BA (Hons) Fine Art students ‘transition’ into practising artists with public exhibition

Third year students from the BA (Hons) Fine Art course at Scarborough TEC’s Scarborough School of Arts have unveiled the final exhibition of their work, Transitions, during a special preview for the Mayor of the Borough of Scarborough, Councillor Martin Smith, and VIPs.

The annual event is being held for the final time at the college’s Westwood Campus as Scarborough TEC moves to a new location on Filey Road in September.

Kane Cunningham, Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Fine Art, explained: “Overall, I am very proud of the students and of their achievements. I am particularly proud of the fact we have offered many opportunities over the years for mature students who have come back.

“Dozens of students have achieved their life goal of being a trained artist and are now active in the local community as artists, teachers, curators and youth workers. From September the course will run from Scarborough TEC’s new campus on Filey Road and I’m very keen to hear from potential students who may be interested in taking up the opportunity to study on a Fine Art degree as we still have a few places left.”

Exhibiting student, twenty-four-year-old, Nicole Shaw, originally studied Foundation Art  at the college before gaining a place studying illustration at university in London. Nicole said: “I absolutely loved Foundation Art course and when I got to London I realised Fine Art was something I was more interested in and I managed to get transferred back here to study.

“I’m exhibiting a few different pieces of work but my favourite is definitely my video.  I set up an experiment and I tried to get the sitter, John, to act in a primal way; more subconsciously.

“I laid a table with paints, condiments and other materials, I gave no instruction whatsoever, and then I filmed the results.  The idea really came to life and I took out the key moments and mixed them with different sounds that I found uncomfortable or unnerving and segments of John speaking to explain different aspects of his psychology and personality.

“The best response I’ve had was someone who looked really confused and shocked.  I wanted it to provoke a response and make people think about how the mind works.

“I’d recommend studying at Scarborough TEC because the tutors are amazing, they give you so much of their time, which is something you don’t get at bigger universities.  Because Scarborough is small town you can take yourself off and be inspired by the smallest things. Studying Fine Art has definitely given me creative freedom!”

The BA (Hons) Fine Art exhibition, Transitions, is free entry and is running at the Westwood Campus from 5^th-9^th June from 10am-4pm.  Anyone interested in more information or applying for the BA (Hons) Fine Art programme can simply contact Kane Cunningham on (01723) 361960 or by email to [email protected]