Discover the future of creative practice: Plymouth College of Art’s Class of 2020
Plymouth College of Art is committed to celebrating the new wave of art, design and media professionals ready to take over the creative industries from across our School of Design + Communication and our School of Arts + Media. Higher education is a catalyst for personal, professional and cultural transformation, and now more than ever, creative innovation plays a vital role in a globalised society.
With students selected for Graduate Fashion Week, winning the Freelands Painting Prize and the BAMS Student Medal Project to name a few, this year’s cohort have continued to exceed expectations despite the challenges that Covid-19 has presented. Students have also collaborated with household names such as Size?, Schuh and Converse as well as proving their initiative and proactive approach when faced with coronavirus shortages by supporting Makers HQ in producing PPE out of hospital curtains for local surgeries.
Working with their Subject Leaders, each BA (Hons) and Extended BA programme has collated a collection of work to demonstrate their abilities within the competitive creative industries, using an existing festival, platform, website, exhibition, publication or alternative format, best suited to their creative specialism.
This work is all collected on the Plymouth College of Art Class of 2020 landing page, with tiles that take you to each course’s individual online expo. From digital portfolios and publications to film showreels and virtual galleries, there’s never been so much to explore from the comfort of your sofa.
Courses throughout the college have explored different platforms and formats in order to best represent their hard work throughout their degree. BA (Hons) Illustration developed their own brochure, True Grit, featuring Mojo Nation Student Design Challenge winners Izzy Hazard, Jess Holloway and Charlotte Leadley, the latter of whom has been shortlisted for the New Designer of the Year Award for Social Impact Design.
BA (Hons) Fine Art have also taken this year’s graduates work into their publication Boomers, Doomers & Zoomers, featuring work from students such as Molly Erin McCarthy, who is a co-director of C.A.M.P (Contemporary Art Membership Plymouth) and has had her work exhibited online with Digital Art Residency and Silicon Valet.
Bold, an online portfolio representing the work of our BA (Hons) Graphic Communication students, includes designs by Maha Taher, one of our Ones to Watch and Elena Ruiz Ballestero, who developed branding for Green Minds, a Plymouth initiative to create sustainable green spaces throughout the city.
While global events have changed the nature of the Class of 2020 final year degree show, they are sharing this virtual community of practice with thousands of their peers from other arts universities around the world who have faced many of the same challenges.
Physical exhibition planned for Summer 2021
Nothing can replace the experience of exhibiting work in a physical space, and so Plymouth College of Art will offer any final year student completing their studies in 2020, the opportunity to exhibit a selection of their work as part of the annual degree shows next year. The Graduate Exposé 2021 event will be open to all graduate alumni who wish to exhibit their work to industry guests and visitors in a specially curated ‘one year on’ format.
Ignite Futures: Online directory of creative talent
Funded by Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, IGNITE 2020 is also providing an opportunity for graduate students to have their creative practice showcased within an online directory of emerging talent. You can see the work of Plymouth College of Art’s Class of 2020 here.
In partnership with Plymouth University and Plymouth City Council, the Ignite platform presents the opportunity to browse hundreds of graduate profiles and portfolios, highlighting the hotbed of creative talent that is the vibrant city of Plymouth.
Keep in touch
Follow us on our social media platforms for more updates on our Class of 2020 graduates.
Facebook: @plymouthcollegeofart
Instagram: @plymouthcollegeofart
Twitter: @plymouthart
©2020 Plymouth College of Arts
Len is a curator and a contributing writer at Art Plugged, a platform for contemporary art; he also engages in web development, design, and marketing.
