Lewis Murphy, 22/23 Arts Officer
Last years Arts officer, Lewis Murphy, tells us about his passion for light design and how artsUCL has changed his life
Getting involved in performances during a pandemic was tricky
My first artsUCL experience was going to COVID-restricted rehearsals for Music Society’s Symphony Chorus in my first year – we could only meet in groups of six so it wasn’t ideal. The year after, I went to my first Welcome Fair and saw the Stage Crew stall. I wasn’t going to say anything as I didn’t think I’d be good enough, but my flatmates insisted I go up to the stall and try get involved.
I went to the first few meetings and applied to be an assistant on the production of RENT, but unexpectedly was made the lead lighting designer. After that, I caught the bug and got involved with every show I could. I was elected president for the 2022-23 academic year and ran for Arts Officer in the term 1 by-election in 2022.
Having been involved with so many different shows throughout the year, I’d gotten to meet so many great people from a wide array of arts societies. As officer, I could use these connections to represent these diverse voices at higher levels in the Union, while also having a great network for getting ideas and planning events.
My biggest highlights all involved giving back to the arts community
Putting on the Arts Masquerade Ball last summer with Film & TV and Drama societies was really the pinnacle of my time in artsUCL. To see 400 people coming together to celebrate was so special and I felt privileged to be part of such a large and passionate community. We’d been planning this from the beginning of the academic year and were so grateful to be supported by the Union to put on such a great event.
I learned to face my fears
The community here is so welcoming and supportive – if you put the effort in, you’ll always be recognised, so I've learned to face my fears. It doesn’t matter if you’ve not done it before, I’d never done any lighting design before coming to UCL and now I do it as a degree. Seeing hard work pay off will always be the best feeling for me and there’s no better place to do that than in the arts.
Being part of artsUCL has made me stick at my degree
I’ll be honest, my time here would have almost certainly been cut short if it wasn’t for artsUCL. I didn’t enjoy my degree in my second or third years, and the opportunities presented by artsUCL were a big part of me sticking in and finishing, and then ending up on the Master’s that I’m on. This definitely isn’t the ideal scenario and not something I’d recommend to others, but it’s a big part of why artsUCL means so much to me. I've learnt to choose what is right for me.
On a more positive note, I’ve gotten experience that has led me into professional roles and made lifelong friends. Certainly those personal and professional connections have had a huge impact on my life.