How Julia Bennett became head of research and policy

What I do

I help gather evidence to make the case for craft – to improve the conditions for people to practice their craft or to enjoy and appreciate it.

I keep up to speed with who is gathering and publishing evidence – creative organisations, higher education, government bodies and so on – and then design research proposals where we feel there are gaps in our understanding of the UK crafts sector.

Sometimes we commission research, for example on The Market for Craft, other times we work in partnership or send out our own surveys to gather information. It might be on craft education, wellbeing, the economy etc. And I then use the findings in advocacy work, arguing for craft opportunities to partners, government, our sector, funders and other policy makers.

Jobs in craft

Where to start? You can be a maker, working for yourself or with others, or use those skills in other industries like film, theatre, manufacturing.

You can be a supplier of services to those makers – like materials, marketing and legal services, galleries.

Or you might design, promote or sell craft objects, organising markets and fairs. Many people use their creative skills to curate shows and exhibitions, draw in audiences, create collaborations across artists. Others teach in schools or in studios, helping more people to gain making skills.

And people like me help shape and understand the sector, influencing the policy framework that is its context – how craft is counted in the economy, whether education policy supports enough creative education, if higher education helps people to use craft skills to innovate.

It’s endless.

Why craft?

I’ve always worked in policy, strategy and research, mostly in the public sector. Several times I’ve worked for national organisations like the Local Government Association and the Learning and Skills Improvement Service. I’ve often had jobs in education policy, trying to influence the shape of government or local priorities for state education, seeking to ensure they’re strong and not too centrally controlled.

In some of my spare time I throw pots and sew, so I’ve always had an interest in craft. So, when I started working freelance on policy and strategy issues, it was great to work with some small arts organisations. When the Crafts Council advertised for a new post as Head of Research and Policy it was a brilliant chance to bring together my interest in craft with the transferable skills I had in policy and research. And I’d worked in the voluntary sector before so understood it well.

What I studied at school

Apart from a sewing GCSE, my main interest was in languages. So, in addition to the usual run of maths, English, science and so on, I took French, German, Spanish as well as Latin, doing English, French and German for A level.

I think doing what you enjoy often drives you to improve in a subject. Languages seemed to be the subjects I thrived in most. And at the time I had no idea what kind of work I wanted to get into, so it made sense to do what I was doing well.

What I studied after school

Well, I suppose my craft is really policy analysis and research. I studied languages, but then I started to get more involved in local community groups and politics, supporting several women’s organisations. I realised I was interested in social policy, so in my evenings I did a masters in social policy – a great introduction to the frameworks for policy analysis. And I did a certificate in management studies (CMS) – a wonderful course for community workers about how to organise in the voluntary sector. Both really helped me understand how to use research to do advocacy work.

Later on I got interested in ceramics, so I did two City and Guilds courses at City and Islington College. Such an amazing tutor – and lots of people on the course who came there instead of going to English as a Second Language courses, or to their Mental Health Day Centre – because learning ceramics with others met their needs far more effectively.

My career path

It’s certainly not been a linear experience. I worked in and with the voluntary sector for quite a while, helping to develop community organisations. Understanding the way in which such organisations help to shape local decisions and priorities strengthened my interest in policy, strategy and research. I worked for several London councils, then for national organisations advocating for councils to government.

All this experience was useful when I took the decision to work freelance. I could draw on what I’d learnt to shape how I advise smaller organisations and again when I started working for the Crafts Council.

As I became more interested in creativity as self-expression and as an aspect of my personal wellbeing, taking the decision to move out of wider social policy and into arts policy was quite a big one.

Important decisions

I often feel inspired by work colleagues – those people who really have a grip on their area of expertise, or who are good managers that grow their staff, or who understand how to bring people with them in new projects. Each time I’ve had the pleasure (and privilege) of working with such effective professionals, it’s made me want to learn from them or to pursue my own goals by finding people I can learn from. I think this applies to my work as much as my creative practice. Taking the decision to work freelance was prompted by being made redundant. It’s a huge jolt to your sense of agency, but often a good trigger to evolve in a different way and to learn a new way of working, in my case on strategy issues with other organisations. And I think intuition plays a part too – in having a hunch about how best to pursue a policy goal. Or relying on a feeling about how to shape and develop clay to create a vessel.

Challenges

Sometimes you have to change direction (in my case following an evolution in my interests or being made redundant) – but it’s by no means always a bad thing and can lead to some exciting next steps.

My advice to you

Above all, follow what motivates you, what makes you passionate, what gets you thinking or doing. A career path will evolve – and it’s not always what you think.