Student Voice: How could AA2A help you? by Lily Jemmett at York St John University

Occasionally, we invite guests to contribute to our Substack. This month we invited Lily Jemmett, Fine Art Student at York St John.

What is the AA2A scheme? - A brief recap.

The AA2A scheme offers unique residency opportunities for professional artists within art and design institutions, giving them access to cutting-edge facilities, expert knowledge, and vibrant creative networks. Through free employability seminars for artists and students, AA2A tackles real-life challenges within the creative industry- like balancing creativity with income or running a business without being a maths whiz - helping artists thrive both creatively and professionally.

How could AA2A help you?

As thought bubbles grow when beginning to think about what to do next post-grad, I see personally and from my peers’ perspective too that most worries have stemmed from not knowing the best or most impactful ways to put your foot in certain doors or how and where is best to look for help. Questions like how to network? How do I sell my work? How do I get funding to support my practice? are just a few of the thoughts that begin to pop up.

For me, a current student and AA2A student ambassador, it has been extremely beneficial to have these artists and creatives within reaching distance throughout my studies to help answer these burning questions whilst having the opportunity to network with different creatives within the industry, gain new skills between them as well as sharing our own. It has certainly been a shared view between me and my peers that the artists in residence have helped each of us to understand the possibilities of different careers post-grad whilst also helping us understand what goes on behind the scenes regarding all things finances, funding and freelancing.

Image credit: Lewis E. Mitchell, York St John, ’Trace’ 2025 student exhibition by Lydia Williams, Fae Rogers and Lily May Jemmett; photographed left to right.

As an AA2A student ambassador I have had the opportunity to work extremely closely with our artists in residence at York St John, helping to bridge the gap between making connections with our students as well as making everyone feel supported throughout their experience with us.

As part of my AA2A ambassador role, I took it upon myself to interview a few of our artists on campus, in the spaces that they have been working in, to get to know them more and have a proper chitchat. There is so much to take away from opportunities like this and being able to network so freely with such great people. Lauren Saunders was the first of our artists to put their name forward. Lauren’s practice is incredibly informed by the idea of community and kinship between ourselves and the world around us; working mostly with sustainable, regenerative and biodegradable materials.

It was a joy not only to chat to Lauren about her practice and journey that has taken her to where she is within her career, but to have also learnt so much from her through her experiences of being a professional practicing artist.

This goes without saying, our five other artists in residence, Mia Mai Symonds, Holly Rowan Hesson, Amy D’Agorne Craghill, Amanda Kyritsopoulou and Emily Stubbs have all fell into the residency amazingly well and have been incredibly active in sharing their tips and tricks with our students. From sparking conversations within the studios and workshop rooms to hosting guest talks and seminars on their lunch breaks – they have all been so active in making those connections within our university.

These talks have been invaluable in helping myself and my peers to discover how we can articulate ourselves and our practices professionally, whilst making so many amazing connections. For that, I must pass my thanks to the AA2A scheme and the incredible creatives they host and support.

Lily Jemmett - York St John University

lilyjemmett

A post shared by @lilyjemmett