Curating the Art Foundry 2023 Magazine on top of my final major project was a daunting task, but one that I was excited to take on. As an art student, I know the importance of showcasing and promoting the work of emerging artists. The Art Foundry Magazine provided me with the perfect platform to do just that. This year's magazine was all about Fin De Siècle which I believe aided me to better understand this term for my final major project. 

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The process of curating involved selecting and organising artwork, writing articles, and designing layouts. Although it required a lot of time and effort, it was worth it. The time required to make this magazine was something that wasn't pitched to me with the understanding of how much time it would take from our final major projects, this is something that I think should be better explained to next year's students who take on the project. Luckily I was curating the magazine with a fellow student and good friend of mine and we worked together really well as a team. 
We had to learn skills in project management, we also had fellow students designing the front and back covers, communication as we offered interviews to people who might've struggled with the written questions that we were asking everyone to complete and time management. 

I think initially for me, it was an intimidating task taking this project on with someone else as we needed to time manage together, design cohesive pages, and accept each other's feedback; all of which can potentially become fractious but luckily we were a really good team together. 

In addition to promoting artists' work, curating Art Foundry also allowed me to develop my own skills in writing and design. It taught me how to effectively communicate ideas through visual mediums and I had to learn a lot about Photoshop and InDesign quickly. 

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Overall, taking on this project was a valuable experience that allowed me to contribute to the art community while also enhancing my own abilities as an artist, while also giving me the experience that has lead to me potentially considering a job in graphic design or marketing. Most importantly, at the end of this task I can't wait to see the finished product, hold it in my hands and say that I've made that!