Exeter School of Art launches a unique student recruitment campaign
Exeter School of Art has partnered with the marketing agency Astley Media to launch a new video-led campaign aimed at inspiring prospective students.
The fast-paced film, showcasing work created by Exeter School of Art students, forms a part of the ‘Get Creative With Your Future’ digital campaign.
The film provides a snapshot of the experiences and opportunities offered by the school. It explores all aspects of the Foundation Diploma and Degree courses while communicating the many benefits of studying at Exeter.
The Gold-Standard accredited school is the perfect environment for kick-starting a career in the creative industries.
Exeter School of Art offers students the authentic art school experience through a variety of creative disciplines, from Graphic communication to film and TV production. The school provides students with access to experienced teacher practitioners. Additionally, the smaller class sizes help students flourish and get the support they deserve. With 18 studios, workshops, the latest tech and even a TV studio, Exeter School of Art are also able to compete with similar, but larger, art schools.
The one-year Foundation Diploma in Art & Design enables students to study multiple disciplines while deciding on their preferred area of specialism and refining their skills. A high number of previous students have gone on to study at the prestigious London art schools.
For prospective students interested in gaining real-world practical experience, specific to their chosen careers, the Foundation Degrees offer access to major employers and industry practitioners.
The two-year courses, offered in Fine Art, Film & TV Production, Graphic Communications and Photography, enables students to decide at a later date whether they wish to progress the course to BA Hons level at the University of Plymouth or enter the world of work with a vocational qualification.
Exeter College Head of Art and Design Nigel Watts said, “The ‘Get Creative With Your Future’ campaign is a great way of showcasing all that Exeter School of Art has to offer, in a fun and engaging way. We hope it really resonates with prospective students, who are probably swamped with the more standard university or college information and prospectus!”
The Exeter College graduate behind one of art’s biggest lockdown trends
An Exeter College art graduate has been the inspiration behind one of lockdown’s more unique art trends.
Since the Government’s lockdown of the country in March, a number of artists have been looking for an outlet for their creative flair and have taken to recreating classic pieces of art from the comfort of their own home using photography.
“Without the Exeter School of Art I would never have achieved what I have, and I am just so grateful. Just imagine, an idea on a college course ending up trending on social media during lockdown, and it all started right here in Exeter!”
Anna Grayson, Exeter College Access to Higher Education Art Graduate
But Anna Grayson, from Teignmouth, has been producing work like this for years, having originally experimented with this photographic art style while studying an Access to Higher Education Art course with Exeter College in 2012.
Now eight years on, Anna has amassed a collection of her often-humorous art recreations, which is due to be displayed at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM).
Anna, 67, said, “I shot the first of my photos in this style while I was studying at Exeter College. We were looking at portrait photography and I wanted to do something different that also explored art history.
“A lot of my work is about reimagining iconic works of art for the world we live in today, so quite a bit of it explores gender, women’s issues and society in general.”
Anna’s collection includes recreations of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (or Moaning Geezer in Anna’s collection), and a feminist recreation of Édouard Manet’s Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe, along with around 30 others that are set to be displayed when RAMM reopens.
Anna’s art career only launched following her Access course with Exeter College, and she has already seen her work hung in the South West Academy and, remarkably, in the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In 2018 two of her pieces were selected by Grayson Perry to hang in his famous yellow room at the 250th anniversary exhibition at the RA. The making of a new piece was also featured on the Channel Four series, Grayson Perry’s Art Club.
As social media caught wind of the photographic style during lockdown, Anna has been looking on with interest as others attempt to reimagine famous paintings during lockdown, “I’ve been rather tickled to find myself a trendsetter for an internet craze!”
Anna said, “It has been great seeing everyone have a go at doing it while stuck at home. It’s a good way to explore art history and teach yourself about composition and lighting. But I always try to take it one step further by developing the meanings and interpretations of iconic works, but it’s so nice to see everyone getting involved in it!
“If I were going to give advice to anyone considering giving it a go, I’d say to think outside the box and don’t restrict yourself just to photography. You also need to beware of copying other people’s images directly put on social media – many are covered by copyright and intellectual property law. Also, make sure you credit another artist’s work if you’re copying or inspired by them – that’s just good manners!
“Without the Exeter School of Art I would never have achieved what I have, and I am just so grateful. Just imagine, an idea on a college course ending up trending on social media during lockdown, and it all started right here in Exeter!”
Anna’s exploration of using digital photography to recreate famous art started when, aged 60, she took on an Access course with Exeter College and started to explore different sides of art.
“I’ve been experimenting with recreations of famous works of art because I’m greedy and I want nice art on my walls,” said Anna.
“I knew I didn’t have the money to buy these works of art, and I certainly didn’t have the skills nor lack of moral fibre to steal anything, so I decided to go about recreating them myself. The more I made, the more I wanted to do.
“On a more serious level, I’m intensely interested in what becomes iconic in art. Why do some images, like Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers or Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini become so well known and recognised? Why do people engage with particular pictures?
“I also had this feeling that more people might get into with art if it was updated and reimagined for a modern audience, so that’s a big influence behind the background of this collection.”
Anna’s Journey
Anna’s art career hasn’t taken the conventional route, as the Teignmouth-based artist may be better known to some as the former presenter of the BBC’s Learn To Earn programme, where she regularly reported on the training opportunities for those aged 18 to 80. She also worked with the BBC for nearly 35 years as a producer, presenter, studio manager and journalist.
Inspired by her previous reporting on the importance of lifelong learning, Anna took on an Access to University Art and Design course with Exeter College as a 60th birthday present, 7 years ago. This proved to be the touch paper for the start of Anna’s journey into taking art more seriously; not just as a hobby, but as a career.
“I didn’t mean to make a career out of it, it just kind of happened!” said Anna.
“I thought when I did the Access course that it was going to be a bit of fun and a way to learn some new skills. While still on the course I copied the Arnolfini portrait from the National Gallery. The original portrait has a couple that doesn’t look obviously in love and clearly aren’t communicating at all. I thought as my husband and I had been married for nearly 40 years, we could fit the bill to recreate it in my photography! We dressed up, I photographed it, and I had a lot to say about it in terms of the symbolism and messages in the piece and it managed to get into the South West Academy.”
The exhibition coming to RAMM in the New Normal represents a coming together of Anna’s collection of pieces in the series. Shot in carefully matched locations, and with the same lighting conditions and compositions as the originals, Anna’s commitment to recreating the art in modern digital photography isn’t something she expected to come at the culmination of her Access course with Exeter College.
Indeed, Anna’s original degree had been in Geology at the University of St Andrews, so she originally felt most drawn to the ceramics side of her Access course with Exeter College. However, she quickly learned that photography was going to be her forte as she progressed in the year-long programme of study.
Anna continued: “I was already aware of how great an Access course could be because I’d found out so much about them while I was working on Learn To Earn with the BBC. First and foremost, I was amazed by the transferable skills from science to art. Because you do experiments in art, you have to write them out and observe things, and that’s incredibly similar to the scientific world.”
“Bearing in mind I studied Geology at one of the top universities in the world, the best lecture I’ve ever been to in my whole life was one on perspective drawing with Tony Martin at Exeter College. It really was a terrific experience for me and I’d do the whole course again and again if they’d let me!”
Anna’s work will be displayed at the RAMM when it reopens follow the current lockdown.
Art students’ work revealed in Exeter city centre as lockdown eases
From Monday 29 June – Thursday 16 July 2020, as the Exeter city centre opens up after lockdown, more than 30 students studying at Exeter School of Art will help to bring the city to life, as they show their most recent artwork to the public.
Exeter School of Art may be the only college in the country where art students are exhibiting their work in real spaces as well as the virtual space. Traditionally this is the time of year for graduating art students to exhibit their work; however, this year the vast majority of art schools across the country are making exhibitions online. Here in Exeter, dedicated students and staff from Exeter School of Art are brightening up the city as it wakes up after lockdown, and shoppers and workers will enjoy a more creative environment as they return to the city centre.
Emily Gibbon, Manager of retail, culture, tourism and business support organisation InExeter, said: “It’s so exciting to see the city coming back to life, people adapting to the new measures and bringing a buzz to the place once again. Having these fabulous pieces of art by the Exeter School of Art and Design installed for people to see and enjoy will add to the atmosphere and experience of visiting the city. It’s a great use of space, and I can’t wait to see more innovative ideas around the city in the coming months.”
The work exhibited is also from students’ final projects from years 12 and 13. The majority of the work was produced during the lockdown, which influenced what some students produced. Students did not have access to the college’s facilities and resources. They, therefore, had to adapt their ideas and be even more creative with the materials and technology available to them at home.
Presenting the finished work to the Exeter community is an exciting opportunity, particularly for students who were disappointed by the prospect of graduating without presenting their work in a professional way to the public.
Nigel Watts, Head of the Art and Design faculty at the Exeter School of Art, said, “We are very proud of the students who have worked so hard from home in the recent months to produce the excellent work you will see in the show. It feels great that we have had the opportunity to exhibit their work at the end of this academic year, something that did not seem possible a few months ago.”
Exeter College and the School of Art are very grateful for support from Awesome Art Space, Eat the Bird and Princesshay, in providing and helping them to access these exhibition spaces.
Michelle Menezes, Centre Manager at Princesshay, said, “We are delighted to host Exeter College and the School of Art on Paris Street for this exciting exhibition. The talented students have worked so hard, through very difficult times, to create stunning, thought-provoking pieces. All the artwork can be seen from outside the store. Everyone is welcome to visit the inspiring exhibition.”
Exeter School of Art is part of Exeter College, and the work on display is from students studying on courses validated by the University of Plymouth and AIM awards. Exeter College was awarded TEF Gold (Teaching Excellence Framework in 2019).
Come and meet University of the Arts London at Exeter School of Art.
On Thursday 10 October 2019, University of the Arts London (UAL) will be hosting a regional roadshow at Exeter School of Art. The roadshow will bring together student workshops and portfolio guidance. Each session has been designed to provide attendees with exciting new updates and advice about studying at UAL.
Location: Exeter School of Art, Centre for Creative Industries, Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3SR
The Regional Roadshow is open to all Level 3 learners studying a creative subject and academics who support students on their journey to university. UAL has an undergraduate portfolio of over 100 courses, covering Art, Design, Media, Screen and Performance.
To book places for the event please email carolkennedy@exe-coll.ac.uk. (Places will be confirmed on a first come first served basis).
