Art and Design students get creative in community-inspired projects

Art and Design students at New City College’s Hackney campus have been involved in a range of local neighbourhood initiatives as well as attending various workshops and exhibitions.

One of the projects saw 10 creative students – all aiming to become architects – chosen to take part in a number of workshops to help generate ideas for the redesign of Hoxton Street in Hackney.

During the workshops, the students collaborated with Erect Architecture and Hackney Council as part of the consultation process for the redesign, which will include the road, pavements and the surrounding areas.

With ambitions to study architecture at university, the students found the sessions helpful and informative. Their ideas and suggestions will be taken into consideration by the architectural firm as their experts devise and deliver a proposal for the new look.

A number of other projects have been undertaken by the Art and Design department over the last few months. They include:

 Community engagement at Hoxton Fair

Students organised and led an art stall at Hoxton Market over the Easter break as part of the Hoxton Markets Mini Fair (see photos below). Visitors to the stall were taught all about the printing process and helped to print over 100 tote bags which they could take home.

 Barbican Exhibition and Textiles workshop

After attending the exhibition Unravel, Politics and Power through Textiles at the Barbican, Art and Design students and their tutors were contacted by the Barbican’s educational coordinator who invited them to a unique and remarkable workshop. Run by artists from the Kiran Nadar Art and Design Museum from New Delhi, the workshop gave students the chance to discover the work of Mrinalini Mukherjee – an Indian sculptor known for her contemporary style and use of dyed and woven hemp fibre.

The students were given a guided tour of the exhibition and took part in a macabre workshop where they learnt about traditional textiles techniques. See photographs by Anthony Comber-Badu.

Old Street Digital Billboard

Three students were proud to have their work selected to be displayed on the huge digital billboard at Old Street. Their photographs, of scenes in Hoxton, were on display for two weeks (see photos above). Each student’s work played for 10 seconds in every minute and was seen by motorists and pedestrians passing through the area. The Old Street digital billboard is a commercial initiative that gives time and space to artists linked to the area.

UCL Trellis Project

This initiative gave students the opportunity to work with the artist Maxi Himpe and educational sociologist Louise Archer of University College London (UCL) as part of the Trellis program. Trellis is a socially engaged art project that sees practitioners from a range of disciplines work with communities in East London. Art and Design students joined a number of thought-provoking workshops which looked at their experience of education in the UK. The content from these workshops was then turned into a play which was performed at Hoxton Hall in front of education policy makers.

Students’ work displayed at OKN1

Located just off Hoxton Square, OKN1 is New City College’s award-winning casual dining restaurant where trainee chefs and hospitality students work their way towards professional qualifications under the expert guidance of professional chefs.

Managers of the restaurant were so impressed when they saw Art and Design students’ work at their winter exhibition in Hoxton Hall, they have installed a collection of 10 photographs that are now permanently displayed for diners to view at OKN1.

Hoxton Hall end of year show

The Art and Design department’s end of year show will take place on June 12 in Hoxton Hall where students will exhibit their finest work.

Are you a creative? Join our Art and Design courses. Apply today!