Art Students Take a Trip to Manchester

On Thursday 2nd March, students studying the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design had a contextual study day out to Manchester.

During the trip, they had the exciting chance to visit the Rogue Artists’ Studios situated near Piccadilly. David Gledhill, Co-director of the studios, fine artist and lecturer at Bolton University, showed the students the fantastic space and gave them a tour of the areas where some artists were busy creating new artwork. The studios are currently set in Crusader Mill, one of Manchester’s last remaining cotton mills, and holds studio spaces for up to nearly 100 artists and has areas to hold exhibitions from their practising artists and other artists from all over the UK and beyond.

The students then headed over to the Manchester City Art Gallery and took time collecting research and imagery from a range of artists and photographers in the current and permanent exhibitions. Highlights included Martin Parr’s Strange and Familiar photography exhibition, Modern Japanese design and a collection of Wynford Dewhurst’s paintings. Some students took inspiration from the artwork on the walls, others focusing on the magnificent architecture of the gallery.

The students will now take inspiration from the things seen on the visit and use this to influence their final major projects, ahead of exhibiting them at our End of Year Show in June.