Wiltshire College & University Centre’s annual Creative Arts Exhibition made a successful return last week, with a huge array of pieces put up on display across multiple campuses.
The event was able to welcome back in-person viewings for the first time since 2019 after the two previous editions were largely held online.
The College has a large cohort of students enrolled on a wide range Creative Arts courses across its Chippenham, Salisbury and Trowbridge campuses and a vast array of artwork – including paint, illustration, sculpture, graphic design, textiles, music, film and gaming – were all featured.
Poppy Freeman is studying a Foundation Art & Design at the Trowbridge and produced a piece entitled ‘The Decline of Pollinators’ featuring an animation and posters with a striking black and yellow colour scheme.
Poppy explained: “My piece explores the issue of the declining population of bees. I wanted to show how this decline has happened over time, highlight the dangers it creates for the wider world, and try to explain to people how they can help to prevent it.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at the College and it’s really helped me explore my creativity. I feel like I’ve really challenged myself as an artist. I’m now going to Falmouth University to study illustration and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Sam Thomson, from the UAL Level 3 Year 2 Diploma in Creative Practice: Art, Design and Communication course at the Salisbury campus, produced a series of three graphic design pieces called ‘Fight Against Poverty’.
Sam said: “I have created this work to display the issues of poverty in our world, with my overall vision being to make a change. My target audience are adults who may look upon these works and they will hopefully persuade them to maybe donate to a charity, or any other action that would help poorer people.
“This work supports my goal of becoming a graphic designer by developing my skills in digital art software. I even have my first client, where I am designing a logo for a New York agency, and next year I will start the UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at the College.”
A sculpture entitled ‘Alice’s Journey of Mental Struggles’ was created by Bethany Walbridge from the UAL Level 1 Diploma in Art and Design course in Salisbury.
Bethany said: “I wanted to compare two different eras, Victorian and Modern, in terms of the treatment of mental health. Inspired by the game Alice: Madness Return; it is from my point of view of the subject because I am battling with mental health and I wanted to show the audience the struggles of dealing with those problems.”
Morgan Francis from the Foundation Art and Design course in Trowbridge produced a piece called ‘Connections Since Lockdown’.
“Lockdown was a time where not only were our connections tested but also the time when we truly recognised their importance,” said Morgan. “I spoke to my friends and family and kept a record of all the different methods they used to speak to each other and how they felt about it. I wanted to highlight the value of maintaining these connections for our wellbeing.
“I’ve had a great time at the College and really enjoyed the environment. We’ve got the freedom to really explore our ideas.”
The full exhibition from all three campuses can be viewed online here.
