I Am a Work of Art

Artist to art gallery manager, Denise Courcoux talks about her journey as a student all the way through to her career today.

Similarly to Scott Duffey, Courcoux was also a student at University of Chester doing Fine Art and English Literature. When I heard her say this I thought about it being a very peculiar combination but it is good how they allow you to do two completely different courses together. While in university she made use of the Careers service and managed to get her first job at the Bluecoat Art Gallery in Liverpool as an Information Assistant. Through this role she then worked her way up to become the Exhibitions Officer who organises exhibitions and working with the artists themselves.

Due to her current job, Denise Courcoux went on to do a Masters at Manchester University doing Art Gallery and Museum Studies. Not only did she already have experience and knowledge from her current job but she was also continuing to learn about the role through her next university journey. This extra knowledge and determination led her to become a museum manager at two museums in Nantwich and Port Sunlight. When I heard the mention of Port Sunlight it caught my attention as it is only down the road from me. Making it all the more relatable and interesting... was curious to hear more from her.

She later had another change in career and became a company administrator at the Wired Ariel Theatre. Although it was a bit out of her line of work she still enjoyed learning new skills which is very important to do throughout life in general.

The large variety of jobs that Courcoux has had have been very beneficial in gaining extra knowledge and a wider scope in the design industry. It was great to hear how she started as a student and worked her way up the ladder to where she is today.

What I enjoyed about Denise Courcoux's lecture is that again it is relatable in the sense of her being a student at the University of Chester, similar to what I said in my Scott Duffey post but it makes my goals more realistic knowing someone has 'made it'. Another thing that I like is that she is local too and the galleries she was talking about I have been to multiple times. I have always admired the works at Bluecoat and Port Sunlight so knowing she had something to do that is very impressive. Lastly, there are more careers down the design path than I thought. I think when people do a design course they want to be the front man and be the designer but behind every designer there is a museum manager, company administrator etc... the possibilities are endless.

I will appreciate the work that goes into these places a lot more now.

Much love,

Abs x