OG IN tHE ARtS

CHRISTINE CURTIS (OG, 1980)

Graphic design

“Let’s start at the very beginning. For it’s a very good place to start...”

The Sound of Music is one of my favourite musicals which is also an inspiration to me, as we often change career paths which, through transformation, can be an unpredicted success.

Presently I live in Sydney, Australia. My journey has been long, varied and exciting.

In order to be the person I am today I encountered many challenges and times where I felt confused and despondent but I found the resilience to persevere, to follow my dreams and enjoy life.

WGHS was always a school I admired and although I only attended from 1977-1978 my final ‘O’ Level year, I felt so proud being able to wear that uniform.

A careers talk led me to think that Graphic Design was the better option over languages and it became my chosen path. I chose the subject I loved and excelled at.

After completing a year at Wakefield Art College doing a Foundation Course I was keen to do a degree in Graphic Design and went to Coventry Polytechnic. I felt the course was too technical however and transferred to Newcastle upon Tyne where I loved the Geordie humour, warmth and the illustrative based degree course.

It wasn’t easy. I had some private issues to deal with and almost gave it away in my final year. However, I think hurdles are there to make us stronger and I won the National Sign Centre Awards and received first prize and five hundred pounds presented by the then Lord Mayor of London Sir Anthony Joliffe. This achievement opened many doors and I accepted an offer made by Allied International Designers in London in the Corporate Design department and later in the New Product Development department. I later went to Abu Dhabi as my father was working there and worked in an advertising agency there.

Cut to Germany where I worked in Aachen and Düsseldorf in advertising and design for international agency BBDO. As you will have noticed, my other passion is travel!

Family arrived and I freelanced for many years before moving over to the Middle East once again only this time as a teacher. I later specialised in art and taught the whole of Primary School and later High School. I can happily say many of my students have gone on to study Art and Design and I am proud to lay claim to having some influence in their lives.

I am now living in Sydney, Australia where I teach children art after school, give private lessons and when I can find the time, plunge myself into my private world of Art where I paint commissions, usually dog portraits, and produce a body of work for exhibitions and competitions.

I enter competitions wherever I can and receive awards after award but the gratification is in knowing that my art has sold and has an admirer.

My career path involved many twists and turns but like a tree, it had strong roots. It has a solid trunk which is obviously creative and branches and twigs that complete the picture in their individual yet similar way.

My advice to anyone at school today is to follow your dreams, listen to your heart and as the aboriginals say here ‘feel it in your gut.’

You know when it is right for you. Change is inevitable in life and to be embraced and as challenging as it may be, it will make you stronger.

I am happy to share with you some recent works I have created and hope you will enjoy the viewing.

Christine J Curtis

B.A. Graphic Design

Creative minds...

ROWENA BEIGHTON-DYKES (OG, 1975)

The creative and cultural industries are a huge, often untold, success story in the UK in the last 20 years. I am happy to say I have enjoyed not several jobs, but several careers as I have navigated through the sector.

Under the inspirational Barbara Wyles we were able to study costume history for A level art, meeting museum professionals as part of our studies. I gained a BA in Textile Design at the University of Leeds, and on graduating I worked in a costumiers in London. I then moved to Yorkshire Television (now part of ITV), specialising in costume for period drama and educational television.

Recognising that the TV industry was changing and with a family history in the decorating trade, I set up an interior decorating business, designing and supplying schemes for clients. With a growing family and a relocation, I transferred my experience and skills, qualified as a lecturer, and embarked on a career in education. I taught design history, media studies, interior design and professional practice for creatives. Before long I was working on the development of degree courses across creative industries subjects.

Having taken up a university post I gained a University of Leicester MA in The English Country House. I continued to develop creative industries degree courses with Staffordshire University’s partners across the country, and later internationally, travelling all over the world. I have now returned to interior decorating, and am the editor of the Review, the journal of the Wallpaper History Society.

The creative and cultural industries are not necessarily for those who seek stability and predictability, but for anyone who likes a challenge and enjoys variety, it’s a sector with many exciting opportunities, and can evolve as you navigate through life.

Rowena Beighton-Dykes

(née Janet Rowena Dykes)

I am happy to say I have enjoyed not several jobs, but several careers ”

TARA AVEYARD (OG, 2014)

I completed my Master of Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture in June 2020. During my five years at university, I explored a wide range of topics, including adaptive design, conservation, social housing design and architecture in film.

At master’s level, you pick what area of architecture you’d like to specialise in, ranging from landscape architecture, futuristic design, feminist architecture or conservation. I chose conservation as it has always been of huge interest to me. We looked at real life issues for small towns and cities. In my masters first year, I proposed changes for Rochdale’s Victorian train station and the surrounding area to give it a new lease of life, with a huge sweeping canopy, improved facilities and public green spaces. For my final thesis, I looked at an architectural theory that proposes making small changes to improve a city’s existing buildings and spaces, to create a better city overall. I proposed interventions throughout Shrewsbury and used my findings to update its old swimming pool. Updating and reusing existing buildings allows us to remember the past, reveal both the positive and negative aspects and construct considered, quality buildings for the future.

I always tried to incorporate hand drawing and model-making into my projects where possible. Although not essential, these skills can be incredibly useful and a lot of fun when designing.

Studying architecture has allowed me to travel a lot. Each year there is a study trip to a different city, my trips included Venice, Berlin, Paris, a weeklong model-making course in Spain, and Triennale Architecture festival in Oslo.

Old Girls in the Arts Opera singer extraordinaire!

GILLIAN BRIERLEY (OG, 1961)

I left WGHS in 1961 to study singing and piano at the Royal College of Music in London.

A petite 4’11’’ is not the usual build for an opera singer and at my first audition after leaving college, a voice called out “Too small,” before I sang a note. Undeterred and with a love of acting, I applied to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for an audition.

I was successful and joined the Extra Chorus, but was quickly invited to audition for the permanent chorus. The new contract included small parts and understudy work and there followed six years singing alongside many international singers, conductors and directors.

The Performing Arts take resilience and courage which were both needed when I masqueraded as a boy treble, auditioning amongst a group of children for the role of Yniold in Debussy’s “Pelleas et Melisande”. Selected by Pierre Boulez I had to admit to my deception and was devastated when Boulez said “I want a boy,” and ran a re-audition. However he made me the official understudy and awarded me one performance in my own right. When the boy succumbed to ‘flu I also sang the first two performances. This lucky break catapulted me into repeating the same role in Switzerland, then with Scottish Opera and later the Hessische Staatsoper in Wiesbaden.

“Too small,” they said! This made my career. I left the chorus to freelance in this and similar ‘boy’ roles until retirement.

Retirement? Oh no! Singing teacher, choir director, after dinner speaker.

Gillian Brierley

(née Ramsden)

“A voice called out “Too small,” before I sang a note ”

MADDY JACQUES (OG, 1992)

I started WGHS in 1985, the same year Mrs Langham joined as headmistress, leaving in 1992 to further my dance education at Northern Ballet School in Manchester. All the staff, especially Mrs Langham were supportive of my career choice. I remember being asked to perform in assemblies and even having a photo placed in the glass cabinet outside Mrs Langham’s office (I was a very proud student that day!) Now, many years on, I am a Ballet teacher and Ballet Examiner for the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD). I teach at Renaissance Arts, a professional dance college based in Leeds, and Ellite Studios in Wakefield where I’m head of ballet and a tutor for the teacher training course. I am also a lecturer for the ISTD CPD courses and have taught and adjudicated at the Imperial Ballet Awards. I consider myself lucky. I get to work with some amazing children and students and spend the day doing what I love. School allowed me to pursue my passion alongside my academic studies and I am forever grateful for the support I received whilst at WGHS.

Maddy Jacques (née Samwell)

SUSANNAH HOMER (OG, 2002)

Art was always a favourite subject at school. I took a gap year after A-levels during which I had work experiences at Wakefield Art Gallery and Christie’s in London: both valuable not only for learning about the different sectors but also for including in later applications. I went to Nottingham University to study Architecture (BArch) but midway switched to a BA(Hons) course, letting me study Art History modules. I gained a place to study for an MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Compared to undergrad, this one-year course was very demanding but immensely rewarding and fulfilling. Not sure what to do afterwards, I took another gap year with work experience at Sotheby’s and the MCC Museum at Lord’s. Still slightly unsure of my path, I applied for a PhD at Cambridge University to develop my MA research. The three years at Cambridge varied from self-doubt as I navigated self-led research to pride and satisfaction when I presented research to experts in my field from around the world. In 2012 I was Junior Research Fellow at the Frick in New York which was a great experience. In 2016 I was invited to take part in a conference on the London town house that was organised by the National Gallery, Paul Mellon Centre, London, and Birkbeck College, University of London. The conference discussed both famed and little-known London town houses, considering how these residences were designed, furnished and ornamented as well as exploring the significance andfunction of these properties for owners and their families; this was actually very close to the subject of my PhD research. Following the conference, a number of speakers, including me, were asked to contribute to an edited volume on the subject. The Georgian London Town House: Building, Collecting and Display was published by Bloomsbury in July 2019. My chapter 'The Display and Reception of Private Picture Collections in London Town Houses, 1780–1830’ introduces the second part of the book which is on buying, collecting and display. The URL for the book is: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-georgian-londontown-house-9781501337314/ I finally got a job: a heritage consultant in London, taking me back to my architectural roots. I am now the Senior Conservation Officer for Sevenoaks District Council; a role that incorporates theoretical aspects of historic building conservation, architectural history and practical construction knowledge. I enjoy the varied work and that I am still developing my knowledge. I am also a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars.