News Festival of Arts ‘A Great Success’ 06.08.2023

The Arts Faculty at Collyer’s recently hosted the Festival of Arts. The event at the college included a morning of sessions and workshops run by 45 industry professionals and culminated with a Higher Education Fayre with 15 universities represented by 21 contributors. The event forms part of the college’s extensive careers and progression programme.

Talks and workshops covered a wide range of employment fields from the police and probation service, solicitors, costume design, photography, and videography; translation, web design, marketing, graphic design; exhibitions and archiving, wildlife conservation, filmmaking, GIS in land management and wildlife conservation; events management, and the dance industry.

Universities also offered sessions with talks on careers for geography graduates, creative careers pathways as well as showreel and portfolio creation for interviews.

Savannah Moray from University for the Creative Arts was very impressed: “The students at Collyer’s are so great, they are really confident, polite, and interactive. I look forward to coming back soon!”

Adam Hillier who studies History, Law and Maths at the college said, “The talk on diplomacy was so interesting. It was great to hear about all the opportunities out there and the potential careers I could have after I leave Collyer’s.”

Lexie Markell who studies History, English Literature, Chemistry and Biology added, “It has been a fantastic opportunity to enrich my subjects and hear from industry specialists.”

Kate Walters Head of Geography said: “Today has highlighted the wide range of careers that are available to our students through the interactive workshops given by our visiting speakers.”

Collyer’s alumna and costume supervisor Charlotte Aylett said: “It has been lovely to come back and see so many friendly faces and the wonderful teachers from the Visual Arts departments. I look forward to coming back to Collyer’s next year!”

Emma Broadbridge who studies A level Photography, Graphic Communication and Sociology said “It’s fantastic to hear from ex-Collyer’s students and to see where they are now. It makes us feel really hopeful for the future.”

Photographer and Videographer, Collyer’s alumnus Sam Aylett said: “It has been so great to come back. The Festival of Arts is a fantastic event.”

Student Jasper Butterfill who attended Sam’s talk said, “it was a really great session, Sam spoke honestly about his journey, it was really inspiring.”

The team from Storm12 gave a workshop on the graphic design industry, CEO Matt Saunders said: “It’s about getting young people ready for industry and giving them an understanding of their way into employment.”

Ian McAlister Teacher of Art & Design and Director for HE Progression at Collyer’s said: “Hearing form the fantastic folks at Storm12 about the realities and joys of working in graphic design was both enlightening and informative. Matt, Paul, and Ben from Storm12 brought a palpable energy to their talk and encouraged students to get involved and make themselves stand out when presenting portfolios or C.V.s.”

Ann Mutluer, Director of Faculty Arts said: “Thank you so much to everyone involved who has made the Festival of Arts such a great success. It has been wonderful to welcome all the businesses, industry specialists and universities to Collyer’s.”

Ian McAlister added: “Events like the Festival of Arts and our Festival of Science are paramount in our efforts to prepare our students for the workplace. Packed with practical advice from local and national businesses, industry experts, university lecturers and relatable conversations with our successful alumni, our students have been spoilt for this year when it comes to sage advice. I could not be prouder of our contributors for their selfless gift of knowledge and time for these two large scale college events, I know that their words will have a positive and enduring impact on our students.”