications.
Professor Patrick Lonergan, Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at The University of Galway, said: “What we are seeing through the SELECTED programme are real, high-quality opportunities for students to be part of a renowned and globally recognised arts festival. It opens doors, it offers invaluable experience, and it demonstrates how our university partnerships can develop to offer students on-the-ground experiences and learning of what it takes to make the GIAF such a huge success.”
John Crumlish, Chief Executive of the Galway International Arts Festival, said: “Our aim for the SELECTED procontributea contribution to the development of the next generation of arts professionals in the West of Ireland and, through the partnership with The University of Galway, that desire is now being realised, as more and more of the SELECTED alumni appear in festival programmes each year both onstage and backstage.”
The SELECTED programme is particularly suited to students with an interest in producing and creative arts management. Graduates have gone on to work within the arts industry, with more than half of the shows at the 2021 GIAF featuring the University of Galway.
Alumni from the college’s BA in Drama worked as stage manager, assistant stage manager and props person on last year’s Cogadh Na Saoirse, while others played key roles on stage, with actor Catherine Denning, a BA and MA graduate, featuring in Branar's Sruth na Teanga, and the University of Galway graduates also working on the Abbey Theatre's Happy Days on Inis Oírr and Druid Theatre's The Seagull. Cogadh na Soairse was written by MA graduate Philip Doherty ,and After Love was written by BA graduate Dani Gill.
SELECTED offers a limited number of students an opportunity to see how the festival is put together. Opportunities involve attending intimate meetings with GIAF staff, international and Irish producers and creative entrepreneurs and artists; Festival Ambassador roles within the GIAF Volunteers' Programme, based in Galway city centre, immersed in all aspects of the festival to advise audiences in choosing the right shows for them; theoretical, practical, and GIAF-specific social media training to generate content delibeforekages before the start of GIAF22.
Further information is available on GIAF SELECTED page.
Applications for the programme are made through Professor Patrick Lonergan at patrick.lonergan@nuigalway.ie. The closing,date is midday Thursday, 14 April 2022
