Fresh Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2013

Autumn/Winter 2013/4

Fresh

News magazine from the University of Wolverhampton

Faculty of Arts

Animation • Applied Arts • Computer Games Design • Fashion and Textiles • Fine Art • Graphic Communication • Illustration • Interior Design • Photography • Product Design • Video & Film Production • Visual Communication

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Welcome...

Goodbye Bryony

In July we said a heartfelt goodbye to Bryony Conway, our Dean of School, who has retired.

Bryony, Dean of the School of Art & Design since 2005, said: “I have loved my time here in the School. So much so that one of the things I am considering for my retirement is to go back to University and study an aspect of art and design myself.”

“I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful farewell party you gave me; the turnout, the speeches, all the cards and messages and gifts, Martin’s serenade, the Indian dancer, the lunch spread – it was overwhelming!”

“I would like to wish all the staff and students well as they undertake the transition to the Faculty of Arts, and I hope the new Dean of Faculty, John Pymm, enjoys his new role as much as I have.”

We wish Bryony all the best for her future.

Upcoming events: MA Show Sunday 13 – Sunday 20 October 2013 The Public, West Bromwich www.thepublic.com

UCAS Fair

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Thursday 14 – Friday 15 November 2013 Olympia, London, W14 8UX www.ucasevents.com/design

UCAS Fair Monday 25 – Tuesday 26 November 2013 Manchester Central Convention Complex, Manchester, M2 3GX www.ucasevents.com/design

Clothes Show Live

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Friday 6 – Tuesday 10 December 2013 NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT www.clotheshowlive.com

Degree Show Saturday 7 – Saturday 14 June 2014 Faculty of Arts, MK Building University of Wolverhampton, WV1 1DT www.wlv.ac.uk/degreeshow

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New Designers Wednesday 25 – Saturday 28 June 2014 and Wednesday 2 – Saturday 5 July 2014 Business Design Centre, London, N1 0QH www.newdesigners.com

University Open Days

Front cover image:

Diane Soltys, BA (Hons) Fine Art

Saturday 5 October 2013 Saturday 16 November 2013 Saturday 8 March 2014 Saturday 14 June 2014 Saturday 16 August 2014 www.wlv.ac.uk/opendays

FRESH 02

BFI Film Academy Success Earlier this year we delivered teaching on a new project run by the BFI Film Academy designed to offer young people talent and career development opportunities in film.

The lead body for film in the UK, the British Film Institute (BFI), launched the new programme to bring significant investment in both rural and urban areas of the region for 16-19 year olds.

Together with the specialist Media Arts College, Thomas Adams School and Wem Town Hall in Shropshire we were chosen to host the BFI Film Academy West Midlands.

We delivered the 10-week specialist programme to 31 students from 13 different schools and colleges from across the West Midlands. The sessions were delivered by University staff,

alumni and award-winning industry representatives: Myles Mcleod, Chris Randall and Danny Stack.

The Academy covered everything from film history and theory, how to develop ideas and scripts, sound design and music, pitching and presenting, to practical animation techniques, editing and special effects.

Ross Winning, divisional leader for Digital Media said: “The course has proved to be a great investment for young people who wish to get involved with animation. The students engaged with many practical and contextual ideas on the course and really became quickly immersed in many facets of animation. They were supported by speakers from the animation industry as well as academics working in the field.

The Screen Academy has undoubtedly provided a high quality experience of the profession for young people in the region.�

We hope to run this programme again next year in partnership with the Thomas Adams School.

03 FRESH

Degree Show Fashion Award Antonina Calleia won The BANK Trophy for the Best Fashion Collection. This award is sponsored

by BANK, a national fashion retailer and brand, and is given to the student with the best creative and commercial fashion collection in terms of concept, design, range and quality. In addition to the prestigious trophy, Antonina has also been awarded a two-week work placement during the summer at BANK.

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Wolverhampton City Art Day As part of our Degree Show this year, we ran a schools and colleges day in conjunction with Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Schools and colleges from across the region took part in art activities designed for 15-18 year olds.

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The day was a huge success and Carol Chandler, lecturer at Ercall Wood Technology College, said: “The Degree Show was very useful to our students: there were many instances where our work on portraiture for GCSE was supplemented and enhanced by the portraiture work the students saw in fine art.

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“Two of our students were very keen on the gaming graphics course and found talking to the tutor very exciting and stimulating.

Many students who hadn’t previously considered Art as a potential career path were very stimulated by what they saw and were contemplating reviewing their career options.”

Chris Titley, lecturer from South Staffordshire College, said: “All of the students who visited the Show found it very inspiring. They were really impressed by the quality of the work and it has made them see the real benefits of studying to university level.”

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01 – Steffani Harris 02 – Athos Marinos Tsatsos

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03 – Daniel Bailey 04 – Sarah Jennings 05 – Fay Chambers 06 - P J Russell 07 – Stephen Williams 08 – Charlotte Mellor 09 – Amber Rushton 10 – Hannah Richardson 11 – Greg Faulkner

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Justyna Sarsari Diane Soltys Harriet Heeney Lucy Edwards Rebecca Westgate Sarah Bennett Sarah Jennings Ross Broomhall Caroline Bailey Bethan Stanley Layce Humphreys Toni-Caron Hinks Karoline Andersen Nicola Butcher Harjit Sagoo Ismali Sufi Katie Peake Rachel Reid

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City Treasures BA (Hons) Fine Art students, Jo Rooney and Debbie Shelley, have embarked on an exciting new community art project named City Treasures.

City Treasures invited citizens of Wolverhampton to nominate their favourite ‘treasure’ ie. forgotten beautiful landmarks and architecture hidden within Wolverhampton.

The project aims to promote Wolverhampton in a fun and engaging way, continuing the theme of turning a negative into a positive which was seen in their previous arts project: Before I Die, (featured in Fresh Spring/Summer) which showed the dreams of the city’s inhabitants.

The two artists believe in using their practice to make work relevant today and accessible to everybody. Their work investigates the social dimensions of local communities and they work in the public domain, using the urban elements as their inspiration whilst re-engaging the public with their surroundings.

The top three Treasures, voted for by the public, were Wolverhampton Art Gallery, St Peter’s Church and The Posada. The Mayor of Wolverhampton then awarded the title of winning treasure to Wolverhampton Art Gallery at a ceremony in April.

From the top ten voted treasures, Jo and Debbie created two treasure hunts; a family fun packed hunt of the city and a cryptic clue adult hunt for the puzzlers. These will be launched at the Heritage Open Days in September and will then become a permanent feature available to be picked up from Wolverhampton Art Gallery for locals and visitors to discover what wonderful buildings and history Wolverhampton has to offer.

Jo said “We spent a lot of time in the city during the Before I Die project talking to people, and we had this time to look around our surroundings. City Treasures encourages people to look up at the great things about Wolverhampton. We want to give our city a chance to show that throughout the economic downturn, the great architecture upon which a small market town was built still survives and shares its history with a new generation.”

You can keep up-to-date by following @City_Treasures on Twitter.

Student

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Directing the designs Benjamin James Young, BA (Hons) Visual Communications, has designed and created unique illustrations which were presented at an Institute of Directors (IoD) awards ceremony.

The West Midlands Director of the Year Awards have become the IoDs most successful annual event attracting a high standard of entrants.

The organisation felt it was only fitting that those who have worked hard to create jobs and prosperity in the region were properly rewarded with a unique piece of art.

IoD Regional Director, John Phillips, said: “We are delighted we are able to commission work for a new artist and not only provide them with a platform to gain valuable publicity but involve them in our event and mentor them with essential business advice.

This year we were particularly grateful to Benjamin James Young. He produced some very special art work which followed the theme of the six awards, including the prestigious IoD West Midlands Director of the Year Award. It means our winners have a very individual and personal trophy and not just a block of glass taken from a shelf in a shop!”

Amy gets her second book published

The University has a strong bond with the IoD which supports the University through their student mentoring activity and utilises the valuable source of creative talent from the Faculty of Arts. Visual Communications course leader, John Clementson, said: “The Visual Communication team is keen to create links with the wider business community and we delighted to support the Institute of Directors and further strengthen the University relationship.”

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Amy Evans is going from strength to strength having her second fully illustrated book published by the London publisher, Cico Books. Her first book was published in 2012 and this new book contains almost double the number of illustrations.

Sally Powell, Art Director at Cico Books said: “We are now working with Amy on a third book, and we have seen her go from strength to strength. Her work is fresh and pretty and this has enhanced the feel of these books and given them a greater appeal to a broader audience. Amy has proved herself to be adept and creative at interpreting a brief and punctual at delivering work. We hope to continue working with Amy in the future.”

Amy will be staying at the University to do her Master’s in illustration in the autumn.

Visual Communications course leader, John Clementson said: “We are always immensely proud of our students and it is exciting to see Amy using the skills she has developed here at Wolverhampton to create some exciting and creative work for the commercial environment.”

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Stephanie’s on show at Saatchi BA (Hons) Fine Art final year student Stephanie Bannister is celebrating after having her artwork, Cor, chosen to appear on screen at the Saatchi Gallery.

Stephanie told us: “I am absolutely ecstatic and I would like to thank the Fine Art team for all the support and guidance they have given me over the past six years. I am so happy in my practice and I’m looking forward to the next chapter: my Master’s!

“My aim is for my work to be metaphorical, the artificial working the real. The subtle movements within my installation create shock amongst my audience. My installation expresses the abstractions and elements of the human body within contemporary art.

“Realism is key, with the use of offal being imperative and adding to the mechanical components, which act as a life support to the heart. Movement adds a unique element that shocks my audience when the realisation of a pulsating heart is noticed, all being powered by over 70 work gears.

MA student work chosen

by Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) holds two Open All Media Exhibitions each year. Submissions are selected by a voting panel made up of Members and Associates. The criteria used to assess the work include its impact, originality, technical skill, effort and presentation.

“Acid attacks occur all over the world.

The attacker is usually a man known to the victim, often a family member. By far the majority of the victims are women.

The acid is usually thrown directly into the victim’s face, causing indescribable pain and physical damage, and huge psychological trauma. Victims often hide themselves away, accepting the fate their attackers want to inflict on them.

What might this woman’s face look like if she was a victim of such an attack?

“I have chosen to display the mechanics of my pulsations (previously hidden in other works), in a style similar to that of Hirst’s A Thousand Years (1990) and the Chapman Brothers’ Little Death Machine (castrated) (1993).

“The dark moving gears do not distract from the heart yet are still a powerful mechanical element within the composition.

My works have a ‘steam punk’ and cold element surrounding them.

I was conscious for my works not to detract my audience and although these internal organs depicted may be seen as ‘grotesque’, I feel there is an element of cleanliness surrounding my display and representation.”

Stephanie’s artwork will be in rotation with other selected artworks on the 2nd floor of the gallery. You can also view her work here: www.saatchionline.com/ stephbannister

MA Fine Art student Keith Gilbert successfully submitted LOOK, DON’T LOOK and it was shown at the RBSA Gallery in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

Keith told us: “The work started as a single portrait head. Around the time it was begun, the BBC reported on a young woman who had been attacked with acid. The attack had been retaliation after the victim “dishonoured” her family. The victim died from her injuries.

The other two portraits show the kind of scarring she might have experienced, and ask the question: “Will you collude with those who carry out these attacks by looking away from the mutilated faces? Or will you look, and see the courage of the person who survives?”

For further information, visit Keith’s Facebook page: ‘Keith Gilbert Sculpture’.

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Photography students exhibit at local gallery BA (Hons) Photography students have had their work on show at the Herbert Gallery, Coventry, as part of their level 5 student response project.

The collaboration centred on one of the gallery’s current exhibitions: Caught in the Crossfire - a major exhibition of contemporary responses to conflict, peace and reconciliation by international renowned artists.

The gallery invited students to come and view the exhibition and create their own direct responses; which would then be on display within the gallery, in conjunction with the exhibition, on digital screens and via an online gallery.

Su Fahy, divisional leader for Photography and Fine Art explained: “The engagement with the Herbert Art Gallery builds on our student links to regional galleries and enables students to enter the challenge of a live brief where their external audience will be international through the online gallery facility.

“Our commitment to blended learning means students have worked with offline concepts and then engaged with exhibiting in an online gallery enabling all of the students to engage

with digital post-production with exhibition value.

“The initial visit was supported by the staff team at the Herbert and enabled our students to see the show and have a talk from the curators and a seminar with one of the exhibiting artists, War Boutique. Student feedback has been very positive and they have acknowledged the challenge to their personal practice and the engagement with the curators and artists as inspirational.”

Jamie Perry, Head of Marketing and Communications at the Herbert Gallery, told us: “We have had a fantastic response so far in students submitting some fabulous pieces of work.

“I would like to thank the University of Wolverhampton for their interest in the student response project linked to our Caught in the Crossfire Exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry.

“We hope this brief has provided a great stepping stone and portfolio experience of a live brief for your students – and we hope that it helps inspire some future work that we could see in years to come!”

Images Left: Kennard Photo Op 1.

Top right: Kennard Thatcher.

Above: Kennard Award 2.

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Sky Arts Sting success This year at the prestigious Sky Arts Sting Awards, Joshua Famaks, BA (Hons) Animation graduate, 2012, came runnerup (final four).

Sky Arts and Sky Creative host the live brief annually to find new design talent. The brief is to create a Sky Arts channel sting; this is a 20 second piece of film that plays on the channel in ad breaks to remind the viewer which channel they are on. It’s also an opportunity for Sky Arts to communicate what they stand for.

The Sky Arts team noted in their closing speech that the West Midlands has a lot to offer and that creativity doesn’t stop at the M25.

Emily Mantell, animation lecturer said: “We are very proud of Josh and have no doubt that he will go far. What is interesting is that Josh’s sting wasn’t animated; it was a composited live action with visual effects, which proves his skills are transferable and that his talents are firmly rooted in film direction, whatever the medium.

“For one of our students to make it to the final shortlist (13) was great, but to be a runner-up (final four) was amazing! Well done Josh.”

You can view Joshua’s sting at: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=voExvUJQqJU

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Maria Forrester on developing a creative career Puffin Design Award 2013 Matt Jones, a graduate in MA Digital and Visual Communications has come runner-up in a national book cover illustration competition organised by Penguin Books.

Matt claimed second place for his The Wind in the Willows cover design at the 2013 Penguin Design Awards.

Maria Forrester, BA (Hons) Illustration, graduated in 2012 and has been busy since creating self-promotion artwork for her website.

We caught up with her to find out how she is finding life on the other side of University: “Keeping my website and blog up-to-date with my work - mainly book covers, has really helped me with getting commissions from new authors who want to publish on Kindle and iPad and has formed good relationships with them for further illustration work.

Shortlisted in the “Puffin Children’s Prize” category from over 1,400 entries, Matt’s work was praised by the judges on the panel, including former Children’s Laureate Jacqueline Wilson and award winning graphic artist Chris Riddell.

Jacqueline Wilson described his design as “very delicate and delightful”, whilst Riddell added that his cover had “a classic feel that appeals to the nostalgic adult”.

This is the second time that Matt has been shortlisted for the prize. His second place finish gives him the opportunity to spend time on a work placement in a London design office.

Speaking about his success, he said: “I am delighted to have been shortlisted for the Penguin Design Awards for the second time. To be awarded the runner-up prize for such a prestigious competition, which had over 1,500 entries from all over the globe, is a terrific achievement and one which I am extremely proud of”.

John Clementson, course leader in Illustration, said: “It was an exceptional achievement to be shortlisted twice for such a prestigious competition, but to win a runners-up spot for such a keenly contested competition is obviously fantastic news for Matt.

The time he’ll spend working in a design house is invaluable in terms of making key contacts and gaining valuable experience within the industry. This will encourage everyone associated with the subject.

Matt’s success, along with other Illustration student successes, sends out a clear message that we are comfortable competing at a national level.”

Get in touch If you’re an alumnus of the Faculty, we’d like you to get in touch with us to let us know what you’re up to. Email: arts@wlv.ac.uk

I have mainly been working on book illustrations for George Lewkowicz who is an author/performing artist in London. This is now an on-going commission and the work is really interesting, especially when he says things like “make me into a badger” or “what do you think about having animal men?”

I’ve also just finished a commission for a TV documentary and although this fell through at the last minute, I gained valuable experience and again, a foot in the door with the production team. I’m currently working on a medieval book illustration for another author who is based in America and have been approached by a new agency who are just starting up and want me to produce children’s book illustrations for them. This is all in the early stages but I’m hoping this will become a regular form of income.

Prior to this I had several opportunities through the University of Wolverhampton: I was involved in the Tales from Telford project where I produced illustrations for the Abraham Darby Academy and I also produced illustrations for the School of Science.

I created some illustrations for the Cheltenham Illustration Awards and although I wasn’t shortlisted, my work did appear in their exhibition at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford and is going to be published in their Annual this Spring.”

For further information please visit: www.mariaforrester.co.uk

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International Summer School success We held a successful international Summer School in June with students attending from India, Pakistan and Singapore.

The course presented and analysed the major fashion movements that have emerged through the inter-relationship with music and its icons.

Pat Dillon, Summer School course leader said: “The International Summer School continues to provide an excellent opportunity for students of fashion and textiles from various institutions across the world to come together and engage in an intensive week of exhibitions, study and cultural events.

“This year’s group were a credit to their home institutions. They produced work of high quality in the short time they were with us and were fully engaged with the theme for the week – the Rock and Roll Brand. The course was launched by a visit to the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, which was enjoyed by all, providing an excellent research starting point for the rest of the course.

“Students designed and customised their own ‘rock star’ t-shirts and created capsule fashion and textile collections based on their own vision for how the music and media industries influence and are influenced by fashion.

“It is highly rewarding to be a part of this initiative and it has resulted in some excellent collaboration, which we hope will set a firm foundation for future events, so much so that we are already busy planning for next year’s Summer School!”

Archana Konduru from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi, who attended the course said: “Every one of us enjoyed the programme thoroughly; we enjoyed it so much in fact that we wish we had another week.”

Fellow student Asma Nazir, from the Textile Institute of Pakistan, also said: “The summer school was a lot of fun and a great way to meet people from all around the world. The University has excellent technology to use on fabrics and I loved the glass work and ceramics workplace.”

Events

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focus Creative short courses

We offer a range of creative, ten week, short courses suitable for both complete beginners and the more experienced. The courses allow you to work at your own pace and take full advantage of our specialist facilities and the expert tuition at your fingertips.

Courses typically begin each February, May and September.

• Introduction to creative textiles • Introduction to photographic practice • Introduction to 3D modelling for games • Jewellery design • Life-drawing • Screen printing for artists and designers For further information, please visit: www.wlv.ac.uk/sad/ shortcourses

Creative short courses for all New for September 2013

Heath Town Project In June, senior photography lecturer Dr Peter Day and students Jack Nelson and Dave Shepherd led a community based project in association with Wolverhampton City Council and the Heathfield Park Local Neighbourhood Partnership.

The Heath Town Project created an alternative view of the people and the identities of Heath Town, Wolverhampton in 2013 through a photographic archive.

The project explored the idea that individuals in any one community are inextricably linked to and judged alongside the people whom they live with and amongst, and aims to create an alternate view.

The images and their accompanying stories are an introduction to the personalities and identities of the individual inhabitants of Heath Town, a small yet diverse area of Wolverhampton.

It formed a brief snapshot of the community, rich in migrants and the inner city working classes. The photography demonstrated the transient and diverse nature of the lives of Heath Town residents.

The community is home to people from over 46 countries including Slovakia, Somalia and the West Indies and the images examine how identities are created and defined, often by others.

The portraits seemed to have an ethnographic quality, in that they are a means to represent the culture of a people: the people of Heath Town, but the images are ultimately about how identity is created and defined, often by others. The images are momentary, yet simultaneously timeless. They are a display of that which is little-documented. They make visible that which is often invisible to history: the lives and times of individuals, the ordinary alongside the extraordinary.

Courses available Introduction to photographic practice Introduction to creative textiles

Life-drawing

Jewellery design

Introduction to 3D modelling for games Screen printing for artists and designers

Course duration: 10 weeks Start date: Wednesday 25 September 2013 Where: University of Wolverhampton, School of Art and Design, Molineux Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DT When: Wednesdays, 5.30pm-8.30pm (during University term-time) Cost: Introduction to creative textiles £240, Introduction to photographic practice £195, Introduction to 3D modelling for games £190, Jewellery design £330, Life-drawing £175, Screen printing for artists and designers £245.

All materials are included within the course fee.

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To find out more or apply, tel: 01902 323 566 email: short-courses@wlv.ac.uk or visit: www.wlv.ac.uk/sad/shortcourses

Suhair Hassan

Isnada Ali

Sirad Jana

Kirstie Josephine Rutledge

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Light House Open Photographic and Exhibition Awards 2013 The fifth annual Light House Open Photographic and Exhibition Awards took place in April and the winners have been announced.

Sensing Sculpture A team of University students and alumni led by MA Fine Art leader Benedict Carpenter helped re-launch Wolverhampton Art Gallery’s ‘Sensing Sculpture’ exhibition in May. The interactive sculpture exhibition features audio interpretation panels consisting of recorded discussions about the sculptures between Benedict, Honorary Fellow of the University of Wolverhampton, Ron Dutton, and two current Fine Art students.

As part of the re-display, the gallery explores the contrast between traditional and modern approaches to sculpture. The exhibition also looks at Wolverhampton as a city with an outstanding reputation for teaching and producing sculpture. Many of the works on display are by celebrated sculptors who have studied, taught or worked in the city.

Sculptors in the display with a connection to the University, or its predecessor institutions, also include Robert Jackson Emerson, Glynn Williams and John Paddison.

(Above): Greg Faulkner, ‘Ride’

Greg Faulkner, final year BA (Hons) Photography student won the overall prize, and Jonathan Will, second year BA (Hons) Photography student won the People’s Choice prize.

Rachel Lambert-Jones, Collections Officer at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, judged the overall winner category, and also highly commended entries from Jacob Reeves: The Silence and Tony Blood: City Traces #6.

Greg, who won for his image Ride will now enjoy a solo exhibition of his photography in the Lock Works bar in January 2014. Congratulations Greg!

Jonathan’s winning image: The condition of being oneself, and not another, scooped him two Light House cinema tickets. Well done to Jonathan too!

Benedict Carpenter said: “It is fascinating to see so many connections between the sculptures in this new permanent display and the staff and students, past and present, of the Fine Art Department at the University of Wolverhampton.

“Above all else, this gallery demonstrates the on-going strength of sculpture within the Faculty of Arts. It was a terrific opportunity for the students involved in the audio interpretations to gain a privileged glimpse into how a gallery runs, to see the care and planning that goes into mounting a display such as this; and it really is great to have work commissioned from recent Master’s graduates of the School.”

For more information regarding the exhibition, please visit: www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk

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New Designers finds new talent In June recent graduates from our Fashion and Textiles, Applied Arts and Visual Communications courses exhibited at the New Designers show in London.

New Designers is the UK’s most important graduate design exhibition, full of innovation and fresh thinking. The show sees over 3,000 of the most talented, newly graduated designers from the UK’s leading universities showing their wares to the public.

The exhibition gives our students the opportunity to showcase their work on a massive scale and to build valuable networks for their creative futures.

Over 18,000 people visited the show and our students’ work generated a lot of interest. Many fashion and textiles students came away with work placement opportunities, internships, job offers and commissions from a wide variety of companies including national galleries, London design studios, publishers, home furnishers and even a European jeweller.

Amelia Hardwick, a fashion and textiles graduate told us: “New Designers was an eye opener for me and I’ve already received two job interviews on the back of it and I’ve been contacted by great British designers who have asked to keep them up-to-date with what I do next. The exhibition not only built up my confidence but opened a door in to industry and professional opportunities.

I walked away from this experience feeling prepared for the world of work.”

Sharon Watts, fashion and textiles lecturer, told us: “New Designers is an invaluable exhibition for us. Not only for our new graduates who gain a taste of the commercial market but also for the course itself. This year we were able to build valuable relationships with new partners which have resulted in several companies expressing an interest to work with our current student’s in the future on live brief projects.”

Students from our Applied Arts course were even successful in selling their products to visitors, including Matthew Lowe who sold all of his work on the first day of the show.

Gwen Heeney senior lecturer in Applied Arts specialising in ceramics and glass commented: “The show was an excellent opportunity for students to see the degree of professionalism needed to survive in the competitive world of design. It also enabled students to make valuable connections with galleries, design companies and commissioners.”

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Staff focus ‘‘

We are delighted to announce the following new professorial appointments which we have been able to make thanks to the Vice-Chancellor’s investment in research:

Prof Franny Armstrong as Professor of Film, from June 2013 - June 2015 A former pop drummer and self-taught filmmaker, Franny Armstrong has directed three feature documentaries: The Age of Stupid (2008), McLibel (2005) and Drowned Out (2003) which have together been seen by 60 million people worldwide. Following a degree in zoology from University College London Franny set up her own company, Spanner Films Ltd through which she pioneered ‘crowd-funding’ which allows film-makers to raise reasonable-sized budgets whilst retaining ownership of their films. She also founded the 10:10 campaign which aims to cut carbon emissions by 10% a year and which now has autonomous campaigns running in 41 countries.

Prof Jane and Louise Wilson as Professors of Art, 1 July 2013 - 30 June 2015

Jane Wilson works in a partnership with her sister Louise Wilson. Jane did her undergraduate degree at Northumbria University followed by an MA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College. Jane and Louise have undertaken a number of residencies and teaching assignments in Christchurch (NZ), Stockholm (Swe); Oslo (Nor) and Berlin (Ger). In 1999 they were nominated for the Turner Prize. They have held numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally.

Congratulations Dew We are delighted to announce that Prof Dew Harrison won the award for Outstanding Contribution to Research at the ViceChancellor’s Awards for Staff Excellence.

Her role in nurturing staff research in the School was particularly cited.

Dew said:

I am delighted to have won the VC’s award for excellence in ‘Outstanding Contribution to Research’.

This award is a tribute to the wonderful researchers I work with at CADRE – colleagues from Art and Design, Performing Arts, and those from STECH, who have seen our research culture develop from strength to strength, and to where I am proud to represent them at University level.

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Professorial appointments

Prof Michael Brennand-Wood as Professor of Ornament, from June 2013 - June 2015 Michael Brennand-Wood has a BA in Textiles from MMU and an MA in Textiles from Birmingham City University. He has taught widely, nationally and internationally, including at Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths College, Glasgow School of Art, University of Ulster, Gray’s School of Art Aberdeen, Curtin University Perth (Aus), and Canberra Institute of Arts (Aus). He has had international residencies in Perth (Aus), Toronto (Can), Brisbane (Aus), Kyoto (J), Canberra (Aus), Tasmania (Aus), Hamilton (NZ), Israel, and Bergen (Nor).

(Left to right) Prof Geoff Layer, Vice Chancellor, Prof Dew Harrison, Prof Ian Oakes, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and External Engagement)

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Honorary professorships for glass experts Dr Max Stewart, research fellow in glass and Stuart Garfoot, senior lecturer in glass, were invited to Jilin College of the Arts, China last June to offer advice to staff there about setting up a new glass course and specialist facilities at the college.

Jilin College, based in Changchun City, is a design school with undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, and a specialisation in the arts with a range and depth of complementary fields.

The design school facilities include 40,000 square meters of teaching and research space, advanced teaching equipment, research studios, experimental shops, and many teaching practice bases. There are currently over 1,300 undergraduate students and more than 100 graduate students at the school.

(Left to right) Dr Max Stewart, Mr Liu De Xiang, headmaster of Jilin College of Arts, Stewart Garfoot

During their 4-day consultation with the college, Max and Stewart were surprised to be honoured with the positions of Honorary Professorships of Glass at the college in recognition of their significant contribution to the work of the glass facility.

Stuart Garfoot, who has worked in an advisory capacity in helping to set up and establish new glass programmes and facilities in Beijing, Johannesburg and Shanghai previously, told us:

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This was a surprise as we had no idea they were going to make us Honorary Professors. It is such an honour and it allows us to go back there and continue to develop the academic and practical side of the new glass programme on an international level.

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Our congratulations go out to them both.

News in brief/ appointments • Dylan Low one of our alumni has just been appointed as a lecturer at The One Academy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

• Brian Sheridan was accepted to present his dissertation abstract at the Wolves Talks Conference on 22 May 2013. His presentation was included within the ‘Political Power and Political Apathy: Representing the Powerless’ segment with Hayden Mellowship and Leroy Cohoone.

• Dr Rina Arya’s monograph Francis Bacon: Painting in a Godless World, Lund Humphries, 2012 was long-listed for the William MB Berger Prize for British Art History 2013.

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Graduate starts up new business Charlotte Clark, BA (Hons) Applied Arts graduate (2010), has been appointed the manager of new initiative ‘Shop in the Square’ funded through the Mary Portas bid and High Street Innovation Fund.

Shop in the Square provides local small businesses with a new retail outlet to get their products on the high street and test the water without pricey overheads. The space will also be used to host exhibitions by local art groups, networking events and creative workshops.

The shop, which is based at 18 Queens Square in Wolverhampton, opened on June 22 and was the brainchild of Charlotte who submitted her proposal to Wolverhampton Council and WV One and was chosen by them as the winning candidate.

Products for sale include: handmade crafts, handmade chocolates, local designer handbags, home furnishings, gifts, candles, handmade soaps, handmade jewellery, art work and much more.

Suppliers are chosen from social media channels and also from the runners-up of the Portas Ideas2Reality competition.

Charlotte, who is a local designer maker herself, also stocks her own range of custom printed ceramic pieces specially designed for weddings.

We caught up with Charlotte and she told us: “the opening, and first few weeks, have been overwhelming. Footfall has been fantastic and I’ve also received amazing feedback from members of the public and my suppliers too.”

For more details, visit: www.shopinthesquare.co.uk or follow on Twitter: @shopinthesquare and Facebook: www.facebook.com/ shopinthesquare

Creative

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e business SPEED Plus

SPEED Plus is an ERDF funded project, running at five regional universities and led by the University of Wolverhampton, offers students from any course the opportunity to develop their business ideas with financial and entrepreneurial support assistance.

Matthew Stone, John Tatevosyan and Filip Parulski presented their business idea; to set a video production company specialising in creating corporate promotional videos for local firms, to the SPEED Plus and were accepted onto the programme.

They had already gained considerable experience making short films and promotional videos during their course, including one very successful viral created as part of a second-year project which has received over 1,300 YouTube views to date.

Away from their studies, the entrepreneurial trio had also joined the School of Art & Design’s Video Enrichments Group. This group, led by Video and Film course leader Tracy McCoy, is for any video and film students who want to get involved with extra-curricular film-making projects to aid their studies and personal development. Clients, both internal and external to the University, present live briefs which the students can then pitch for.

Matthew told us: “We had been working to briefs for clients for some time when SPEED Plus came and presented to us, so the idea to set up our business seemed like a natural progression.

SPEED Plus has been invaluable in helping us to do this, we’ve already taken part in many invaluable sessions including workshops on budgeting and branding, a residential weekend with other SPEED Plus participants and we’ve been assigned a mentor who we meet with monthly for one-to-one guidance.

Entrepreneurial video students launch new company

Our long term ambition is to grow our business to work on music videos and feature films, but for now we are concentrating on completing our studies and building up a base of corporate clients.”

Three second-year BA (Hons) Video and Film Production students have been accepted onto the Student Placements for Entrepreneurs in Education Plus (SPEED Plus) programme.

Further information on A Man with a Camera, email: mattmatt_2005@hotmail.co.uk

21 FRESH

Charlotte-Anne Smith gets a KEEN appointment Charlotte-Anne Smith, BDes (Hons) Product Design, has secured her first job just days after graduating with a first in her degree.

Charlotte-Anne has been employed as a KEEN affiliate in the role of Furniture Designer for local company, Ultra Furniture.

KEEN Focusing on innovation and research, KEEN gives West Midlands-based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) the opportunity and resources to increase profitability and achieve growth.

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the programme works by forming a three-way relationship between a West Midlands based SME, a regional university and a graduate (known as an Affiliate).

Ultra Furniture is a leading UK upholstery manufacturer working with some of the UKs best known upholstery retailers and high-street brands. The company has been making upholstery in Kingswinford for over 20 years, providing a wide range of sofas for retail furnishers throughout the UK. DFS is one of their largest customers in the UK and they also export their products to Ireland.

To keep up with the fast-paced, everevolving business world, Ultra Furniture identified a need for younger employees with fresh ideas. KEEN is enabling Ultra Furniture to develop a bespoke product range for the global furniture market.

This appointment tops off a superb year for Charlotte-Anne who has picked up many accolades over the year.

At the end of year annual undergraduate degree show she was named Product Design Student of the Year and was also the Winner of the Wow! Stuff Product Innovation Award 2013 Meanwhile during her final year Charlotte-Anne also won the Better off in Wolverhampton graphic identity design competition, her work was selected for

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the If Only Design Competition run by the University of Bath and the What If Competition run by the BBC, her work was selected for exhibition at Hong Kong Design Week and she was part of the interdisciplinary design team project who won the International Award sponsored by AIP PRIMECA for the 24 Hour of Innovation World Wide Design Competition hosted by Ecole Superieure des Technologies Industrielles Avancees (ESTIA) Biarritz, France, in October.

Charlotte-Anne explains how her time at the University of Wolverhampton has influenced her career: “Studying Product Design at Wolverhampton has not only allowed me to further expand and develop my skill set through the great expertise and knowledge of the supportive lecturers, but it has also inspired me to set and achieve high targets within my career.”

If you would like to find out more about the KEEN programme and how you can get involved visit: www.wlv.ac.uk/ keen or call: 01902 321 272.

(From left to right) Glenn Aston, Ultra Furniture Finance Director, Charlotte-Anne and Rob Cooksey, senior lecturer in Product Design.

The National Art&Design Saturday Club

Previous master class leaders have included Thomas Heatherwick, Peter Randall-Page, Daljit Singh and Betty Jackson.

We are pleased to announce that we are taking part in the 2013/14 National Art&Design Saturday Club project.

The aim of the project is to nurture the young people’s talent, build their confidence and selfesteem, give them an insight into college life, and show them the pathway into further and higher education and to careers in the creative industries.

The project gives young people aged 14–16 the unique opportunity to study art and design every Saturday morning at their local art and design college or university for free.

The students receive 30 weeks of inspiring classes in areas ranging from drawing and sculpture to printmaking and stop-frame animation. They also then get to visit London’s best museums and galleries and exhibit work in their own Summer Show at Somerset House. They are also given the opportunity to attend an inspirational master class with one of the UK’s foremost artists or designers.

Our classes begin in October with 25 students from schools from across the region attending.

Creative Agency opens its doors Using our network of Faculty of Arts alumni we have set up a new creative agency which offers our clients a professional photography and videography service.

Tricia Cooper, Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts, said: “We began the agency as we strongly believe in offering our alumni creative opportunities to grow their portfolio and work experience. Where possible we will also endeavour to offer our current students practical work experience as creative assistants on projects.”

If you would like find out more, or book our services for your next event, email: creative-agency@ wlv.ac.uk or visit: www.wlv.ac.uk/ sad/creative-agency

Contact us Faculty of Arts University of Wolverhampton MK Building, City Campus North Molineux Street Wolverhampton WV1 1DT Tel: 01902 322 058 Email: arts@wlv.ac.uk Web: www.wlv.ac.uk/arts

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