Subject Spotlight:
ART DEPARTMENT Henry Noble takes a look into what is going on in block 8, as well as catching up with a former student.
Remarkably, she took on three art subjects – Art & Design, Photography and Textiles – quite a feat given the admittedly heavy workloads we can sometimes get. In terms of these aforementioned opportunities, Ashleigh says There are four areas within the she remembers enjoying the subject department; Art & Design, photography trip to Blackpool, as Photography, Textiles and 3D well as the one to London with Design with graphics, which is Textiles. all headed by Simon Davies. I think this variety offers us some I went on to ask her what she most great prospects in exploring our loved about the department when individual creative interests. she was here. “I most loved the sense of togetherness we could I also understand that there have all get. If one of us was stressed been some great co-curricular out about our work, we could all schemes going on from Block relate, and I thought that was great. 8. For example, Art & Design Nobody judged you for it either!”. students have had a chance to go to Italy along with gallery visits and She also referred to the comfort of weekend residentials. Photography the department's environment. I also students have been able to go to wanted to find out how her time Barcelona, Paris and New York in in the Art Department shaped her recent years (although obviously future studies, perhaps her current not in the past 20ish months...) too. career too. I thought it’d be a good idea to At Uni, she did Fashion art direction, ask someone with a retrospective chosen simply through her desire
to excel in something she enjoyed. Following her lockdown set graduation, she then decided that a teaching route was for her. And so, I think Ashleigh's ‘Art journey’ signifies that the subject can genuinely offer you the chance to pursue something you enjoy. It may feel taxing, and Ashleigh's journey did perhaps take an unusual (but positive) turn into teaching following lockdown, but I think it's safe to say that the creative experiences focused on by the department here can stick with a student far following their time at John Deane's.
SPOTLIGHT
view of the department, and so on approaching Ashleigh Lowe, learning mentor and ex-student, she kindly allowed me to ask her a couple of questions about her time studying here back in 2015-16.
Spotlight t
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or the subject spotlight, being a photography student, I decided that it’d be a good start to talk about the Art Department. I think the college is right in saying that it’s an area strongly encouraging self-expression. For me, my personal experiences back this up, I think that it’s great to have the opportunity to work on my own creative project, an experience greatly assisted by the skills that were a focus for us in year 12.
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