Why institute is still a draw for arts masters (From Gazette)

Why institute is still a draw for arts masters

9:30pm Tuesday 25th May 2010 in Education

WHEN most students graduate from their courses they move on to pastures new.

But three MA graduates from the Colchester Institute’s School of Art, Design and Media, are sticking around for a little bit longer at the Minories, where they have been based for the past couple of years, and are even organising a special arts festival for the venue next year.

Julia Orpen, Nevina Williams and Rachel Smith were part of the first batch of students to complete the MA in arts in a social context, from its new home at the Minories.

They were among the little community of artists which took over the site in 2008, when the college’s school of art moved into the historic building in Colchester High Street.

The arts in a social context course was one of the first to be based in the workshops above the gallery, with a number of other courses following on soon after.

But now their two-year course has come to an end, Julia, Rachel and Nevina have no intention of leaving or splitting up their working partnership.

Rachel said: “It has been a great experience and one of the great things is the way we’ve all really enjoyed working together. We wanted to keep that going.”

As well as working on projects, the three also want to maintain their association with the Minories.

Nevina added: “It has a unique atmosphere with a rich artistic heritage, but hopefully, through our work and the festival, we can maintain our links with it.

Julia said: “We are looking to build a sculpture garden here next summer and, along with that, we want to run an arts festival.

“Hopefully it will go on for over a month and include dance troupes, storytelling, theatre and all kinds of other things.

“With any luck, we will get a lot more people into the space to see the work, who may not have come along before.”