Art students secure first-choice university places

University awaits a group of talented artists who have all secured their first-choice places after studying at Barrow Sixth Form College.

Mia Griffiths, Lara Gaskell, Olivia Dickenson and Scarlett Kenny hosted a public exhibition of their work from the Foundation in Art, Design and Media course at the Rating Lane campus this week.

The four students have completed a 10-month intense course and will go on to degrees in fine art, illustration and animation.

Former Dowdales pupil Mia, who won the subject prize for her work at A Level, will study a fine art degree at Newcastle University. Her final installation focused on how the history of witchcraft has impacted the modern woman and the feminist movement.

“I’m excited to go to university. Newcastle was the first place I’d looked at and after that none of the others could top it,” she said. “The foundation course has been intense but it’s been great and, although we didn’t know each other before, we’ve made good friends.”

Lara, also from Dowdales, will study illustration at the Northern School of Arts after completing her project on different approaches to mental health through social media. She said her degree will open doors into a range of careers including teaching, tattooist or as an illustrator.

Former St Bernard’s pupil Scarlett is looking forward to studying illustration at University of Central Lancashire. Her final project looked at diversity and representation in children’s literature including drawing on her research to create a book called ‘Zig and the Humans’ for 4-7 year olds.

“I want to be a children’s illustrator and author and created a book for my A Level so this was a chance to look at the topic of representation in more depth, it was fascinating to look into the history,” she said.

Olivia, a past pupil of Furness Academy, has a place on a degree in illustration with animation at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her project looked at the connections with ancient Greek mythology and tarot cards and she hopes for a future career in animation.

The students showed their work at a public exhibition enjoyed by family, friends and college staff.

Nikki Conigliaro, subject leader for art and design/photography, said it was the first year that study had not been disrupted with restrictions.

“Even in their A Levels the students were wearing masks but this year has seen a huge difference bringing a freedom to their work which shows more creativity, maturity, motivation and they have created some stunning pieces.”

The Foundation Course in Art, Design and Media is open to anyone over 18 through to adult learners and the next intake is September 2023.

For more details, visit the website www.furness.ac.uk