Hello there! I’m Ben, your Arts Officer this year. That means I’ll be leading student communications with staff in artsUCL and the Students Union, representing the community at Activities Zone and voting on various student-led panels! I’m a port of call for voicing student opinion, feedback and helping organise inter-societal collaborations, as well as a voice for the staff to the students, helping you stay up to date and making sure the work being done by the artsUCL staff is understood and shared with the Student body.
I’ve been involved with artsUCL from the moment I joined university as a performer, production team member and committee member. I’m taking all of this experience and the friends I’ve made along the way into my term as Arts Officer with my core aims of increasing accessibility, increasing cross-societal collaboration and developing more streamlined communication and organisation tools for our arts community. A big part of this is ensuring that the work done last year on artsConnect, our artsUCL opportunities hub, is continued, and also that artsUnlocked, our series of open beginner-friendly workshops spanning from late night art to dance classes to stage combat to music sessions, continues to develop.
I can’t wait to see all the wonderful productions and art pieces created by our community this year, particularly the possibilities opened up by the recent transfer of the Bloomsbury Theatre and Studio to Students’ Union UCL. The creativity, drive and talent of the artsUCL community never ceases to amaze me and with a stellar lineup of shows, projects and initiatives already, watching these happen alongside all the work yet to come is super exciting. Plus, there’s a bold new term 3 offering yet to be announced… stay tuned!
artsUCL makes all our Arts societies centralised, but it can still be a little overwhelming. We have got such a great volume and range of opportunities on offer that you can find so many passions and develop so many skills, but that also means that if you’re looking to find your thing, you might not necessarily know where to look. Top tips for ‘finding your thing’ incoming…
- Use the artsUCL Webpage , What’s on Calendar and Society Directory to browse through all our offerings and note down a shortlist of societies, events and activities that interest you –welcome week becomes a LOT less overwhelming if you know what you’re looking for. You don’t need to cut down brutally or make an extensive list, just have an idea of what you want to check out!
- Follow @artsucl on Instagram for updates, announcements and insight into our community.
- Follow societies’ Instagrams and join their WhatsApp groups for events, auditions, workshops and more (particularly good for freshers events!)
- Make the most of our artsUnlocked opportunities! If you are worried about time commitment, focus derailment from your degree, or even just about trying something out, there’s very few places better than these open-to-all spaces for creative exploration. Sessions are run by professional artists and practitioners from the heart of London's creative scene- not one to miss!
- Go to as much as you can over the Welcome period – just as much as you might be trying to get involved in everything in freshers, remember we want you involved too - really do make the most of it and make sure you see the things you want to see, and talk to the people you want to talk to!
- Go to the Welcome Fair in UCL East! It might seem like a way away, but you’ll be there in a flash, it a gorgeous place (with good secret study spots!) and it’s a great chance to really feel like you’re going to an event for the day to meet everyone. Plus, we’re always trying to connect the campuses any way we can, and this is a great step forward!
- Find artsUCL at Welcome Fest in Gordon Square. You can find all our incredible societies in one place at the artsUCL Fair on Tuesday 23 Septmeber. PLUS don’t miss out on our free artsUnlocked sessions and society tasters in the Pavillion as well as some amazing live performances on the stage!
- Don’t be worried about missing anything. Although it might seem like you’re watching the artsUCL and Student Union boat sailing into the new year and you need run to get your seat on it, remember that this community is for all the year, not just for Welcome Week. There are new opportunities literally every week, audition cycles shift all year round, and socials and new friends are never far away. The artsUCL community is here for you whenever you are ready for it.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, fancy any guidance or just want to get a gauge of what’s going on, feel free to reach out to me on email [email protected], or you can hail me down if you see me around campus. I’m super excited to meet you all and catch up with everyone – see you very soon!
