Shelterbox exhibition by BA(Hons) Drawing Students

BA(Hons) Drawing students from all years are exhibiting work during February and March in the Shelterbox Visitor Centre, Truro.

Course Coordinator & Senior lecturer Isolde Pullum says, ‘The students were very moved by their recent visit to Shelterbox. I think it really hit home to many of them the importance of an immediate response to an emergency situation. The idea to make drawings that could raise money came from them, and the theme of Temporary Housing seemed broad enough to encompass a range of different approaches and ideas.’

‘Also in the exhibition are The History Box drawings, which aim to capture the passage of time by including elements of change and movement within the same drawing. A drawing, unlike a photograph, has the potential to encompass time passing by the artist’s reaction to changes. The staff and students really welcome this opportunity to work with Shelterbox and hope it can be the start an ongoing relationship.’

 

All the drawings on display can be bought, some for as little as £10 each, with all the proceeds going to ShelterBox.  Visitor Experience Assistant Ellie Howell-Round says, ‘This is very generous of the Drawing students, and the artworks are fascinating and thought-provoking. Everyone can empathise with the people that ShelterBox helps, as we all fear extreme weather and appreciate the importance of safety and shelter.’

First Year BA(Hons) Drawing – A Pop Up Exhibition.

The first year BA(Hons) Drawing students transformed their studio to create a pop up exhibition, curated by John Howard, Associate Lecturer. The exhibition was held in the drawing studios and featured over 100 drawings from the students’ first term of work and covered a wide range of subjects and artistic techniques.

The students worked together to prepare the space for the exhibition. First year student Maria Meekings felt that this process shifted the collective vision from viewing their work as practice pieces, to viewing the pieces in their own right and she was excited to get feedback on her work. “Being able to present work to fellow practitioners and the wider public is gratifying in that it helps you understand that as an artist you are part of a community and that your work exists in a context of both other pieces of art and as something which others can take pleasure or interest in, and not merely as art for its own sake.”

The exhibition also prompted discussion among the students about what they had learnt during this first term of immersion, their response to each-others’ pieces and the aspects of the course that they had most enjoyed so far. Maria says “Being able to explore a variety of techniques and viewpoints has been quite fascinating and useful I feel to understand myself as an artist and the work I want to produce. I think that the understanding in many ways is just as important as the work I’ve produced, if not more, as that is part of my future while each piece finished is automatically assigned to my past.

Reflecting on the process of drawing, Senior Lecturer Peter Skerrett considers that it can be a very introspective activity. “Having the opportunity to share this practice with a wider audience enables the students to see their work from a critical distance, almost like encountering it for the first time. This increases their ability to understand their own and their colleagues work from a more critical and reflective viewpoint.”

Isolde Pullum, Course Coordinator for BA(Hons) Drawing, was impressed with the students’ professional manner and the way in which they worked together to put the show up in a very short space of time. She was also delighted with the quality of the drawings produced so early in the course, during which time they have created work on location during study visits to Tresco on the Isles of Scilly, The National Trust’s Trelissick, Trebah Garden and Paradise Park wildlife sanctuary. They also visited ShelterBox in Truro to prepare for an upcoming project for next term.

There will be more opportunities for the students to develop their professional practice and to exhibit their work, as future exhibitions are planned for the Fox Café on the Falmouth Campus.

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Falmouth School of Art Student Awards

To mark the public opening of their degree shows, and the culmination of three years of study, Falmouth School of Art’s Falmouth Campus students gathered last Friday evening to celebrate with friends and tutors, before welcoming friends and family to their exhibitions.

Awards, residencies and bursaries were announced, and we’re happy to share snapshots from the evening with you…

Students gathering for the annual Falmouth School of Art Student Awards – lucky with the sunshine again this year…

Falmouth School of Art Director Ginny Button welcomes students with a glass of fizz!

Tanya Cruz, awarded the BA(Hons) Fine Art Award for Outstanding Dissertation. Tanya was also one of this year’s recipients of the Midas Award.

Head of Drawing and Foundation, Phil Naylor presents Sophie Bowen with the BA(Hons) Drawing Award for Outstanding Dissertation.

BA(Hons) Illustration student Seekan Hui received an award from Paper Rose Cards. She says “I’ve had such fun at Falmouth!”

BA(Hons) Drawing student Scarlet Standen received the John Howard Print Studio Bursary.

Printmaker and artist John Howard, also an Associate Lecturer at Falmouth University, generously provides a bursary giving 60 hours of taught access at his Penryn studio.

Head of Art Roger Towndrow congratulated Rob Davis on receiving the Transition Porthmeor Residency and the Spike Island Residency. Rob was also announced as a recipient of this years’ Midas Award.

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Demelza James was awarded a Transition Porthmeor Residency.

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Maddie Broad brought her piece The Disco Trolley, providing a soundtrack as students received their awards, and enlivening the campus throughout the evening.

Head of Drawing and Foundation Phil Naylor presents Minna Gawler-Wright with the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drawing.

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Ed Burkes was awarded the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Travel to Italy Award.

Julia de Graaf was presented with the BA(Hons) Illustration Award for Outstanding Studentship by Head of Illustration Nigel Owen.

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Polly Maxwell was a recipient of the Transition Porthmeor Residency

Head of Drawing and Foundation Phil Naylor presented Jonathan Koetsier with the BA(Hons) Drawing Award for Outstanding Studentship

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Lulu Richards Cottell was presented with the Peter Root and Mary Thompson Award. Mary’s brother Ben presented the award, made annually by the Peter Root and Mary Thompson Charitable Trust. Mary and Peter were Falmouth School of Art alumni, tragically killed whilst travelling in 2013. Lulu was also a recipient of the Transition Porthmeor Residency.

Head of Art Roger Towndrow presents Finbar Conran with the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fine Art. Finbar was also one of the recipients of the Midas Award.

 

The full list of award, bursary and residency recipients…

The Midas Award 2016 | The Midas selection panel have chosen work by ten graduating Fine Art students for an exhibition at Newlyn Art Gallery in November, accompanying the 2015 winner’s solo show: Ella Caie, Tanya Cruz, Finbar Conran, Robert Davis, Joe Fenwick-Wilson, Nicholas Griffin, Zoe Pearce, Bharat Rajagopal, Isabel Ramos, Calum Rees-Gildea

The Peter Root and Mary Thompson Award | Lulu Richards Cottell | An annual award to support a graduating student in their professional development on leaving university. The award is sponsored by the Peter Root and Mary Thompson Charitable Trust, in memory of alumni Peter and Mary who tragically died in an accident in 2013

The Spike Island Residency | Robert Davis | A residency provided by and at Spike Island in Bristol

The Wilhemina Barns-Graham Travel to Italy Award | Ed Burkes | An award generously supported by the Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham Trust, open to students in their final year of BA(Hons) Fine Art. 

Transition Residencies | Part of the Fine Art Transitions Project which seeks to support graduating students as they enter the professional world. Both Back Lane West and Porthmeor are significant venues within Cornwall and the residencies provide the students with a special opportunity to extend their work beyond the course:

The Transition Back Lane West Residency | Ed Rowe, Isabel Ramos

The Transition Porthmeor Residency | Lulu Richards Cottell, Rob Davis, Demelza James, Polly Maxwell

The John Howard Print Studio Bursary | Scarlet Standen | Generously provided by celebrated local print maker John Howard, the bursary is awarded to a student of BA(Hons) Drawing, and provides 60 hours of taught access at the John Howard Studio in Penryn.

The Paper Rose Award | Seekan Hui (winner), Ellen Bennett (commended) | Award presented by Mark Jessett from G.F.Smith Paper.

THE FALMOUTH SCHOOL OF ART SPECIAL AWARDS

The Falmouth School of Art supports awards in Outstanding Achievement, Outstanding Studentship and Outstanding Dissertation in each of our degree courses:

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drawing | Minna Gawler-Wright

BA(Hons) Drawing Award for Outstanding Studentship | Jonathan Koetsier

BA(Hons) Drawing Award for Outstanding Dissertation | Sophie Bowen

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fine Art | Finbar Conran

BA(Hons) Fine Art Award for Outstanding Studentship | Anthony Kenny

BA(Hons) Fine Art Award for Outstanding Dissertation | Tanya Cruz

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Illustration | Sara Hougham-Slade

BA(Hons) Illustration Award for Outstanding Studentship |Julia De Graaf

BA(Hons) Illustration Award for Outstanding Dissertation | Lucy Tomlinson

Life drawing with soundtrack

Absence of the life model doesn’t deter BA(Hons) Drawing students. Accordionist Sholto Bateson recently stepped in for John Howard’s life drawing session, modelling whilst playing the accordion to the class. Resulting drawings by third year student Stefan Tiburcio.

Accordianist Sholto Bateson

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Drawing by Stefan Tiburcio

Drawing by Stefan Tiburcio

 

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