What makes a great degree show?: Lucy Day

“Don’t follow trends, they’ll be over before the show opens”

Treat your degree show like the professional opportunity that it is, albeit with a safety net. Make the signage clear and consistent and if you can have a card or something memorable to give out that can help.

Make sure you are using social media to its best advantage. People may well be instagramming your work so have a readymade # they can use – that way you can see who is following you and your work, and start to engage with them. Push your practice and take risks. We are looking for fresh ideas and approaches, works that ask something more of us.

Don’t follow trends, they’ll be over before the show opens. Be present, be engaged and prepared to talk about your work. Talk it through with your peers, and practice if you need to. We don’t expect finessed speeches, but if someone is curious enough to ask a question about your practice it’s good to have a considered answer. Make the most of it and enjoy every moment!

Lucy Day, independent curator, director and curator at A Woman’s Place Project CIC, and visiting practitioner for University of the Arts (Wimbledon College of Art)

Interview by Jack Hutchinson

Image: Nottingham Trent University Degree Show 2018, with work by Emily Stollery, BA (Hons) Fine Art.