Why did you choose this course?
I did want to go to Sixth Form and do more in terms of Art and Design but when I looked up on the course (at Kendal) it offered much more than the Art course did at school so I decided to choose this instead.
What made you choose Kendal College?
It has lots of opportunities and you learn more about different artists which inspires you and gives you a lot to do which is great as there’s plenty of resources to utilise.
Is college like you expected? If not, why?
It’s not what I expected, in fact it’s a lot better. I thought it was going to be pretty much like school but you’re treated as if you’re much more grown up.
What is it you enjoy the most about college life?
Probably the freedom I guess, as well as being given a certain thing to do on that course, say like ceramics, you get to do it all yourself like the designing and everything – you don’t have to stick to one thing either.
What opportunities have you had as a student at college?
Freedom to pick what you want to do and opportunities to go on trips like to art galleries for art students as an example.
What is the teaching style like on your course?
There’s lots of knowledge and different specialisms within the department, like each teacher has their own specialism. For instance, Dave’s a photography teacher and has just run some photography introduction lessons, the students have the best teacher for the job on that. Mike who’s more graphic designed-based has done the animation stuff. Amy is more craft-based so I’ll do things like textiles and ceramics. Whereas, Sorrel is more fine art and contextual based so she does lots of analysis and artist skills. As a department there is a wealth of different knowledge in which everyone works together at different times of the year or the teachers might switch classes around so students have different experiences with different teachers
Can you describe a typical day at college?
We do practical artwork in the mornings and then record it all on the blog on the computer in the afternoon. That’s the typical day for me but on the first lesson of the week we look at artists who inspire us, so we’ve recently just looked at some photographers and we’ll look at a range of artists. Some are more historical whereas others are more modern as well. We’ll discuss ideas and there’s a lot of teamwork, peer evaluation and bouncing ideas off each other. We do quite a lot of practical work too so at the moment we’re a time-based unit which we do a lot of digital stuff like animation and photography. Previous to that we’ve finished a ceramics project where we were looking at different kinds of techniques and processes. We’re also starting the final project soon where there’ll be a lot of opportunities for workshops.
How would you describe your college experience so far?
Really good, it’s been amazing.
What are you hoping to do after college?
Stay here and do a level 3 course in Art and Design which will be 2 years and then hopefully either go to University or stay on and do a Foundation Degree.
What facilities do you use regularly at college?
Students have a base room that they use mostly But because we have fantastic facilities here we have lots of rooms that are specialist. We also have a print room, ceramics room, 3D space, photography studio, dark room and these can be booked out as classes or individual students can book the space
If you could give one piece of advice to people considering College, what would it be?
Go for it, just do it.
