Art Exhibition wins praise from guests at private viewing
Posted on Tuesday 29 June 2010
The Art Exhibition, currently on show in the Dame Kelly Holmes Sports Centre, is comparable to a fin
Art students at Farnborough Sixth Form College celebrated the completion of their courses with a stunning exhibition held in the Dame Kelly Holmes Sports Centre this week. The exhibition was opened by local architect, Clare Bowman of Broadway Malyan, who designed the new John Guy Building at the College in which some of the exhibits were also located. The three-day exhibition featured outstanding displays of A level work by the College’s 800 art students, making it one of the largest and most successful A Level Art departments in the country. The range and professional quality of work was particularly noticeable, with exhibited work in Fine Art, Textiles, Photography, Graphic Communication, Sculpture, Vocational Art, and Critical and Contextual Studies in Art.
Guests at the packed private viewing on Friday evening were invited to select the work they regarded as Best in Show. It was an almost impossible task, given the variety and quality of the work, but the graphics and fine art exhibited by 18 year old Sarah Hayter of Farnham was selected as best in the exhibition.
Among a host of pieces that Sarah presented, she was most proud of her graphics work to design a shop display for Thornton’s Chocolate. Sarah said, “I am absolutely delighted that it should be chosen as the best in show but I’ve had some inspirational teachers in both my first and second years at the College and I owe so much of my development to their great talents and commitment.”
Speaking at the awards ceremony to open the exhibition, Clare Bowman said, “It has been an inspiration to work with this College – both in terms of having the honour to design the new John Guy Building on behalf of the Governors but also to work with and mentor art students, and to share design principles and philosophies with them as they worked on their magnificent collective piece called The Paper Lantern.”
The Paper Lantern is a large scale decorative hanging, specifically designed for the new John Guy Building at the College, which was on display at the exhibition. The work was undertaken by 10 gifted and talented art students, working in liaison with the architect, with the aim of developing professional skills to use in the design world of work. The students attended regular workshops with the architects studying design resolution, 3D spatial planning, profiling in industry and artistic identity.
Becky Barnes, Curriculum Manager for Textiles, oversaw the team undertaking the project. She said, "I am really proud of what the students have achieved and the work really does celebrate the ambient light, geometric structure, and the inter-relationship between nature and architecture.”
Nathaniel Amissah, 18, of Farnborough said, “This has been such a fantastic opportunity - my career aims are to become an architect and this has provided a great insight into the profession.”
Shawnee Vale, 18, of Wokingham said, “I applied to take part in the project partly to have the opportunity to give something back to the College but mostly because it offered me a chance to work with the professionals and with students from the other art disciplines.’
Summing up the exhibition, College Principal Dr John Guy said, “The work on display is astonishing; such are the achievements of the students and an excellent teaching and support staff that it would not look out of place in an exhibition of final degree work at a prestigious university!”
