Visual Arts Coordinator Eilidh McCormick tells us what a typical day looks like for her.
How long have you been at ROSL and how did you hear about the club in the first place?
I have been at ROSL for over a year now, I started in Frieze week 2016, the busiest week in London’s art calendar, so I got to work very quickly. I only heard about the club when applying for the job, clubland was not part of my vocabulary then, but through this role I have learned so much about clubs and the great work many of them do.
Can you describe an average day?
My average day starts with a walk through Victoria Park, which is particularly nice at this time of year and I head into the city from East London. I grab a coffee from the M&S at Green Park, who now know my order, and once at my desk I check my email. The rest of my day is dependent on where in the planned year we are, sometimes I will be contacting partner galleries and artists to plan a future exhibition, others I will be writing a piece for Overseas magazine, I could be coordinating plans for our visiting scholarships, possibly arranging an art talk and on the busiest of days I will be working in our exhibition space to hang or take down an exhibition. That is what I love about my job, there really is no routine and I get to work with so many different people both in and out of ROSL. My work often continues out of the office as I visit galleries and attend Private Views in the evening and at the weekend to meet new artists and galleries, as well as keeping abreast of what is happening in the London art scene.
What plans do you have for the visual arts programme at ROSL?
My main plan is to continue our fantastic work with early-career artists from around the globe. Currently I am looking setting up partnerships with external galleries to bring in new audiences and potential members, which benefits the arts and the wider club. I also want to connect more with our visual art scholars and have them feel a connection to ROSL in a similar way to our music alumni, so we can support their careers long after they have visited us. My focus is not to change anything particularly, but to help make sure that what we are doing has longevity. Boasting an art programme like we have at ROSL is an achievement, especially having maintained it for over 65 years through many changes and challenges. Tightening belts can often mean creative cuts in an organisation such as ours but the ROSL membership have always supported the work we do and it is in respect of this support that I feel it important I continue my work, bearing in mind why the programme began in the first place.
How do you marry the work of ROSL ARTS with the ethos of the club?
The ethos of the club is very easily linked into our arts programme: non-profit, egalitarian, non-partisan, and having always welcomed women as full members since its founding, the club has clearly been ahead of the times and we want to parallel this as we present the work of early-career creatives.
How do you spend your time when you're not in the club?
As I said, work does overlap into my time off and much of my time outside the club is still spent within the art world, visiting exhibitions, biennales and attending art fairs. When not looking at art, I go running, practice yoga, enjoy reading, spend a lot of time with my friends and visit my family in Scotland when I can.
