Sharon Harvey: Photographer [review]

Sharon Harvey is a photographer who undertook her BA(Hons) Fine Art, Printmaking & Photomedia at Central St. Martins College of Art & Design, London. As well as exhibiting extensively in Leeds, London and Melbourne, Australia, Sharon’s images have also been reproduced in various publications and photobooks including Northern Gothic (2014), Ultraviolet (2014), Black and White Photography Magazine (2012) and Lenscratch (2013), an online contemporary photography blogzine. Sharon works with a range of photographic processes that enable the materiality of the resulting photographs to become apparent

Paula Chambers: A review of ‘With Intent: Fanciful Objects’ [review]

Paula Chambers’ tenth solo show has been installed in the gallery on the first floor of the Batley Library and Resource Centre; a survivor from Batley’s successful economic and civic past at the beginning of the last century. The artist describes it as a ‘traditional’ hang that contains a series of wall-based works and appropriated objects shown on plinths. The walls are painted with a dreamy greenish white on which a series of mirrors reflect and shimmer. The visual effect unifies the whole exhibition and signifies an overall interest in the vintage

Mature students, transformation and transition

The purpose of this article is to argue for a transformative education that acknowledges and values the capacities of mature students; where higher education institutions reflect on their own assumptions and practices in order to become more inclusive and open to difference. The stories told by Eliza, a mature student, are analysed through narrative inquiry; this approach uses narrative as a means of capturing and analysing experience. In this case, Eliza’s stories about transition and transformation were collected over three years. Eliza made the transition from her Access to HE course to a degree programme in textiles. She was crossing a boundary between further and higher education, a time which could impact positively or negatively on her future achievements. The conclusions drawn from this study are not easily turned into generalisations or ‘truths’ as they are contingent on the contexts in which the narratives were produced. Narrative is a representation of experience which is mediated by the social and cultural positions of the narrators and their audiences. This study found that Eliza was confronted by many difficulties and misunderstandings around time management, pedagogy and assessment. Poor communication between Eliza and her tutors led to a growing frustration resulting in her considering leaving the course. Eliza’s institution sometimes seemed inflexible and was unable to respond effectively to her needs as a part-time student. The implications for educators are that they should think about strategies for adapting to a diverse student body. The previous experiences and backgrounds of ‘newcomers’ should be celebrated rather than being perceived as ‘issues’ that need to be fixed. In other words, when ‘non-traditional’ students move through the stages of their education, their learning contexts may also need to be transformed

Emily Towler: Sculptor [review]

Towler is a Leeds-based artist who is working with issues around gender and identity. In 2011 she achieved a Kenneth Armitage Foundation Emerging Sculptor Award and in 2012 was short listed for the Woolgather Art Prize . Her work combines humour, absurdity and playfulness in relation to sculptural and drawn works that raise some serious questions about how we ‘fit into our skins’ whilst living in a complex world

Inclusion in the art and design curriculum: revisiting Bernstein and 'class' issues

Students who have started their undergraduate degrees in art and design with an Access to HE diploma rather than A’ Levels and a Pre-BA Foundation Course can be described as ‘non-traditional’ because they have had different previous learning and life experiences. They are likely to be seen as mature and also to come from under-represented groups in higher education. This discussion revisits the work of educational sociologist Basil Bernstein in order to explore how non-traditional students with diverse backgrounds are at times excluded from the visible and invisible pedagogies of art and design higher education. Bernstein has described how seemingly opposing pedagogic models act selectively on different social groups, privileging the middle classes. Bernstein proposes that educational institutions construct curricula based assumptions about the currency of students’ skills and their access to resources such as time and space. By looking at the pedagogic devise of studio practice, which is often central to an art and design education, it is possible to see it as an example of an implicit invisible pedagogy which is framed by a more explicit visible one. Due to aspects of surveillance that are associated with an invisible pedagogy non-traditional students from backgrounds other than the middle classes are in danger of being misread by tutors. In turn these students are likely to misread the significance of studio practice as a means of being creative

Horizontal discourses in adult art and design education

This article draws upon research from a longitudinal study (2011-2014) that sought to capture the experiences of adult students as they studied their degrees in art and design in the United Kingdom. Due to the entry qualifications to higher education held by these students they were perceived by their institutions as being ‘non-traditional’. They also tended to be mature students with a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. The project entailed the participants meeting with the researcher twice a year during the duration of their higher education. The methodological approach that was used is based on narrative inquiry. Bernstein’s (1999) theories that relate to horizontal discourse (everyday talk that is informal and specific to the context in which it is enacted) informed the analysis of the participants’ stories. It is suggested that informal, day-to-day dialogue is as important as the formal, specialist discourse about art and design in the studio. The sense of belonging seems of particular importance for those learning in an art and design studio where the students are diversified due to their age. It prevents a sense of exclusion among ‘mature' students who stand out with their appearance, clothes and behaviour. In conclusion, the author suggests establishing a relevant curriculum and developing a strategy fostering better social integration of "mature" students, which can greatly affect their sense of belonging to the group as well as educational experience directly related to the studied subject matter

Friendship, discourse and belonging in the studio: the experiences of ‘non-traditional’ students in Design Higher Education

The national policies, operating within the United Kingdom, of widening participation for students exists within a competitive and uncertain higher education culture. The impact of this on those described as ‘second chance’ or ‘untraditional’ students who at the same time want to become designers needs to be examined. The paper analyses two narratives of continuity and discontinuity constructed by and between myself, and two post-Access to HE design students. They are people who have gained places on textile degrees with an Access to HE diploma, rather than the more conventional A ‘levels; they tend to be mature students with diverse social backgrounds (Hudson, 2009:25; Penketh and Goddard, 2008:316; Burke, 2002:81). The students were both studying textile design but at different Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Textile designers are concerned with designing for surfaces and embellishments which could include wallpapers, fabrics for fashion or interiors, flooring, and packaging. These narratives were selected from a longitudinal study (2011-14) that sought to investigate the experiences of post-Access to HE students in art and design higher education. The participants were studying on a range of creative degree programmes in various institutional contexts. Narrative inquiry was used to show the ways in which students reflected on and took stock of their learning careers, (Clandinin and Connelly, 2004; Butler-Kisber, 2010). The analysis of the narratives draws upon some of the notions concerned with phronesis (prudence or practical wisdom). Aristotle claimed that only a person of experience can practice practical wisdom, and a young person is unlikely to have extensive life experience, (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI, Chapter 8). This discussion recounts some of the critical incidents within the stories where I have noticed evidence of phronesis or at some points the absence of wise judgement. It is suggested that within the context of higher education mature adults sometimes make poor decisions leading them to act in ways that continue their sufferings. This is because they do not always exercise their potential to act with prudence, (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI, Chapter 5). It is argued that friendship and acting well in the interests of others is an important aspect of phronesis, (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI, Chapter 11); where all students are supported to make good decisions about their education. The design studio space (both in its physical and virtual form) is revealed to be a place where horizontal discourse takes place which enables acts of friendship between students (Broadhead, 2015). Through friendship and a sense of belonging students are able to continue with their studies even though they meet unexpected and difficult challenges. At the same time, the studio can also be an alienating space that confuses and frustrates some students, making them consider discontinuing their course

Designing experiences: friendship and practical wisdom in the art and design higher education

The national policy of widening participation for students exists within a competitive and uncertain higher education culture. The impact of this on those who want to become artists and designers and are at the same time labelled as ‘second chance’ or ‘untraditional’ students needs to be examined. This paper analyses the narratives constructed by and between Chad, a post-Access to HE student, and myself, the inquirer, that represent some of her experiences during her BA (Hons) Surface Pattern course. Surface pattern designers are concerned with designing for surfaces and embellishments which could include wallpapers, fabrics, flooring, and packaging. This case study was part of a longitudinal study (2011-14) that sought to investigate the experiences of post-Access students in art and design higher education. The participants were studying on a range of creative degree programmes in various institutional contexts. Narrative inquiry was used to show the ways in which students reflected on and took stock of their educational journeys. The analysis draws upon some of the notions concerned with phronesis (prudence or practical wisdom). Aristotle claimed that only a person of experience can practice practical wisdom, and a young person is unlikely to have extensive life experience, (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI, Chapter 8). This discussion recounts some of the critical incidents within Chad’s story where I have noticed evidence of phronesis or at some points the absence of wise judgement. It is suggested that within the context of higher education mature adults sometimes make poor decisions leading them to act in ways that continue their sufferings. This is because they do not exercise their potential to act with prudence, (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI, Chapter 5). Chad offers an explanation of why this maybe so at the end of her story where she describes the culture of her course as being very competitive and not conducive to her thinking and acting well for herself and others

‘Out of the mouths of babes’: mature students and horizontal discourse in the art and design studio

This paper is based on the narratives of students coming to art and design Higher Education (HE) with an Access to HE diploma. These students are sometime referred to as ‘second chance’ , ‘mature’ or ‘non-traditional’. The two case studies under discussion are drawn from those collected from a longitudinal study (2011-2014) that sought to investigate the experiences of ‘non-traditional students’ in art and design HE. The participants are studying on a range of creative degree programmes in various institutional contexts. Narrative inquiry is used to show the ways in which students’ stories run contrary to some metanarratives about class and education. Bernstein’s theories about horizontal and vertical discourse within educational settings are used to analyse the students’ accounts about their encounters in the art and design studio. It is argued that age can be used by educational institutions as a mythological discourse that constructs a particular horizontal solidarity within a particular cohort which in turn can marginalise some mature students. For example, within art and design ‘youth and creativity’ are closely aligned and this can be transmitted through the various pedagogic devises and practices employed by an institution. The signature pedagogies also associated with the subject area can position ‘non-traditional’ students as the ‘pedagogised other’

Kelly Cumberland: Expanded drawings [review]

Kelly Cumberland graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1998 with an MA in Fine Art having instigated a collaboration between the departments of Microbiology, Radiology and Visual Art. She has exhibited in many group and solo exhibitions, including: Vestigium [Pulvis] (isw) at Whitechapel London; Local Imagination at San Francisco Art Institute; The Drawing Shed at Project Space Leeds; Multiples & Additions at Con|temporary Gallery, Berlin and Protoavisis opt at the Atrium Galley of St James Hospital, Leeds. She exhibited as part of La Nit de l’Art (Night of Art) in Palma de Mallorca, September 2013 and later participated in Art Palma Brunch 2015. Cumberland examines the change and removal, growth and deterioration of the life of a virus. Her installations and objects incorporate drawing which acts as a metaphor for how something seemingly delicate and insubstantial can overwhelm its environmen