One of my first memories of going to an art exhibition was actually of going to a degree show. My dad was an art teacher and one of his best students (Sue) was graduating from Central St Martins; we must have travelled to London from the south west after school/work and we arrived a bit late. So my memory is of dashing through a strangely exciting building, unlike anywhere I’d been before and, as we went from one studio to the next trying to find Sue’s work, the security guards were turning the lights off behind us. I recall it being a bit scary, but rather exhilarating and full of wonder.
I still get really excited about degree shows.
Degree show season is here again, it’s short and sweet - blink and you’ve missed the shows - so I've pulled together some dates and info for you from degree shows across the UK that will be showing the newest talent graduating from craft related courses:
Kingston School of Art
Degree Show 2019
1 - 9 June 2019
Kingston School of Art was ranked at number two in the UK (out of 74) for design and crafts in the Guardian University League Tables 2019. Out of the top eight universities they are the only one offering a BA in product and furniture design - that has to be worth a visit.
Venue: Kingston School of Art, Knights Park, KT1 2QJ
More info: www.kingston.ac.uk
Staffordshire University
Art and Design Show 2019
1 - 9 June
At the heart of a ceramics legacy and renaissance, Stoke-on-Trent is where I hope to see exciting new ceramics, as well as final year work from the students on their Ceramics, Crafts, Contemporary Jewellery and Fashion Accessories, Product Design, Surface Pattern Design and Textile Surfaces undergraduate courses.
Venue: College Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 2DE
More info: www.staffs.ac.uk
HCA (Hereford College of Arts)
Degree Show
8 – 15 June 2019
HCA is a specialist college for the arts in an inspiring art school community. Courses include Artist Blacksmithing, Contemporary Design Crafts, Jewellery Design, Textile Design.
Venue: HCA (Hereford College of Arts), College Road, Hereford, HR1 1EB
More info: www.hca.ac.uk
Bath Spa University School of Art and Design
2019 Undergraduate Degree Show
8 - 16 June 2019
Bath School of Art and Design has a long standing reputation for educating the next generation of artists and designers. Their Undergraduate Degree Show will be exhibiting the work of over 200 graduating students in Creative Arts, Fashion Design, Fine Art, Graphic Communications, Photography, Textile Design for Fashion and Interiors, Three Dimensional Design, and Fashion Design.
Venue: Bath School of Art and Design, Sion Hill, Lansdown, Bath BA1 5SF
More info: www.bathspa.ac.uk
Manchester School of Art
The Degree Show
8 - 19 June 2019
The second oldest art and design college in the country (after the RCA) has been nurturing big-name artists and designers since 1838. More than 1,000 graduates’ work will be on display, covering specialisms across ceramics, textiles and typography, to name but a few.
Venue: Manchester School of Art, All Saints Campus, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6BH.
More info: www.art.mmu.ac.uk
De Montfort University
Art and Design Degree Show
15 - 20 June (Closed Sunday 16 June)
They say the Art and Design Degree Show celebrates the talent and innovative work, as well as diversity, creativity and innovation, by the next generation of artists and designers. I’m most interested in the graduates from the Design Crafts BA course, a multi-disciplinary crafts course where students design and make objects using both traditional and emerging technologies and use a variety of materials such as hot glass, textiles, plaster, paper, glass, clay, fine metals, plastics, resin, foam and wood.
Venue: Vijay Patel Building, 8 Newarke Cl, Leicester LE2 7BJ
More info: www.dmu.ac.uk
University of the Arts London
Show Two: Design Degree Show 2019
19 - 23 June 2019
See above for my reasons to have a special place in my heart for the Central Saint Martins shows. I always expect great things. Courses to look out for include: Ceramic Design, Product Design, Jewellery Design and Textile Design.
Venue: Central Saint Martins, 1 Granary Square, King’s Cross, N1C 4AA (not the Granary Square, N1 in Islington)
More info: www.arts.ac.uk
RCA
Show 2019
29 June 2019 to 7 July 2019 (Closed 3 July)
Show 2019 offers visitors a unique opportunity to experience the very best of emerging contemporary art and design practice. Over 800 art and design postgraduate students will present work of exceptional quality, imagination and technical skill, exhibiting design solutions to pressing global problems alongside fine art that informs and enriches our world view. The RCA exhibitions are free, with much of the work for sale or commission, ranging from paintings to prints, glassware to jewellery and furniture to textiles. Ceramics & Glass, Jewellery & Metal, (as well as my old course, Curating Contemporary Art).
Venue: Dyson, Radstock Street, Sackler and Woo Buildings, Royal College of Art Hester Road, London SW11 3AN
More info: www.rca.ac.uk
