Sharing the skills !

There has been some serious sharing of good skills recently in graphics - Alex , an A2 student has been mentoring the AS students including Niall and Leighton,  in concept digital art whilst Paige and Jess helped demonstrate print and mixed media to a workshop last week. In addition to the great benefit to the AS students,  this means that the A2 students can use this for a section of their Arts Award qualification.  

Remembering families

This Week we welcome Caroline Slifkin of the Holocaust Educational Department to the Graphics deptartment where she gave several talks on the Holocaust & Art work created during & after. The students were able to ask questions about the process - from Pre-War life , to Victim groups, to the Ghettos & camps & to survivor testimonies.

Following this the students responded by creating Memorial Albums which celebrated the lives of the victims & their families - giving a voice back to the voiceless. The students responded creatively with sensitive thought & diverse media such as wax & encaustic , collage , layering. The fine art students also worked with Caroline to create work inspired by Christina Boltanski.

Visit http://asfcfineart.blogspot.co.uk/ to view the work.

Keeping the memory alive

This weds (Feb 24th & 25th) we will be offering workshops lead by Holocaust Educator & artist Caroline Slifkin , in Graphics & in Fine Art. The workshops , offer an insight into why the Holocaust happened , who it affected & asks questions - could it happen again ? ALL AS Art student is invited to attend - please see staff for details of times. The workshops will be practical & students will produce art work as a response. 

Times : Graphics Workshop P1&2 Weds , P6&7. Fine Art workshops : P1&2 Thurs, P6&7 Thurs. 

Half term (free) ideas...

Grab your camera & experience the best your city has to offer - there are a huge number of places to take photos & primary sources for both AS & A2 students - why not start with : 

MOSI Victorian funfair

A great place to visit for the Metropolis brief - MOSI (free entrance) has everything from sewers & huge machines, to space age equipment. Brilliant for primary sources.

The Grafitti trail

Manchester Gallery

The Football Museum at URBIS

Whats on in Manchester & the area ...

That spring feeling....

It could have been the sudden sunshine that filled the studio today but there is some excellent exploration work happening in the Graphics department just now - with A2 students enthusiastically researching the new ideas for the Unit 4. Students have been marbling paper, screenprinting & trapping items in waxed teabags in the pursuit of a direction for the Art exam themes. Ellisa has been creating stunning intricate  paper cuts (& yes, she cut these by hand !!) whilst Josh has been looking at the theme of "Encased" and using colour psychology to convey emotions. Josh filled 5 pots with coloured inks that represented anxiety, anger, joy, truth & serenity. The large vase represented the dominant emotion. Thought provoking & beautiful. 

Chinese New Year celebrations begin !

The Year of the Monkey celebrations have begun in Manchester with a stunning light display seen here on St Anne's church.  The festivities continue until Sunday with the Dragon parade from Manchester town hall -beginning at 12.30. If you've never seen this , join the celebrations and the 175ft long dragon and hundreds of red lanterns. Brilliant for primary sources and research. 

Jess's mood board of initial ideas for Unit 4

Retro research day....

So we travelled back in time to 1985 when laptops and smart phones were a glimmer of the future. The A2s were challenged to research using only books , magazines and papers. The Internet and Google is amazing but sometimes it can actually limit your searches.  Our research wall shows the wealth of images and ideas found.