Over a thousand visitors flocked to Canterbury City Centre last week as the Visual Arts Department at EKC Canterbury College, which is part of East Kent Colleges Group (EKC Group), proudly hosted its 12th Annual End of Year Show.
This highly anticipated event offers the public a unique opportunity to experience an impressive array of artwork crafted by the next generation of creative talent.
Set within the former Currys building on Burgate, this year’s exhibition – titled ‘Bloc’ – provided students with a valuable platform to showcase their work to industry professionals and build vital networking connections.
Featuring creations from all year groups across EKC Canterbury College’s Visual Arts courses, the end of year show spanned two floors and presented a diverse range of artistic styles and mediums.
Many of the pieces on display stemmed from real-world projects, where students collaborated with actual clients to gain hands-on experience, preparing them for successful careers in the creative industries.
Speaking about the achievement of his students, Ben Kidger, Head of Visual Arts at EKC Canterbury College, said: “I’m incredibly proud, it’s a highly ambitious thing that [our students] do every year, and they respond incredibly well to the challenges we put in front of them.
“We get the results that you see in front of you because of the amazing talents of the staff, the dedication and passion of the students, and the wrap-around support of the rest of EKC Group – in particular, EKC Canterbury College.”
Harvey Booth, a graduating student studying Level 3 Graphic Design and Illustration, said doing these art exhibitions in the community will help his future.
He said: “It allows a lot of people to come into the show, view my work, talk to me about my work and potentially even give me job opportunities.”
Frankie Pettman, who is also studying Level 3 Graphic Design and Illustration, and recently won gold at the national WorldSkillsUK competition in Manchester agreed that putting on events in the community is useful.
She said: “It’s really helpful putting these shows on in the community as a wider audience can reach your work.
“Rather than it being in College, it’s right in the center of the city, so everyone can come and see it.”
Now in its 12th year, Ben Kidger added that the students and staff go the extra mile to host the exhibition in the community, but it wouldn’t be possible without the College’s community partners.
“One of the reasons we do it in the city, which is incredibly difficult, is because we take our artwork to the public, rather than expecting them to come to us,” he explained.
“It’s a lot easier to do this back in College, and most colleges and universities even do that, they just turn their studio spaces into gallery spaces, but again, we go the extra mile.
“I knew this building was empty, so I was going around estate agents asking, “have you got anything”, and from that conversation to getting the keys was actually very, very quick, and that’s a massive thank you to Caxton’s who did that for us. They really did put a lot of faith in us.
“We have a charity associated with our department which raises money to do things like this, called the Friends of CSVA, and through them, we’ve been in this building pretty much for the whole year since the set-up of the show this time last year.
“After our show came down, we handed the keys over to the Streets Ahead Collective – run by Liz Wellstead – who turned this space into a big community hub for loads of other charities, groups and employers to engage with.
“They did that for a good nine months or so, and then the keys were handed back to us to put on ‘Bloc’.
“We’ve been supported throughout by an enormous amount of people within the local community, and the council and everyone has been incredibly helpful and supportive because the end result is this show.”
Chief Executive Officer of EKC Group, Lucy McLeod, added: “It’s important that we do these events in the community because that’s what EKC Group is all about – serving its communities, being the heart of the community, and this is the ultimate display of that.
“These events provide so many opportunities, in the preparation, the hard work that builds up to it, but also in the pride our learners have in displaying their work, showing it off to their families, their friends and all the other stakeholders that might come along and spot their talent.”
To visit the digital twin of ‘Bloc’, scanned by lecturers from the EKC Canterbury College Visual Arts department, visit this link.
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