Join Art UK and Women in Journalism Scotland for this informal panel event about how to build a career in arts journalism. The event is funded by Creative Scotland and will be chaired by Anna Burnside, with Jan Patience, Arusa Qureshi and Ashley Davies on the panel.

The event will cover aspects of breaking into, building and maintaining a career in arts journalism, as well as exploring different arts specialisms and some of the practicalities of freelancing.

The event is open to anyone interested in pursuing a career in arts journalism as well as early-career journalists and writers considering specialising in the arts.

As a webinar, only the panel and the chairwoman will be visible on the screen, but there will be opportunities during the event to ask questions via the chat / Q&A function. The event will be delivered over Zoom and can be accessed via the event page once you have registered (it is recommended that you click the 'open in Zoom' option).

About the panel

Anna Burnside

Anna Burnside has worked in newspapers for more than 30 years, from the Gorgie Dalry Gazette to The Sunday Times and everything in between. She recently left the Daily Record to embark on a freelance career of copywriting, arts and lifestyle features, theatre reviewing, event hosting and developing her work as a humanist celebrant.

Jan Patience

Jan Patience has worked as a journalist and editor for over 30 years. After writing for The Herald about visual art for more than a decade, she joined The Sunday Post in 2021 and now writes a weekly art column for its magazine. A seasoned chair at arts events, Jan also appears on radio, podcasts and television as an expert contributor on visual art. She is co-author, with Louise Wyllie, of Arrivals & Sailings: The Making of George Wyllie. With support from the Eardley Estate, she is currently writing a book about Joan Eardley.

Arusa Qureshi

Arusa Qureshi is a writer and editor based in Edinburgh, and the Music Programme Manager at Summerhall. She is the current Editor of Fest and the former Editor of The List, and writes mostly about music, most recently Flip the Script – a book about women in UK hip hop, published by 404 Ink. Her work has appeared in The Scotsman, Clash, the Guardian, GoldFlakePaint, Time Out, The Quietus, NME and more. She chairs the board of the Scottish Music Centre, sits on the board of the Music Venue Trust and is the co-curator of the award-winning Amplifi series at Edinburgh's Queens Hall.

Ashley Davies

Ashley Davies is a freelance journalist who writes about comedy, theatre, visual arts, podcasts, music and more, and has regular pages in The Times Scotland's Alba as well as Metro. She's been a journalist for more than 25 years, starting off as a news reporter on trade magazines, and since then has done everything from section editing and writing columns to being a comedy critic. Her favourite work is interviewing comedians.

About Art UK and Women in Journalism Scotland

Art UK is the online home of the UK's public art collections. With more than five million annual visitors, part of Art UK's mission is to publish compelling stories, illustrated through the art in UK collections. Art UK showcases the work of underrepresented artists, and champions diverse voices and writers in the content it produces. Women in Journalism Scotland is a campaigning organisation open to all women working in the media in Scotland. It runs a hugely successful mentoring scheme for early and mid-career journalists, and a bursary in conjunction with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. WIJ events range from glittering social occasions for networking and making new contacts across the industry to skills-building workshops and professional development sessions.

For any queries relating to this event, please contact rhona.taylor@artuk.org

Registrations are closed

Build a career in arts journalism