The Margate School Prospectus 2024-2025

Student Prospectus

Art Society Nature

The Margate School (TMS) is a diverse creative community of artists, makers, students, academics and volunteers located in the vibrant coastal town of Margate, Kent. As a not-for-profit postgraduate liberal arts school at the heart of this community, we focus on the role of the arts in social and environmental justice. You are offered postgraduate study with international links and the rigour of a qualification accredited by our partner Esä, a leading French higher education art school based in Dunkerque and Tourcoing. We take a radical, democratic approach to arts education, equipping you to envision, shape and navigate an uncertain future. TMS supports artists and makers to develop a sustainable creative practice and provides an exciting alternative to mainstream arts education.

Incorporated in 2015, TMS takes inspiration from ground-breaking contemporary and past pioneering educational models such as Bauhaus and the Black Mountain College.

The Margate School is a place where people matter, guided by project-based collaborative learning in the expanded field, nurturing independent thinking.

On joining, you become part of a creative community: a collaborative and critical environment aimed at nurturing independent thought, effective learning, self-confidence and collective participation. Through our academic and openaccess programmes, events, workshops, residencies, guest lectures and exhibitions, we connect with a wide range of creatives and audiences to make positive contributions to the world we inhabit. We, the community that you will become part of, the people who study, work, teach, learn, research, experiment and practice here, continuously make a noticeable difference to the High Street we are situated in and our wider neighbourhood.

The British writer Harold Pinter said in his Nobel Prize 2005 lecture:

“In 1958 I wrote the following: ‘There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.’

“I believe that these assertions still make sense and do still apply to the exploration of reality through art. So as a writer I stand by them but as a citizen I cannot. As a citizen I must ask: What is true? What is false?”

We invite you to join us at TMS as a student to learn, make, show and to critically explore reality through the arts, yet at the same time position yourself as a self-aware citizen. We invite you to make the School your own and help establish beneficial and creative opportunities for Margate’s wider, diverse and less privileged communities. A School in and for Margate, inspired by Margate’s past and passionate about the future.

European Fine Art Masters

A two year, full-time European Fine Art Masters accredited by the French art school Esä, L’école supérieure d’art

The European Fine Art Masters at The Margate School is a unique programme that nurtures emerging artists and fosters their development in the field of fine art. The course provides a platform for students to engage in intensive studio practice, theoretical discourse and critical thinking. Led by accomplished faculty members and visiting artists, the programme offers a diverse range of techniques, materials and concepts, promoting interdisciplinary exploration. Through rigorous mentorship and collaborative learning, it cultivates a vibrant artistic community, encouraging students to push boundaries and create meaningful contemporary artworks that reflect their individual vision and engage with the wider art world.

Qualification gained: Master of Fine Arts (MFA) researchlevel degree, Diplôme National Supérieur d’Expression Plastique (DNSEP)

Entry Requirement: BA(Hons) or relevant experience, portfolio and interview

Duration:

Full-time October 2024 to June 2026

Taught sessions on: Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cohort Size: up to 15 places

Offering an alternative approach to higher education, you will explore how art can be used to benefit, protect and sustain the world through a series of practical and critical modules.

The first of its kind in the UK, this Master’s qualification is part of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and is recognised across Europe, creating opportunities to work in the EU, including teaching at EU higher education institutions.

Art Society Nature will give you the tools to develop a unique and personal approach in the field of contemporary creative and intellectual practice.

The course concludes with a presentation of the student’s final work and examination held at the Esä campus in Dunkerque, France.

This practical and dynamic full-time two year course will introduce you to, or build on, your current knowledge of:

• Inclusive and sustainable approaches to material investigation

• Enhanced critical enquiry

• Open and all-encompassing approaches to fine art practice

Work by Graduate Anna Presilia

Drawing workshop Fine Art Masters studio

What you get:

• Ongoing cumulative modules, practical workshops with worldclass tutors and practitioners

• Tutorial support - regular one-toones with tutors, peer review and expert critique

• In-demand skills including research and analysis, entrepreneurial experience and a portfolio to take into employment or further research and practice in your field

• Guest lectures and gallery visits

• Collaborative opportunities within TMS and Esä

• Internship to undertake professional development

• French Language sessions

• Self-led practice time

Cost:

£7,500 per academic year, including studio and access to TMS facilities

£5,100 per academic year, if you have your own studio facilities

Approx £800 registration and CVEC (student life and campus contribution)

We believe that your financial situation should not be a barrier to education. Please email info@themargateschool.com to discuss how we can assist you.

Work by Graduate Sophie Parker

Fine Art Masters studio

Work by Graduate Nicola Roper

Alum profile:

Lo Lo No

Lo Lo No is a transdisciplinary artist, researcher and curator with a focus on self-portraiture and LGBTQIA+ experiences. Exploring society at large and socioeconomics, psychoanalysis and philosophies, their research areas focus on the other and the unfamiliar. They create self-portraits as an access tool, a way of seeing and becoming in a society where they have struggled to see themselves reflected. They conjure cognitive spaces and investigate the symbolic life, the subconscious, esoteric and imagined as a way of channelling and establishing archetypes, primordial lineages, social reproduction and chimerisation within myth, philosophy, self and society. Working commercially as a curator, art director, storyboard artist and concept designer, they have collaborated on productions for Mugler, Rolls Royce and Björk. They also facilitate workshops for the LGBTQIA+ wellness platform We Create Space, Turner Contemporary and others and deliver talks and performative lectures. Lo Lo No has produced the Margate Pride arts festival for three years and is currently featured on the BBC’s Extraordinary Portraits.

Visit: lolono.me

I gained a Masters in Fine Art at TMS as one of its first students, an educational experience that has been life-changing for my art practice and my sense of self and how I navigate the world. TMS has continued to be a second home and reliable resource for support, friendship and usability with exhibition and production facilities… that serves so many and goes above and beyond for the Margate community as a whole.

Lo Lo No

Graduate Lo Lo No performing

Visual Communication Design

Design Society Nature

A one year, part-time course

What is Visual Communication Design?

Visual communication is now the most widespread form of communication in the twenty-first century. Visual communication is how we communicate information, tell stories and design experiences with purpose and clarity.

This course includes many of the key principles and practices of graphic design, such as typography, editorial design and semiotics, and invites you to explore visual communication across animation, film, photography, illustration, art, architecture and digital visual culture.

At The Margate School we take a critical and multi-disciplinary approach to design. We believe design has the power to inform, educate, challenge the status quo and to tackle some of the most urgent social and environmental issues of our time.

Entry Requirement:

BA(Hons) or relevant experience, which does not need to be directly related to the field of visual communication

Evidence of previous creative practice shown in a pdf portfolio, Instagram or website (eg illustration, photography, printmaking)

Interview

Duration: Part-time October 2024 to June 2025

Taught sessions on: Thursday. 15 hours minimum independent study

Cohort Size: up to 15 places

This course will enable you to develop your design knowledge and technical skills while also developing a critical and socially engaged design practice, where people and the planet come first.

Who is this course suited to?

This one-year part-time course is suited to those who already have some form of creative education or practice. However, applicants from other disciplines or backgrounds who have a keen interest in elements of visual communication design and wish to explore the discipline for the first time are welcome.

What can I expect from this course?

You will learn about a wide range of principles and practices of visual communication design. The course is structured over thematic modules; Visual Language, Typography, Image and Moving Image.

• Supported with ongoing workshops and tutorials, you will then focus on a self-directed body of work, exploring a theme, method and medium of your choice. Examples of student’s self-directed projects in recent years include researching and re-interpreting ‘seaside typography’; exploring how design can reduce car use and pollution locally; a visual study of Margate’s iconic architecture

• The course concludes with a collaborative module, where, along with tutors and the events team at TMS, students plan, design and curate their graduation show, which takes place in The School’s main gallery at the end of the course

Design Society Nature: Design as an Intervention

We support students to develop a critical design practice, equipped to contribute positively to their community and the wider world.

Throughout the course, students will engage with critical design theory and practice, gaining an understanding of socially and environmentally engaged design practice, including Human Centred Design, Speculative Design and Sustainable Design Practices.

We invite students to develop and design a ‘critical design intervention’ as part of the course, which responds to a local social or environmental issue they have identified.

What you get:

• A programme of lectures and seminars, including Design History and Critical Design seminars

• Diverse practical workshops, including screen printing, analogue photography, darkroom developing, letterpress and woodblock

• Guest lectures and specialist visiting tutors in every module

• Regular one-to-one tutorials

• Live industry design briefs in partnership with local organisations

• Introductory tuition in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and Premiere Pro

• Collaboratively plan, design and curate your Graduate Show - part of Margate Festival of Design

• A portfolio bursting with a diverse range of design projects - taking you to where you want to go next

Typography workshop

Animation by Graduate Claire-Beth Gibson

Alum profile:

Claire-Beth Gibson

Claire-Beth graduated from the programme in 2022. She is now working as a graphic designer with ARK and Speak Up CIC.

Visit: clairebethclaire.com

The Design Society Nature course has been a transformative experience. Already being a visual artist but feeling stuck in my practice, I felt like I needed a boost onto the next part of my creative journey. This course has given me that boost. It has helped me connect with local creatives; experiment with new mediums using the fabulous FabLab; as well as refining my design and research skills in an undeniably awesome environment.

Claire-Beth Gibson

Cost:

£4,000 per academic year, including hot desk, computers with Adobe Creative Suite £691 per individual module

We believe that your financial situation should not be a barrier to education. Please email info@themargateschool.com to discuss how we can assist you.

Final show 2023. Work by Max Boxer and Rebecca Jones

The Still & Moving Image

A one year, part-time course

Using experimentation and exploration to develop your practice, this course is supported by both practical and theoretical sessions within the School, the local environment and wider community.

Image Society Nature will support you to develop as a critically-minded visual artist, equipped to contribute positively to your community.

experimentation

Entry Requirement: BA(Hons) or relevant experience, which does not need to be directly related to the field of photography and video

Evidence of photographic work within applicants’ practice

Basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop

CV, digital portfolio (pdf, Instagram or website) and interview

Duration: Part-time October 2024 to June 2025

Taught sessions on: Wednesday. 15 hours minimum independent study

Cohort Size: up to 15 places

Darkroom

• Ongoing modules and practical workshops with internationally exhibited photographers

• Access to digital and analogue facilities

• Theoretical sessions to develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the still and moving image

• Tutorial support - regular one-to-ones with tutors, peer review and expert critique

• Individual and collaborative project work and exhibition opportunities

• Study trips within and outside of the area

Moving Labour performance by Neele Ruckdeschel

Sonia McNally / Richard Cannon

Katarzyna Zub

You will gain:

• A professional photographic skillset, including portraiture (location and studio), landscape, reportage and event coverage

• Video shooting and editing skills

• Knowledge of key Adobe Suite software, including: Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro

• An ability to communicate and connect with differing cultures and groups

• Individual and collaborative skills to develop ideas, work on live projects and competitions

• A cohesive body of work that is ready to engage with an audience

• A portfolio to take into employment or further study in fields including photography, videography, marketing and media

• New perspectives, exploring the nature of the still and moving

Cost:

£4,000 per academic year, including hot desk, computers with Adobe Creative Suite and access to TMS facilities

We believe that your financial situation should not be a barrier to education. Please email info@themargateschool.com to discuss how we can assist you.

Animation by Graduate Georgia Dack

Photography studio

Course Tutors

Cecilia Bonilla

Tutor, European Fine Art Masters

Cecilia Bonilla is a multi-disciplinary visual artist working with collage, installation, assemblage and video. She completed her post-graduate studies at Chelsea College of Art and Design and now lives and works in Margate, UK. She has taught at postgraduate level in various universities including University of the Creative Arts, Farnham and Canterbury and The University of Bedfordshire.

Ian Bottle

Tutor, European Fine Art Masters

Ian’s work spans painting, sculpture, drawing, photography and artists books. He completed his MA in painting at Chelsea School of Art after studying to BA at Newcastle Polytechnic. Originally from Kent, he returned to the coast to set up a studio and work as a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art in the School of Further Education at University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury. Ian has continued to show work throughout his career whilst participating in a variety of research projects that have continued to shape his practice.

Ania Dabrowska

Photography Tutor, European Fine Art Masters

Ania is an award-winning artist working in photography, moving image, installation, text and sound. She is interested in the impact that different registers of time, space and cultural identities might have on each other when configured together in new works, in particular the creative and political potency of archives in a contemporary cultural context. Her awards include the Wellcome Trust People Award 2008-11, the National Portrait Gallery Photographic Portrait Award in 2007 and Observer Hodge Photographic Award in 2003. She has been a Lecturer in Photography at London Metropolitan University and the University of Portsmouth, a Lecturer in Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford and a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Sława Harasymowicz

Making Digital Tutor, European Fine Art Masters

Sława is an artist currently based in Ramsgate on the East Kent coast. Her practice largely explores the relationship between archive, autobiography, and fiction. After graduating from The Royal College of Art in London she produced a body of work responding to Sigmund Freud’s Wolf Man through a graphic novel and an exhibition, and her interest in narrative as both book and more open practice is on-going. She works primarily with drawing, moving image, installation, different photographic and print mediums. Sława has held exhibitions at The National Poetry Library Southbank Centre, London; Ethnographic Museum of Kraków, Poland; The Freud Museum, London and others. She is in the process of completing a PhD at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (Fine Art).

Rachel Kirk

Tutor, Visual Communication

Rachel is a Graphic Designer, Communications Consultant and Educator. She holds an MA in Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins, UAL, where she now teaches Critical and Contextual Studies alongside other design modules. Rachel has a broad design and communications skillset and over fifteen years of experience working primarily with not-for-profit organisations and startups focusing on sustainability and socially-engaged practice.

Dr Paul Rennie

Tutor, Visual Communication

Paul is a collector and curator of art and design, with over twenty years of experience in teaching, including at Central Saint Martins, London. He is the author of several books about poster history and design, including Tom Eckersley (2021). Paul lives in Folkestone, Kent, and is a great enthusiast of the therapeutic and transcendent potential of art and the seaside.

Melissa Ryke

Professor of English at Esä

Melissa is an Australian artist. A graduate of the Schools of Fine Arts in Australia and France and of the European Post-Graduate Diploma in Art and Sound (EPAS) at the KASK in Ghent (2020). Her creative research focuses on a playful and poetic investigation of everyday life and on experimentation with audiovisual installations. Using these media, she approaches the notion of bodily experience from a phenomenological angle. Her most recent projects explore the notion of ‘embodied listening’; the listening, recording and broadcasting of sound as a haptic and sensory experience.

Her work has been presented and exhibited at Ars Electronica at Kepler’s Garden, Linz, Palais des Beaux Arts, Lille, Screen Space and Seventh Gallery, Melbourne, Metro Arts and Boxcopy, Brisbane and in the journal Runway Australian Experimental Art.

Edward

Thompson

Tutor, The Still & Moving Image

Edward is a British documentary photographer whose photographic work has covered environmental issues, socio-political movements, subcultures, everyday life and the consequences of war. His documentary photo-essays have been published in National Geographic Magazine, Newsweek Japan, Greenpeace Magazine, The Guardian Weekend Magazine, BBC, CNN and The Sunday Times Magazine. His work has been exhibited at Christie’s, Somerset House and Four Corners Gallery, London and shown as part of international photography festivals.

Rebecca Truscott-Elves

Memoire and Sculpture Tutor, European Fine Art Masters

Rebecca is a multidisciplinary artist based in Kent. In 2016, she graduated from the Royal College of Art, where she received the Gordon Peter Pickard Award to make drawings in Montréal. She is currently completing a fully funded practicebased PhD at Canterbury Christ Church University, where she was awarded a 2021 British Council Venice Research Fellowship. Recent exhibitions include the solo show The House Was Like Her at Daphne Oram Gallery, Canterbury (2022), Supple Octopus with Coral Brookes at The Tub, Hackney (2022), What I See I’ll Never Tell at Wilder Gallery, London (2021), The Studio at 4am at Hastings Contemporary (2020), and duo show Plus One with Catherine Anyango Grünewald at Limbo Arts, Margate (2019).

Guest Lecturers

Artists and researchers from a range of disciplines are invited to The Margate School to give talks on their practice, which are open to students from all the courses.

Previous Guest Lectures have included:

Ben Edge

Figurative Fine Artist

Interested in folklore and storytelling, Ben delivered a talk about the evolution of his practice and the relevance and importance of folkloric study and art within the UK, introducing his Folklore Activist Manifesto.

Bob and Roberta Smith

OBE RA

British multidisciplinary artist

Bob and Roberta Smith invited students to his Ramsgate studio and discussed the relevance and importance of art in terms of societal and political change.

Jim Sutherland, Studio Sutherl&

Graphic designer

In this lecture Jim explored the relationship of design in flags, games, symbols, shapes, observation and play. ‘Joy is persuasive. Find joy in each project, work with it, create it in others. People respond by opening up, listening, reconsidering.’

Greg Bunbury

Graphic designer

Greg discussed his journey from navigating marginalised spaces in the creative industry, to social activism, anti-racist advocacy and shifting cultural narratives through design, exploring his @blackoutdoorart project.

Greg Bunbury

Esä

Esä, L’école supérieure d’art | Dunkerque-Tourcoing, is the highly regarded French art school with campuses in Dunkerque and Tourcoing, less than 50 miles as the crow flies from The Margate School. Through our partnership with them, we offer students an accredited European Fine Art Masters, expanding opportunities across Europe to alum.

With an ethos aligned with TMS, this Anglo-French partnership presents innovative approaches to art education with collaborations and visits between the Schools. French language sessions feature as part of the European Fine Art Masters course and students and artists also participate in the School’s community outreach programme and arts events, with opportunities to form connections within the area and further afield.

The final assessment, Diplôme National Supérieur d’Expression Plastique (DNSEP), occurs at Esä’s Dunkerque campus.

Esä is a member of 50° North, the cross border network of contemporary art, ANdÉA, the National Association of Art Schools and Polaris, the Magnetic network of public art schools in Hauts-de-France and has around 300 students across the two campuses.

As partners, TMS and Esä’s technical resources are mutually available to both school communities.

Visit: esa-n.info

Thierry Heynen

Director General, Esä

After completing his mathematics and physics baccalaureate (Bac C) in 1984, he pursued his artistic journey at the Regional School of Fine Arts in Rouen. In 1989, he obtained his DNSEP Art.

He also studied at the University of Paris 1 / Saint Charles, earning a DEUG and a License in Plastic Arts by 1988. In 1990, he had an artist residency at the El Shona Art Centre in Egypt.

Thierry has been working in Higher Education since the early 90’s, most recently as the director of ESADHaR before becoming the Director General of the École supérieure d’art | Dunkerque-Tourcoing in September 2021.

In 2018, he pioneered the “RADIAN” doctorate in artistic research and creation in collaboration with prestigious institutions. He also established partnerships with international institutions.

From September 2019 to August 2021, he served as Vice-President of the Community of University and Establishments (ComUE) Normandie University, overseeing Student Life, Culture, and Communication.

The Margate School is inclusive, caring, generous and like nothing I’ve ever seen. The building and the community gives 24/7 and not just when the doors are open.

Being a queer, non binary female, person of colour I feel safe and respected by the whole community and also comforted to see so much representation and diversity in the building from students, lecturers, guest lecturers and so on.

Zara Truss Giles, Student

Facilities at TMS

TMS boasts fantastic studio spaces and technical facilities, all housed across three floors of a building brought back to life with imagination and repurposed materials.

Erin Hayhow, studio resident showcasing

TMS Darkroom

her work created in the BioLab

The Margate School is a highly progressive and egalitarian institution, where you immediately feel welcomed, valued and useful. It is a buzzing community of passionate and talented people and it’s an inspiring and exciting place to work.

Within the building you will find

• The FabLab and MakerSpace with screenprinting, letterpress, textiles, fabric dying, BioLab, 3D printer, laser cutter and wood workshop

• The Darkrooms with processing tanks and enlargers for all formats

• Photographic equipment for 35mm, medium and large format up to 8x10” and studio lighting

• Ceramics facilities including pottery wheel and kiln

• Sound equipment, recording booths, musical instruments, Logic Pro and audio mix studio

• Adobe Creative Suite, Autodesk Fusion 360, Zbrush and Blender

• Epson flatbed film scanner and printers up to A1

• Auditorium for performance, screenings, lectures and hybrid events

• Gallery

• Margate High Street Sculpture and Community Garden

Iain Purves, Studio Holder

Ceramics facilities, including the kiln,

Screenprinting facilities being used by

The auditorium are used by studio resident, Lux Pottery

our Visual Communication Design students

The Margate School Team

Uwe Derksen Director

Uwe began development of The Margate School in 2013, the concept being to create a place where learning, critical reflection and making can come together under one roof, to be part of the local community and to develop effective responses to the social and environmental challenges we face: art, society, nature. Uwe has over 30 years of experience in education, developing entrepreneurship programmes for students and adult learners in the community and the creative sector. His previous experience includes a position on the Board of Governors and Assistant Director for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University for the Creative Arts. Collaborating with the late Anthony Heywood, they created the sculptural Tabula Fortis in Pace series as part of the Cultural Olympiad 2012 in Dover and the Pafos Capital of Culture 2017 (Cyprus). During COVID 19 lockdown he created the Stop the War on People, Society, Nature series, a mixture of conceptual art installations and performative elements.

Ellie Gray Academic Co-ordinator

Ellie recently gained an M.A in Contemporary Art Theory in which she explored the quiet matters that emerge through embodied modes of storytelling and art practices. She works predominantly with sound and the voice, as well as photography and writing. She has a wealth of experience in coordination and administration, artist assistance and support work and is passionate about independent and liberal establishments like The Margate School.

Ruyin Nabizadeh

FabLab and Knowledge Exchange

Ruyin is an Iranian visual artist and curator whose work involves installation, text and sound. With a BA and MA from the Slade School of Fine Art, he has produced and co-curated exhibitions at Artangel, British Council and sans titre.

Poppy Phibbs

Community Learning Coordinator

Poppy is a practicing artist and freelancer, with three years of experience developing and delivering communications for local organisations and artists. They are now transferring their skills to coordinating The School’s Community programme and delivering a positive impact with the School team. She studied Digital Marketing at Cambridge Marketing College and has a BA in Illustration from Leeds Arts University.

Dominic Rose Darkroom

Dominic is a multi-disciplinary artist whose focus is on the interaction between humans and the environment, order and chaos, the sublime and the mundane; illustrating the tension between our growing demand for resources and the interplay with the natural world. He has over a decade of experience in photographic production and darkroom processing.

Lisa Hawkins

Events & Exhibitions

Lisa is primarily a painter in oils, she has a background in arts and University administration. Her main interests lie in investigation into the human condition and our connection with place through walking, drawing and painting in the landscape and she exhibits regularly. She studied both Fine Art and Myth Cosmology The Sacred at MA level at Canterbury Christ Church University and her work reflects these two interests.

Jenny Duff

Communications & Marketing

With a career spent in studio, gallery, film and festival management in Margate and personally exhibiting in the UK and internationally, Jenny brings considerable experience to The Margate School. Her practice incorporates design and fine arts approaches to producing practical homeware.

David Babaian Marketing & Webmaster

David is a British documentary street photographer, whose work regularly explores modern societal issues and has a strong emphasis on storytelling through classic photojournalism schools and a modern interpretation of the sociological relationships of subjects and their environments. Alongside his long-term projects, David works as a member of the New Exit Group collective.

Ed Gray IT Support

Ed studied Computer Science at the University of Kent and worked for Intel at their Shannon, Ireland offices after graduating. He has since returned to the UK and is involved in several local community projects.

Jane Piddock

General Maintenance

Jane has an established and popular beauty therapy practice and came to TMS during COVID, when her business was paused. It has since resumed, but she hasn’t left us! She is a keen seamstress, creating clothing from disused items.

Our Impact

Art, Society, Nature is the underpinning theme of the School’s philosophy and the basis for an exciting and inclusive programme of exhibitions, events and performances, many responding to discussions and collaborations amongst the community of TMS and the local area, below are a few examples…

National Saturday Club has been established at The Margate School. The sessions for 13 to 16 year olds, which have been designed and put together by Sam Giles and coordinated by Poppy Phibbs, both studio-holders at TMS. The Club covers many aspects of the Art&Design theme,through workshops promoting sustainable practices and DIY thinking, equipping participants with the skills to forge their own future.

Compote drew from the roots of the practice of two of the European Fine Art Masters students, an interweaving of using natural materials and things that are close to them to create transformation, change, new growth and collaboration within the Margate High Street Sculpture and Community Garden in collaboration with twelve artists to use natural or found materials in their own way. The exhibition culminated with a day of conversations, activities and food, revisiting the artworks after the force of nature had worked its magic.

Make the Wave, one part of the Stop The War on People, Society, Nature, was initiated by artists, climate and XR rebels Helen Lindon and Marcelle Lindon saw the fascia of TMS enrobed in a giant canvas as part of a national localised action to bring Climate Change and Sea Rise Levels to the G7 summit in Cornwall. Other events in this series included performance and poetry readings connecting Margate to Nigeria via a live stream link and a resident movement artist from Germany collaborating with artist UKD in choreographing a performance.

The accessible exhibition space has been a platform for artists with disabilities to exhibit, including Proud 2 Create, an eclectic and vibrant art show by exceptional young people with unique abilities, curated by Arts4All.

The Community Garden

Exhibitions have been held annually at TMS to celebrate International Women’s Day and Power Of Women (POW) Festival and Margate Pride, exploring gender, diversity and inclusivity and led by students and studio holders working together.

In 2022 the theme was ‘Reclaim and Collect’ and saw ‘Adonis’, which reversed male voyeurism, Life Drawing with studio holder Mary-Ann Stuart and Silver Sisters, an exhibition of photography, including a full body cyanotype silhouette, presented by Melanie King, studio holder, alongside Kim Conway and Emily Rose Parris. Lydia Reeves also showed her Female Body Casting with accompanying spoken word.

You can discover more exciting and interesting events on the TMS website

In addition TMS has:

• Repurposed and rejuvenated the former Woolworths building, a key feature on Margate High Street

• Created and offered the only European Fine Art Masters in the UK, validated by our partner Esä, the Dunkerque and Tourcoing-based French art school

• Established the only Higher Education institution in Margate

• Founded courses in Visual Communication, Sound Arts and The Still & Moving Image

• Created a unique hub combining academic excellence with studios, maker facilities and a public event programme

• Developed and offered technical facilities, including a FabLab, darkroom, screenprinting, ceramics, exhibition and studio space

• Created a base for over 50 creative professionals and students with work and studio spaces, supporting more than 70 artists

• Welcomed over 16,000 visitors and stakeholders each year to exhibitions and participating in workshops, training sessions and events

• Launched the Margate Festival of Design

• Created the Margate High Street Sculpture and Community Garden

I can confidently say that the pedagogic approach that has been developed is unique in the UK... Specifically, the incredible space that has been created; that is flexible, inclusive of stakeholders, public artists and students. This has, and will have an important impact on the local and regional community, providing opportunities that were not previously available in this area. This space allows professional practice and education to co-exist symbiotically in a way that... creates the ideal context for genuinely advanced practice.

Dr Rebekka Kill, External Examiner

Margate Life

Travel to Margate on the Isle of Thanet by high speed train in just 1 hour 24 minutes and the first thing you see on leaving the station is the wide sweep of the bay containing the Main Sands with the international gallery, Turner Contemporary looking right back at you across the beach.

On your walk to The Margate School, with an arrival time that depends on whether you take the route along the shoreline, you’ll first pass the shelter where TS Eliott wrote

On Margate Sands. I can connect Nothing with nothing.

Next you’ll spot the famous Art Deco Dreamland building, which as well as being the recent location of Empire of Light, directed by Sam Mendes, hosts regular gigs on the Scenic Stage within it’s amusement park by bands and parties as diverse as Recess, Annie Mac and Gorillaz, or if you’re more into retro Craig Charles Funk & Soul Party and The Specials.

Cut up past the clocktower to The Centre to discover indie and experimental sounds at WhereElse? alongside cafés to meet up and chat with fellow students, friends and neighbours.

Turner Contemporary hosts a regular programme of exhibitions and is named for JMW Turner who stayed regularly in Margate and remarked that ‘the skies over Thanet are the loveliest of all Europe’ - make up your own mind at one of the seafront bars sipping an ice cold drink whilst you watch the glorious sunset.

Beside the gallery you’ll find Droit House with the glowing pink neon by local international artist Tracey Emin that gives out the message ‘I never stopped loving you’ 24 hours a day.

Of course there are fish and chips, it is the seaside after all, but you’ll also find award winning cafés and restaurants throughout the town for every budget, occasion and taste, including the Bus Cafe in a double decker to traditional breakfasts at The Dalby Cafe.

If you are looking for a fun evening or weekend event, then there is always something to join in with. From Power of Women festival, Margate Pride and a Soul Weekend, drag nights at Sundowners, Barbie Party at Margate Arts Club, to Mergate, Margate Mermaid Festival.

Spend weekends at the open air Walpole Bay tidal pool, or visiting exhilarating and cutting-edge galleries showing an amazing selection of contemporary multi-disciplinary art, including Quench, the super-small Liminal Gallery and Carl Freedman Gallery.

Come and visit The Margate School and fall in love with a place that you’ll love to call home.

Apply Now

Our application process is designed to be easy and supportive, tailored to who you are, your experience and art practice. Apply online at themargateschool.com

Get advice

If you would like to talk to a member of the team about a course, portfolio expectations or any aspect of life at TMS, please get in touch with the Academic Coordinator admissions@themargateschool.com

Visit us

We encourage all potential students to come and visit us - join one of our open days, public events, or just drop in for an informal tour. Contact admissions@themargateschool.com

It is now 70 years since I first attended art school in Margate where I took the course in graphic design. My graduation finally led to my recognition as a Royal Designer, (RDI) as well as becoming an Oscar winning film director. This wise choice of profession has led to the fruitful life that I enjoy to this day.

I’m proud to be the patron of The Margate School and am constantly impressed by its vision and energy.

Arnold Schwartzman OBE, RDI FRSA,

Patron of The Margate School

Arnold Schwartzman OBE RDI

Patron of The Margate School

Arnold is an Academy Award® winning filmmaker and noted graphic designer who grew up in Margate. He moved to Hollywood and was appointed the Director of Design for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Since 1996, he has designed many of the key elements for the Annual Academy Awards® Oscar®. In 2002 Arnold received an OBE and has been conferred the distinction of Royal Designer (RDI).

In 2023 he became an Honorary Freeman of Margate. The title is an honour invested on an individual who is a person of distinction and has rendered eminent service to the town.

Ten reasons to study with TMS

1. Be part of a pioneering postgraduate liberal arts school in a vibrant, creative seaside town (with amazing beaches)

2. Develop your sustainable art practice, recognising the interdependencies between art, society and nature

3. Learn from outstanding tutors, guest lecturers and visiting professionals

4. Earn a degree qualification recognised Europe-wide unlocking opportunities for graduates to teach at EU universities (European Fine Art Masters students only, accredited by Esä)

5. Build your portfolio amid a network of artists, curators, creatives and cultural employers

6. Benefit from belonging to a small student cohort with the opportunity to build individual relationships and ready access to staff and tutors

7. Use our fantastic facilities including our FabLab, photography darkroom and exhibition space as part of your course fee, receiving discounts to public events, outside facilities and businesses

8. Work part-time or allow for other activities alongside study, with flexibility outside of taught modules on set days

9. Connect with others through our community events and workshops

10. Get involved with the Margate High Street Sculpture and Community Garden and a range of public projects, or collaborate with the community to start your own

Graduation event at Turner Contemporary

The Margate School 31-33 High Street

Margate CT9 1DX

info@themargateschool.com 01843 838421 themargateschool.com

esa-n.info

It’s so common to think that the only way forward is to fit into the industry and to follow the path that’s laid out for you…that really isn’t necessary. Creativity is a deeply personal thing and the more you try and fit into something to please other people, especially for commercial gain, the more detrimental it is to your art and I’ve learnt that the hard way.

Carl Barât of The Libertines

The Margate School is a member of: and the South East Hub for: The Council for Higher Education in Art & Design European League of Institutes of the Arts

Royal Society of the Arts

TMS will do all it can to deliver the courses as described, but they may be subject to change as a result of discourse with and feedback from students and tutors or due to circumstances beyond our control.

© The Margate School. Images in this brochure are not to be reproduced without permission of The Margate School. The Margate School LTD is a Registered Not for Profit. Registered number - 09629126 The Margate School CIO is a Registered Charity. Charity Number - 1203446