Role: Project Officer
Company: Craft Northern Ireland
Track Record:
ME AND MY JOB
KATIA STEWART,
PROJECT OFFICER, CRAFT NORTHERN IRELAND
What does your job entail?
I am the project officer for Craft Northern Ireland so my job is very varied because of the range of programmes we run and the variety of support we offer.
The role of Craft NI is to promote and support contemporary craft and applied arts in Northern Ireland.
My day to day work is very diverse, from supporting and advising individual makers and setting up exhibitions to working on a more strategic level by helping to inform the development of projects on offer to makers, including retail, export and business development.
Is it 9-5?
Generally yes but the role can mean attending events outside of those hours, particularly when we are taking makers to a trade show outside of Northern Ireland or opening an exhibition in our premises.
How did you get into this line of work?
I trained as a designer-maker and my passion lies in the supporting others to make the most of their skills and in the development of high quality craft and design.
Outline your career to date?
After training in the design and applied arts in Edinburgh, I worked for a short time in a high end ‘Design Art’ gallery in the Mayfair area of London before realising that working for free as a gallery assistant was, whilst being great experience, not sustainable!
I moved to Newcastle upon Tyne and began working as an office temp in a variety of businesses. One was at Arts Council England, where I worked as an assistant to a national creativity in schools project.
This led to me being employed in a variety of roles Arts Council England spanning over four years, including working in the communications department, as assistant for the Cultural Olympiad programme in the North East of England and for the Grants for the Arts team in Manchester, assessing grant applications for a variety of art forms.
After this, I felt I wanted to work more closely with the sector and with an organisation directly working with artists/designers or makers, which is when I joined Craft NI.
During my years at the Arts Council I also found the time to set up a small jewellery and events business which involved making jewellery but also managing and developing selling events for individual designer makers who were emerging into the sector.
Tell us about your qualifications/training.
I trained as a furniture and product designer at Edinburgh College of Art and have an honours degree from Edinburgh University. All my other training has been ‘on the job’!
What qualities are required for your job – personal and professional?
I think most of all it’s important for me to be passionate about the sector I work in and the people I work with. I think excellent communication skills are a must and a requirement to be a ‘people person’ because of the wide variety of people I interactive with from key stakeholders to small emerging craft individuals.
We are a very small team here at Craft NI and it’s essential to be adaptable to changing situations and have an ability to ‘muck in’ at all levels.
I’d say attention to detail and ability to be organised are key to my role because it involves so many different projects.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of your work?
I would say the biggest challenge is that there aren’t enough hours in a day to achieve as much as I’d like.
I’m ambitious and have lots of ideas and plans that I’d like to implement going forward with the new structure we have in place at Craft NI but it’s just making sure I don’t get caught up in the ‘day to day’!
The rewards are definitely working with such inspirational makers and seeing that some of the opportunities that Craft NI provides for them can be of real benefit to their business. It’s an amazing feeling to think that you are helping someone to develop and progress their craft business.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love going to the cinema and visiting galleries and museums but I also like being outside, going on long walks in the Northern Irish countryside, running or some yoga to relax after work.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
I also try to keep my hand in the creative side of things and like to paint when I get the time. I recently had a painting shown in London after being shortlisted for a competition.
Who has inspired you most in your life?
I’d say my biggest inspiration would be my parents and my family. I was lucky enough to have been brought up in a creative family and one in which I was encouraged to do the things that I was passionate about.
My siblings are all creative in different ways and this, combined with my drive to succeed and being brought up by people who have a strong work ethic, has made me passionate and driven in my career.