NCC’s annual Art and Design Show has been hailed as the most successful to date as a stunning display of visually impressive and thought provoking works by students wowed visitors.
Students from A Level and Vocational routes showcased their masterpieces across the four day event which launched with a VIP evening.
Guests included parents of students and the Mayor and Mayoress of Pendle, Cllr David Whalley and his wife Barbara. They enjoyed a canapé and fizz reception before browsing the vast range of graphics, film, paint, photography and textiles exhibited.
The talented students took inspiration from everything from animals to space and explored issues including bullying, celebrity culture, reuse of plastics and fracking in Lancashire.
The annual event also marked the announcement of the Creative and Digital Awards for 2017, with students recognised and rewarded for 12 months of hard work.
Visitors were so impressed with the standard of exhibits that Arteology in Colne are planning to put on a special exhibition for the winners’ work, a local school has asked for a piece on bullying to go on display and the Pendle Rise Shopping Centre in Nelson will also be exhibiting pieces of the students’ work for seven days from July 21st.
Christian Bell, who is finishing his Foundation Diploma in Art at NCC, was named Foundation Diploma Student of the Year. He is heading on to the University of Central Lancashire to do a Fine Art degree and will be curating the Pendle Rise exhibition next month.
Christian said: “The show was a really brilliant experience and I was very pleased with my exhibits. It all came together well and the hard work paid off! I wanted to focus on the environment and I chose fracking as it is quite close to home. I filmed an activist at one of the sites and projected the clip on to a sink full of water for the exhibition. Some of the photographs I took were etched on to paper and wood.
“The exhibition at the Pendle Rise is a great opportunity and has come about through the local arts group In Situ.
“I would definitely recommend the Foundation Diploma and my tutor has been extremely helpful. I did my A Levels in Art and Design at NCC years ago and this was perfect for me coming back into education as it is a one year course.”
Olivia Cambridge, who has studied A Levels in Media, Photography and Textiles during her two years at NCC, won Student of the Year prizes in both Photography and Textiles. She has a conditional offer to go to Falmouth University to do Photography.
Olivia said: “I really enjoyed the exhibition and it was a proud moment. Textiles has allowed me to think more conceptually and incorporate different ideas within my work and Photography has helped me to think about the composition of an image and how this can affect how someone views the photo. I took inspiration from Chinese design and the suffragettes in Textiles and the story of Romeo and Juliet in Photography.
“The Art and Design staff at NCC have all been dedicated and encouraging. This has helped me achieve the best I can in the courses.”
Head of Creative of Digital Morag Davis said: “The Art and Design Show is one of the highlights of the College calendar and I think 2017’s exhibition has been the most spectacular yet.
“The quality of the work on show this year was astonishing, and I think this is reflected by the requests we have received to have the students’ pieces exhibited elsewhere. The feedback has been fantastic.
“I am so thrilled to see the way in which our students have developed and honed their skills at College, and we wish each of them the very best for their futures.”
One in 11 UK jobs are now in the creative industry and NCC has a Career College ethos to get students ready for successful futures. NCC offers a range of course options under the umbrella of Creative and Digital, and these include A Levels in Film, Graphics, Fine Art, Fashion and Textiles, Media and Photography. Vocational courses are available in Art and Design and Creative and Digital Media and the Foundation Diploma in Art, for those aged 18 and above, can be studied too.
The full list of award winners are:
Niko Bergundo – Fine Art Student of the Year Award (Joint)
Abigail Sparshott – Fine Art Student of the Year Award (Joint)
Olivia Cambridge – Photography Student of the Year Award
Natrika Wildman – Graphics Student of the Year Award
Tayyibah Farooq – Textiles Student of the Year Award (Joint)
Olivia Cambridge – Textiles Student of the Year Award (Joint)
Sam Holmes, Jake Cordeaux, Calum Leeds, Usaamah Anjum – Filmmakers of the Year
Christian Bell – Foundation Diploma Student of the Year
Claudia Aggett – Art and Design Student of the Year
For more information about Nelson and Colne College contact 01282 440272 or visit www.nelson.ac.uk
