First Ever Artsfest Event at New College Marked as Success

New College students who are fans of Art were given the fantastic opportunity to explore the many areas in the industry thanks to the College’s first ever Artsfest event.

With guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds and career paths came and visited New College to share their creations and ideas with the students.

Former student Ryan Walklett came and spoke to Textiles students about his journey since he left New College, talking about his experience as a contestant on The Great British Sewing Bee and what he is currently doing on the national tour with Lord of the Flies.

Local and national photographer Richard Wintle who runs his own picture agency ‘Calyx Multimedia’, came and gave a talk to students about his career in photography, what it involves and how he got there.

Chris Conlon, one of the Directors from Amalgam, British model makers, came and spoke to students about the different projects they work on including product prototyping, prop-making and set-building. He said: “I wanted to be part of Artsfest to introduce model making and 3D design to young people as a career option. I didn’t know much about this particular industry when I was younger so I think it’s good to raise awareness about what options are available.”

Other guests included Red Rocket Design, Illustrator Fred Blunt, Naomi Gibbard from University of Gloucestershire and Ed Tellwright from Business Southwest.

Rachael Williams, from the Employability team at New College was pleased with the event. She said: “I think the students gained a lot from the event. The guest speakers were fantastic and I would like to say a huge thank you to all of them for giving up their time to come and speak to our students.”

Following on from the event, some students have been invited to a workplace visit and to apply for work experience. Others will take part in a graphic design ‘client brief’ competition.

For more information on courses at New College please visit www.newcollege.ac.uk or call 01793 611470.