Winner:

Honey Muscatt (Foundation Diploma Art and Design)

Highly Commended:

Katia Demetriou-Jones (Foundation Diploma Art and design)

Francesca Souza (Print making)

Susannah Fairbank-Angus (Foundation Diploma Art and Design)

Working Men’s College Summer Show 2015

We proudly present the summer show in the Ruskin Gallery at Working Men’s College, 2015. The show consists of works submitted by students attending leisure classes in art and design at the college, including illustration, fine art, printmaking, photography, drawing, interior design, sculpture, ceramics, woodwork, fashion, textiles, and jewellery. Reflecting the diverse range of students, disciplines, and interests, the show is fun, lively, and diverse. We hope you will enjoy it. A warm thank you to everyone who took part, to the teaching staff who helped nurture this fantastic range of works, and to the art technicians who are always at hand with support and guidance.

Pernille Holm

Curator

Studio 901

6 – 22 May 2015

The exhibition ‘Studio 901’ showcases the work of 14 Fine Artists who come together every Tuesday at Working Men’s College in studio 901 to work on projects, take part in workshops, and share ideas. The Fine Art course is for artists at all stages in their creative practice whether they are beginners who are just starting out, or experienced artists with degrees and years of experience behind them. What unites the group is a genuine curiosity about contemporary art and a need to talk to and bounce off ideas with like-minded people.

The art work in the show is the result of one, and in some cases two term’s work. Some of it has been made in response to themed workshops and group discussions on notions and experiences of ‘Time’, and also ‘Chromophilia’, the obsessive passion for colour. Other work has been independently generated where artists have pursued their own line of inquiry and experimentation. Altogether, the variety of the work on display makes for a very lively exhibition, which is a true reflection of what goes on in Studio 901.

Congratulations to the winners

and all who took part

On 4 December, a judging panel viewed all 160 submissions in the exhibition to find 3 works with eye catching and memorable designs.  As you may imagine, they had their work cut out.

The panel made the following selections:

1st Prize – Vojsava Fakhro

2nd Prize – Ludmila Beranova

3rd Prize – Emma Schwarz

Congratulations to our 3 prize winners.

Thank you to everyone involved in this project.  The varied and vibrant submissions have made for one of the most memorable exhibitions in the Ruskin Gallery.

160 Years

Celebrated in 160 Art Works

Working Men’s College is proud to present a lively visual art show of 160 small-scale works in the Ruskin Gallery to mark the 160^th anniversary of the institution.

Founded in 1854, Working Men’s College is the oldest surviving adult education establishment in Europe. It has a remarkable history as a centre for innovation and excellence in the visual arts. Early supporters included distinguished artists and critics: John Ruskin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Burne Jones, Holman Hunt, and Ford Maddox Brown who pioneered the revolutionary Arts and Crafts and Pre-Raphaelite movements. 160 years later, the visual arts are still going strong. The work may look very different – there is less paint, charcoal, figurines and scenic vistas, and more photography, collage, and playful experimentation with letterforms and abstraction – but the desire to create, make, and experiment with visual forms and languages is the same. As with our eminent forbearers, we draw inspiration and encouragement from the past, whilst looking ahead, pushing the boundaries of the visual arts, of what we know and think we can do.

All the works in the exhibition have been made by current students, staff, and alumni who, only a month ago, were invited to take part in the project. Everyone, whether just starting out or enjoying careers as successful artists, was encouraged to make a ‘card’ to commemorate and celebrate the college. The response has been overwhelming. Reflecting the diverse range of students and staff, the cards made for the show are immensely creative, varied, and diverse, spanning across several media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles, photography, and performance. Their approaches range from straightforward celebratory greetings and historical testimonies, including archival photographs of our college, to more indirect abstract references and personal memories that explore the visual and emotional landscapes of the environment. Most importantly, every card is unique and personal. This makes for an eccentric, eclectic, and enormously fun exhibition. A warm thank you to everyone who took up the brief and submitted such fantastic works.

Pernille Holm

Curator

Lowes Dickinson Prize 2014
and the
Frances Martin Prize 2014

(September 2014 – October 2014)

Displayed throughout September and October 2014, the works from the successful entries to the Lowes Dickinson Prize and the new Francis Martin Prize.

The Lowes Dickinson Prize is named after Lowes Cato Dickinson who was a tutor, artist and founder member of Working Men’s College.  The Prize is funded through a grant left by him to enhance the learner experience at Working Men’s college and has manifested itself in many versions over the years, ranging from travel scholarships to one-off prizes for artworks.

In offering a number of prizes, the Prize aims to support the learning of students at Working Men’s College. This year the Prize was split into 3 categories: Personal Journey in Learning, Contribution to the Community and Sustainability and Heritage.

New for students in 2013/14 was our pilot Francis Martin Prize for poetry and literature which celebrated the literary works of our students.  WMC students they got creative by putting pen to paper or by typing up their prose.  The prize has its roots firmly based in the College as Frances Martin founded the College for Working Women which was house together and then merged with WMC in the 20th century. Winners are also celebrated in the Ruskin Gallery.

Successes in 2013/14

Lowes Dickinson Prize 2014

Name / Category / Title / Course

Vojsava Fakhro / Personal Journey in Learning / Girl with a gold earring / Sculpture All Levels

Clifford Gabb / Personal Journey in Learning / The Conversation / Fine Art All Levels

George Little / Personal Journey in Learning / Seated Lady / Life Drawing All Levels

Jane Mundeross / Personal Journey in Learning / Ceramic Boats / Handbuilt Forms

Khadija Raza / Personal Journey in Learning / Model set theatre based on Sylvia Beach / Foundation Diploma Art and Design

Joanna Sawicka / Personal Journey in Learning / Untitled / Ceramics Level 2

Hideko Oka Ward / Personal Journey in Learning / Head of girl / Handbuilt Forms

Christopher Simpson / Contribution to the Community / Untitled / Foundation Diploma Art and Design

Michael Alderton / Sustainability and Heritage / That’s All Folks! / Painting: Developing Techniques

Charlotte Gilks / Sustainability and Heritage / 30 teapots / Foundation Diploma Art and Design

Francesca Souza / Sustainability and Heritage / Relative Bonds /

Somaye Zadeh / Contribution to the Community / Performance (Iranian + Middle Eastern Jazz fusion) / Pro Logic Intermediate

Frances Martin Prize 2014

Name / Title / Course

Anne-Marie Clarke / Slapdash / Fine Art All Levels – First Prize

Somaye Zadeh / The Funk / Logic Pro Intermediate – Second Prize

Sam Flynn / An Alien Sends a Postcard from Ridley Road / Creative Writing – Joint Third Prize

Andrew McCall / S Stands for Scotland / Creative Writing – Joint Third Prize

Fine Art All Levels Exhibition

NIFE RAT

Fine Art Show at The Ruskin Gallery

Private View 29 April 6:30-8:30pm

Exhibition opens 30 April and runs until 3 June

This lively show celebrates the work of 12 Fine Artists who meet every Tuesday in the art studio 901 at Working Men’s College. They have come together to share and develop their work and ideas, and this show is the fruit of their hard work and playful experiments over the last two terms.

The artists in the show come from a variety of backgrounds: some have completed diplomas and degrees and have several years of experience behind them, others have just started out. Quite a number of them work in new media – video, photography, and performance – yet others prefer traditional forms of painting and drawing. Many have joined the group because they need a space and focus for their work; others because they enjoy the support and feedback you get from a community.

But they all have one thing in common: an open and inquisitive mind. Throughout the months, ideas have been explored, embraced, tested, debated, materialised, reworked, questioned, critiqued, and then explored again. Fine Art is a funny business today, because it appears that everything goes, and yet it doesn’t. With the freedom to work in any media and materials you like – whether paint, film, rubbish, chocolate, or stuffed animals – comes the need for rigour, questioning, and self-imposed limits and frameworks. And these artists, whether just starting out, or continuing a long-standing practice, seem to have understood this balance well: they have embraced new ideas, materials, and working practices with open minds, yet never without rigorous testing and critical examination, which bespeaks a serious commitment to the discipline of Fine Art, here edgily retitled as Nife Rat.

Students Exhibiting

Mladenka Vujicic Ninkovic

Chair

Jane Musgrove

Shifts in Time

Louise Harrison

Comfort

Mohammed Akram

Ghosts

Clifford Gabb

Skin

Clare Lewis

Echoic Memory

Parvin Dabaghmanesh

My Precious Little Pieces

Felicity Field

On the Road

Michaela Howard

Lobster Ghosts

Tara Wellesley

Mice Elf

Liz Wharfe

Untitled

Judy Neville

Flower Show

Working Men’s College Fine Art students exhibit their work @ the Ruskin Gallery, Working Men’s College

Private View 29 April 6:30-8:30pm

Exhibition opens 30 April and runs until 3 June

Opening times

Monday to Friday 9am until 7:30pm, Saturday 10am until 2pm – term time only

Monday to Friday 10am until 4pm – holidays (closed bank holidays)

It was with great sadness and gratitude for the life of our friend and colleague Giovanna, that this week we said goodbye at her funeral.  Her death came after a short period of severe illness, which she took bravely and dealt with in her usual way with fortitude, since she recognised that she had lived a full and long life.

Giovanna had entered our ceramics and sculpture class six years ago at the young age of 86. This was a considerable challenge for most, but learning new skills using your third language, is not what most people would tackle at her age. However she was able to fully engage with the class and her classmates with great personal charm and warmth and physicality, that endeared her to all. She entered fully into the group and the group projects using her considerable personal skills of engagement. As an Italian woman born and brought up at the end of the First World War in Italy, she was 18 when the Second World War broke out. She left Italy after the war with many other Italians, with her husband and two children to find a new life in Venezuela, where she had to learn Spanish and adapt to a new culture. There she spent her life bringing up her family and worked as a TV host. She had a very distinct and beautiful singing voice, which we in her class at WMC were privileged to be entertained by, in tapes that she played for us. During her latter years she had stoically borne the deaths of her husband and both her children, and yet had survived and not given up after such grievous personal losses.

At the Age of 80 she eventually returned to Italy and subsequently to the UK, where she had settled with her grandson and daughter. Here for the second time she had to adapt to a new language and culture, and find a new life, when most people would be daunted by such a task. She clearly embraced this challenge and here at WMC she always appeared, as one would expect from an Italian woman, with great style and charm, in beautiful dress and jewellery, which always attracted our attention, when we all appeared in the ceramics class in our old working clothes.

Giovanna therefore epitomises the ideal of a true International Woman, who had been touched by many people and cultures and life events, and who therefore integrated some of the best human qualities, that in spite of her limited English, always were fully visible to all. On International Women’s Day at WMC, we therefore would like to remember and to honour her as a full example of challenge, personal strength, energy to engage with new tasks and projects, creativity and beauty, integration of the best of cultural differences, but above all the ability to touch and respond to all of us irrespective of age, background and culture in a beautiful human way.

She will be greatly missed.

A fundraising page has been set up in support of the North London Hospice who supported Giovanna through her short illness.  If you would like to donate, please click the link below.

http://www.justgiving.com/Nonna

Reflective Dialogues

13.11.2013 – 20.12.2013

Reflective Dialogues is the final event of an LSIS (Learning and Skills Improvement Service) funded Leadership with Technology Project which ran between August 2012 – March 2013.  The project recruited 10 Art and Design practitioners from 5 London ACL providers to pilot online learning technology.

The exhibition take the dialogue between practitioner and student as its starting point as well as recognising the tutors’ personal and creative practice outside teaching.  Practitioners were asked to produce an individual portrait of one of their students and ask a student to produce a portrait of them.  The two works are displayed in the exhibition as paired images to extend the dialogue between practitioner and student visually.  Works have been produced both seperately and through more collaborative processes.

The project management team thanks all the practitioners and student who participated in the pilot and gave up their time to feedback on their experience of using new technology.

Laurence Elliott – Leadership with Technology Project Manager

‘Reflection in a key part of learning, whether looking back – at what we have experienced, or looking inward – at what is going on inside.  These actions lead to greater understanding, because they give us a sense of perspective.

Collaboration requires an exchange of perspectives, embraces the insights of others, and should sharpen our focus.  This project is about the learning converation – whether between the student and the tutor – the tutor oand the college – or between the colleges themselves.  These actions lead to better education, because they give us co-operative vision.’

Victor Dejean – Leadership with Technology Project Advisor