Art and Photography - Hurstpierpoint College

Art and Photography

Our Art and Photography courses encourage creativity and independent thinking, enabling students to develop their own styles in a variety of media. There is a huge array of options for both the talented artist and the tentative newcomer to explore.

Choosing to follow one of the two courses in the Art Department enables students to experience a whole range of new processes and materials and to appreciate various art forms in a contemporary as well as an historical context. Students explore and expand their visual language to a high level which is ideal preparation for Further and Higher Education in general, or applying for an Art Foundation course.

Courses

At A-level we offer Fine Art and Photography as separate courses. Both subjects are taught using a similar course structure but students on the Photography course produce all work photographically, exploring digital and darkroom techniques in a dedicated studio and in dedicated groups. Students opting for the Fine Art course may choose to work through painting and drawing, printmaking, sculpture or alternative media such as film, photography, installation and mixed media assemblage.

Co-curricular opportunities

In an ever-changing world art plays an important role by responding to this constant flux, here at Hurst we encourage our pupils to engage with issues with a wide range of techniques and processes, delivered in our co-curricular programme. The activities we have to offer outside of timetabled lessons are:

  • Shell Activities Art club
  • Animation club
  • Remove Activities Photography club
  • Shell Enrichment
  • Open Studios for all year groups (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings)

We display our students’ Art and Photography work throughout the college. We also have opportunities for our students to display their work at our open gallery evenings and at the end of year Summer Art Exhibition.

Facilities

Our Art Studio is a purpose-built facility and is always open for students to pop in and pursue their individual projects. We have specialist facilities including a Mac computer suite with an A2 photo printer, photographic studio, darkroom, printing press for etching and collagraph, photo-based screen printing, textiles and ceramics.

Higher Education and career opportunities

Our Fine Art and Photography courses are excellent preparation for the wide range of career choices available in the creative industries. Many Hurst students undertake further study at art college or other related establishments.

The majority of our students who take Art at university complete a full-time one-year Art Foundation course before pursuing a degree in a specialist area of study. These degrees are as wide-ranging as Graphic Illustration, Three Dimensional Design, Fine Art, History of Art, Commercial Photography and Architecture.

The transferable skills acquired whilst studying art – such as creative problem solving, time management, independent approaches and risk-taking – are ideal preparation for future careers in the arts and other related fields of work.