‘Without imagination there would be no creativity. Without creativity there would be nothing’.
Thom Rollett, Norwich University of the Arts, visited our art department on the afternoon of Tuesday 6th November and delivered an interesting and informative presentation and workshop to twenty A Level Creative Arts students studying Fine Art, Textiles, Photography and Design Technology.
This is the fifth consecutive year that they have been invited to Saint Felix to give a presentation on creative courses and careers to our arts students. We have developed a proud relationship with the university and have recently celebrated the graduation of several Old Felicians who studied BA Honour degrees at NUA.
Thom outlined the qualities that NUA has to offer as a specialist arts college, it’s facilities and broad range of courses and he also emphasised the importance of visiting different universities and carefully selecting the right course to suit each student’s needs, skills and interests.
The importance of creativity in the UK was highlighted and the wide diversity of creative careers which range from architecture to theatre, gaming, product design, advertising, media, fashion and more, all industries which are becoming increasingly relevant to our society today.
For those interested in a creative career it is not essential to study at university but a degree can be helpful, not just in developing skills, but making contacts and links with industries to increase future employment opportunities. In addition, there are also significant transferable skills gained within creative arts courses, such as resilience, delivering a brief, flexibility and adaptability, communication, responding to feedback, demonstrating a positive attitude, all which help to build strong personal statements and CV’s, and are attractive qualities to offer in all areas of industry and business.
The Year 12 and Year 13 students enjoyed the drawing workshop about communication and commercialism, which followed the talk, and were given some helpful guidance on portfolios.
We hope that the presentation has inspired students to consider pursuing a creative career, and that they will refer to the career preparation guidance given out, to help support future applications to any university or course, and recognise the value of their creative studies at Saint Felix.