Art, design and media students from the Isle of Man College of Further and Higher Education will showcase their work at an annual exhibition that opens to the public this week.
 
Eighty full-time and 81 part-time students will have work featured in the traditional end-of-year show, which is one of the highlights of the year at the College.
 
The two-week event continues the College’s participation in Island of Culture 2014.
 
The event runs from Friday 20th June to Tuesday 1st July and is open from 10am to 8pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 4pm on Fridays.
 
Helen Fox, Programme Manager for Art, Design and Media, said visitors would see work by students ranging from GCSE to degree-level. Two and three-dimensional art, fashion, photography, sculpture, print-making, jewellery and video animation all feature.
 
Helen said: ‘Students have again produced some stunning work that is imaginative, thought-provoking and inventive.
 
‘Digital technology has become even more embedded into what we do. It’s vital students stay up to date with the skills needed to make contemporary work. The keyboard is as important as the pencil.’
 
She continued: ‘Island of Culture 2014 has made us all think differently about where we live and how we live. The value of the arts in our lives is much more important than many people may realise. The real legacy will be in what happens next and how we continue to work together to develop arts in our Island.’
 
Helen added: ‘This year has been a busy and exciting time at the College, with the project to develop the Market Hall as an arts hub, in partnership with Douglas Borough Council, and the development of new degree programmes at the same time as delivering courses.’
 
She thanked Citywing, sponsor of the College’s ‘Artist on a Plane’ initiative to fly artists to the Island to give public lectures and work with students.
 
Geoff Corkish MBE MLC, chairman of the Isle of Man Arts Council and a Member of the Department of Education and Children, will formally open the exhibition at a private viewing on Thursday evening (19th June).
 
The event will see the presentation of the Norman Sayle Award, which is named after a College art lecturer of 35-years’ standing who became one of the Island’s most celebrated watercolourists. The award is sponsored by the Isle of Man Post Office.
 
The names of five students who will go forward for the Archibald Knox Travel Scholarship, sponsored by Home Strategic, will also be announced at the private viewing. The scholarship will be presented at a dinner celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Knox, being held on 25th June.
 
Photo - James Woodward with work that will form part of the exhibition.