The grand opening of the renowned end of year Summer Show at The Northern School of Art’s Middlesbrough campus was attended by more than 1,000 guests.
The preview evening on Wednesday 12 June launched the annual showcase of displays of work by the seriously creative talent at the further education campus of North East’s only specialist arts school which is now open to the public until Wednesday 19 June
With a theme of ‘Made By’, the event features hundreds of displays of a huge range of creative projects.
The exhibition celebrates the final work of students from courses including fashion, photography, fine art and design, graphic and interactive design, textiles and surface design and print and interior, architecture and product design.
Also on show is the work of current A Level students from Fine Art, History of Art, Graphic Communication, Photography and Textiles.
The event highlights an impressive range of ambitious projects from inspiring creative talent who are now heading off to a range of prestigious destinations around the UK to fulfil the next stage of seriously creative careers.
Chantal Goulder, above, who has just completed the UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at the School, is heading off to study at the internationally-renowned Slade School of Fine Art in London.
The former student from QE Sixth form in Darlington who lives in from Barnard Castle in County Durham, is displaying some beautiful and highly colourful abstract artworks.
Having not studied art beyond GCSE before joining the Foundation programme, Chantal said: “It was a good way to get the skills I needed for the creative course I wanted to do.”
“I really enjoyed it. I was guided by the course leaders but it gave me the freedom to become my own artist and develop my creative practice.”
Fellow Foundation student, Rosa Lusvardi from Great Broughton, has secured a place to study jewellery design at the similarly world-renowned Central St Martins arts and design college in London.
Rosa, who joined the School from Ampleforth College, is displaying an artwork of cotton garments featuring delicate and beautiful, hand-embroidered designs based on gamma scans of the heart and images of cells in the human body and said: “The Foundation course was really useful and I learned a lot. It opens your eyes to lots of creative skills. I don’t think I could have done a creative degree without it.”
Lizzie Snowden from Ingleby Barwick, who studied on the A Level pathway at the School’s Middlesbrough campus, is progressing her creative studies at Teesside University.
She was awarded one of two runner up prizes in the School’s Governors’ Awards, given to students with the most impressive work, for her ‘amazing pieces of work not only for the final show but for consistently across her three A Levels’.
Her three giant drawings of the heads of cows in the herd at Fletcher’s Farm in Great Ayton made a big impact on visitors at the preview evening.
Commenting on her time at the School she said: “You’re surrounded by other creative people so you can inspire each other.”
Sam Quarmby from Great Ayton, who has just completed the UAL Extended Diploma in Interactive Design, was also nominated for a Governors’ Prize for his ‘excellent final project’ in which he ‘excelled himself’. He is moving on to study Games Art and Animation at Sunderland University in September.
Stockton-on-Tees student, Erin Watson, who has completed the UAL Extended Diploma in Fashion was another Governors’ prize nominee.
She won praise for her ‘beautiful and creative work which is underpinned with her pure grit for design and perfection’ and was noted by her lecturers as a ‘name to watch in the future’ as someone who ‘has everything it takes to succeed in the creative industries’.
Erin is going to study fashion design at Northumbria University and her advice to anyone wanting to follow in her footsteps by studying fashion design is to “be brave in your choices. If you’ve got confidence in what you’re doing, do it.”
‘Made By’, The Northern School of Art’s Middlesbrough Summer Show, is open to the public from Thursday 13 June – Wednesday 19 June at the School’s campus at Green Lane, Middlesbrough TS5 7RJ.
It is open from 10am – 8 pm on Thursday 13 June and from 10am – 4pm from Friday 14 June – Wednesday 19 June. Entry is free. www.northernart.ac.uk
A short video with highlights of the preview event is available to view here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa2lCEgiU1w
On Saturday 15 June from 10 am – 2 pm, the campus is also hosting a series of talks and tours to highlight the growth in job opportunities in the creative industries and the benefits of studying creative subjects for prospective students and their parents and carers. https://northernart.ac.uk/the-northern-school-of-art-open-day-college-level-15th-june-2019/