Last week at FAC!

I've had such an amazing time at Fremantle Arts Centre and in my last week I've felt a weird mixture of sadness and excitement about finishing my internship. It has been a crazy few weeks helping out with two sold out concerts and preparing for an Academy Award winner's upcoming exhibition but it's also been so much fun! 

My first task of the week has been to help with the finishing touches of the Boy and Bear  concert, from helping set up the sound system to organising catering for the band every aspect of the gig has to be perfected to ensure that it goes of without a hitch. One great thing about completing my internship at FAC is that I have gained experience in not only the traditional aspects of PR but also events and what goes into the preparation of a large event, from the behind the scenes promotion to setting up on the day of the event. After all this hard work seeing the band play was the icing on the cake, it was such an amazing night.

The next weekend there was yet another world class musician playing in the FAC grounds with Dallas Green from City and Colour and Alexisonfire fame performing to another packed out and excited crowd just a few days after his awesome Kimbra 'Settle Down' cover on Triple J. Although I didn't get a chance to stick around to see him perform, running into Dallas Green wandering around the FAC grounds was definitely a highlight of my internship, and probably my year! 

As well as these awesome gigs FAC is in the midst of presenting Academy Award winner Shaun Tan's solo exhibition, 'Suburban Odyssey'.  With a collection of never before seen, large scale paintings, small oil paintings and drawings that chart Tan's journey and experiences throughout his childhood in suburban Perth, the organisation and promotion of Suburban Odyssey was detailed and highly organised, with Kathryn taking reservations to opening night all the way back in February.

 

Over the past few weeks I have learnt a lot from Kathryn as she organised every aspect of Shaun's trip to Perth, from his media interviews to where he was staying and how he was getting to and from the interviews. She liaised with a national PR company that was overseeing Shaun's media appearance's across the country ensuring that he made each of the interviews and had an enjoyable experience along the way. I cant wait to come back to FAC over the next few weeks after install of the new exhibition is completed so I can see the wonderful exhibition that everyone has worked so hard on.

It's time for me to say bye to this blog, but first I just want to say thanks to everyone at FAC that made my experience there so enjoyable, I learnt so much and really am grateful for everything!

Katie x

Photography and Soundcheck

This week at Fremantle Arts Centre has been a busy-and exciting one! From setting up for Grace Knights concert in the courtyard to researching Andrew Varano and helping prepare a media release for his exhibition in July a lot is happening around FAC throughout the colder months.

Setting up for Grace Knight was a great way to learn hands on the more physical aspects of events planning and management.  I assisted with the audio and got to listen to Grace Knight’s amazing vocals during her sound check, definitely a highlight of the internship.

After helping set up the concert I began researching Andrew Varano, a local artist who had an exhibition at the arts centre last year.  I compiled a list of interesting facts on Varano and his latest project and media appearances to prepare for a media release that will be sent out to all the major media outlets throughout the state.

Once the media release was finished I was in charge of finding new and interesting angles to pitch to various media organisations to maximise enrolments to the FAC learning courses.  I looked at every aspect of the courses finding what makes them unique and interesting, something that can only be found at Fremantle Arts Centre.  Some of the tutors that are teaching courses at FAC are leaders in their field, such as Bo Wong a photographer who has had recent success with her ‘Markets’ series of photographs that was a part of the Foto Freo exhibition. Bo is teaching an advanced photography class, taking students around the sites of Fremantle to experiment and master different aspects and techniques of photography.

Andrea Gibbs is another prominent person teaching classes at FAC. Gibbs is a well known comedian gaining acclaim with performances around the country with an upcoming show at the Perth International Comedy Festival that starts in May. She is teaching a new class called ‘Telling stories- producing your own’ which is a three week course introducing students to the fundamentals of story telling and performance.

With only a few weeks left at FAC I am excited about what else I will get to experience and during my industry placement.

So far at FAC

I’ve been at Fremantle Arts Centre for 7 days now spread over a number of weeks and have definitely learnt a lot from my experiences so far.  I have spent my time working on a variety of different events and assisting the head of communications, Kathryn Doust with a number of upcoming and continuing projects from developing media releases to researching effective distribution plans for brochures and fliers so that they reach the maximum amount of people.

In my second week at the Arts centre my main task was working on promoting the upcoming WAAPA showcase. This showcase was aimed at parents and students who attend John Curtin College of the Arts to showcase the comprehensive degrees that are offered at WAAPA. This showcase is also the only performance from WAAPA students south of the river. This was an interesting task for me to undertake as I could see the importance of targeting a large and diverse audience to ensure that an event is promoted not just through traditional print mediums that only reach people the read that newspaper or street publication but also through brochures and fliers which can reach people during their everyday activities such as getting a coffee or going to the library.   

Next I read through the April/June editions of FAC’s ‘What’s On’ and proof read/edited the brochure. I was the fourth person to proof read the brochure and I found it interesting just how much preparation goes into not only designing the booklet and filling its pages but ensuring that the information is correct and interesting for people to read.

In my fourth week I was updating the communications spread sheet which features individuals and arts centres from around the country that have previously applied for the annual print awards held by FAC. This entailed researching dozens of art centres and ensuring that the contact information was correct and that the people’s positions in the company hadn’t changed.  I was updating this spreadsheet so that people from around the country could be sent a ‘call for entry’ to the 2012 FAC Print Award. The FAC Print Award is now in its 38^th year and is Australia’s leading printmaking award, providing a place for thousands of young and emerging artists from across the country to have their art featured in FAC which attracts thousands of people a year.

In my fifth week I spent my time on Facebook researching the benefits of Timeline, the new Facebook lay out and how that will affect FAC. I read a myriad of articles on how Timeline was beneficial for businesses and found it really interesting how big a part social networks now play in public relations. I looked at big businesses that are embracing Timeline like Coca Cola and The New York Times and how they were using the new features to maximise the impact of their page. I thought some of the most interesting new features of Timeline for businesses were the ability to pin a post to the top of the page for 7 days to ensure that it gets maximum visibility with people who visit the page. Also for companies that have been around for a long time the ability to add ‘milestones’ allows a companies history to be shown making it not only seem like a company with something to consume but a institution of sorts, something that can definitely be seen on the Coca Cola page.  Timeline encourages creativity in social networking, something that businesses can embrace and adapt making there page unique and interesting for audiences.

Another job I was given to ensure that FAC's transfer to Timeline would be smooth was to write short paragraphs on half a dozen historical landmarks of Fremantle Arts Centre from its days as a mental asylum to its transformation into the Arts Centre that it is today.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my past few weeks at the arts centre and am looking forward to the new tasks and experiences that the next half of my industry placement will bring.