Crop-Up Gallery

As a History of Art student at Nottingham, you'll have the opportunity to join Crop Up Gallery, a student-led curatorial group. Through this, you'll gain real world-experience of curation and public engagement, both great skills to include on your CV.

Getting grips with public engagement

"I helped give a tour around the Reimag(in)ing the Victorians exhibition at Lakeside, the university's art centre. We each chose our favourite artworks and presented them to a public audience. It was nerve wracking but I’m so glad I had the opportunity to do it. I’m passionate about art and it gave me the chance to share my interest with the public and it was an experience I would love to do again. 

I hope to have a career in the arts, possibly in fashion and marketing. I feel the skills I developed with public speaking during the tour will be valuable in the future."

Belle, History of Art BA

"I found the Reimag(in)ing the Victorians exhibition captivating and thought-provoking! An artist who stood out to me was Tessa Farmer, an impressive taxidermist with a fascinating take on Victorian ideas about fairies. Although the tour challenged my public-speaking skills, I felt I gained so much confidence in my ability to communicate effectively and enthusiastically, as well as enriching my genuine love for the gallery space.

I am planning to pursue a master's degree in Art Gallery and Museum Studies. This tour was a fantastic first-hand experience volunteering in a gallery, which reinforced my post-graduate and career aspirations."

Lucy, History of Art BA

Learning the practicalities of curation 

"Installing ‘Inside Outside’ at The Indian Community Centre Association gave the Crop-Up team genuine experience of curating a small-series of paintings in an amazing setting. Given the focus of the paintings on mental health and emotional wellbeing, the team had to consider how best to curate this work, taking into account the variety of artistic styles, and actively considering how best to engage with and activate audience engagement. Plus, there were more practical issues to address, such as the size and scale of the work, and how to fit everything into the space itself. The result of Crop-up’s labours was a success and the team learned a great deal from the experience."

Mark Rawlinson, Associate Professor in Art History