East 15 graduate shortlisted for Intern of the Year at national creative and cultural awards

An Essex alumna from East 15 Acting School has been nominated as Intern of the Year as part of the Creative & Cultural Skills annual awards.

Grace Duggan, who completed a BA in Acting and Community Theatre in 2017, was shortlisted for the award for her exceptional work and talent as an Essex Intern at non-profit organisation, Studio 3 Arts based in Barking.

Grace is one of four finalists from the UK selected for the award, which celebrates the positive impact interns have on companies and organisations they work with.

She was honoured to be shortlisted.

She said: “I'm really excited and grateful to be nominated for this award. My working relationship with Studio 3 Arts has not ended since my internship and the nomination was such a wonderful shock. The studio has given me a step and small push forward in my career, I am continuously grateful for their support and guidance.”

Studio 3 Arts established in 1987 is a creative venue for artists, communities and individuals to enable local arts opportunities across North East London and West Essex.

Grace worked as a Producing and arts administration intern at the organisation. Her main roles were supporting the majority of the young people and community projects through research, communication and administration.

She said: “My internship was amazing, I left East 15 feeling excited and ready for the industry but slightly afraid of the prospect of putting everything I’d learned into practice. The opportunity to do a paid internship is invaluable! Without this internship I wouldn't be where I am today.”

Liza Vallance, Artistic Director & CEO of Studio 3 Arts said: “I’m thrilled that Grace’s hard work, ambition and superb attitude have been recognized in this way. Grace really is one to watch, I have no doubt that she will be amongst the arts leaders of the future. Fingers crossed she wins!"

Since the internship, Grace has worked closely with Studio 3 Arts and currently runs workshops for their Big Deal young peoples’ programme and the organisation lets her use their offices for her freelance as an artist.

She said: “The studio has been a massive support for me graduating and I couldn't be any more grateful. I continuously thank them, but also thank the University for the opportunity to work as an intern in the town I grew up in!”

This graduate internship Arts Administration & Producing Intern role was created by Essex Interns exclusively for the Generation Essex 2018 scheme and sponsored and funded by the University of Essex. Essex has been working with Studio 3 Arts since 2017 and have sponsored 9 interns in total as Arts Administrators, and Arts Administration & Producing Interns.

The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on Monday 1 April.