22 year 13 Fine Art & Photography students took part in an very special workshop led and organised by The UnIversity of Manchester in partnership with The Whitworth Gallery in Manchester.
Students spent the day experiencing a university taster lecture at The University of Manchester about the artists Goya, Hogarth and Kentridge which related to the exhibition they later explored in the Whitworth Art Gallery. During lunch students were able to speak to student ambassadors from the Art History course and ask them questions about university study, life as a undergraduate student and the relationship between the university and the art gallery.
The afternoon session provided an amazing opportunity for students to take part in a series of specialist workshops in which they visited The Whitworth Art Gallery private art and textiles stores, had an introduction to conservation and spent time in the conversation workshop, they were also able to see selected artworks not on public exhibition by Picasso, Turner and Ruskin and interact with the stunning Goya and Hogarth prints and paintings previously discussed in the lecture.
Students were also challenged to engage with the animation/film installation art of William Kentridge which led to a group presentation about the artworks on display allowing the students to skilfully express their own opinions and thoughts about the artwork to each other.
It was an outstanding and truly special opportunity to see the work involved in curating artwork, giving students an insight in critical theory at an undergraduate level. We sincerely thank all the University of Manchester and Whitworth staff who gave their time and shared their passion and commitment for the arts with us.
We are proud to say Alsager School students received outstanding feedback –
‘The student ambassadors all said how much they enjoyed working with their groups. Luke, Denise and I were impressed how confident the pupils were when it came to presenting their opinions. I know they did not find this easy and were initially quite daunted by it, but they rose to the challenge and did a great job.’
We look forward to seeing how the students apply the new skills and experiences learnt in Manchester to their own creative portfolios back at college.
