Artistic students from Telford College have designed works of art for a family-friendly arena that will be seen by thousands of people at a major Shropshire festival.
First year learners on the college’s level three art and design course were invited to design a theme for an arena at the upcoming Camp Bestival event from August 18-21, being held at Weston Park for the first time.
They also had the option to create an artwork for an existing arena – and festival organisers will exhibit some of their creations in a gallery space on site.
Rob Da Bank, Camp Bestival organiser and Radio 1 DJ, said: “My colleagues and I have surrounded ourselves with art and artists our whole lives, and our festivals are just a big lovely art project at heart, so we’re excited to see what the Telford College students have been doing.
“We want this to be a long and fruitful relationship so we can’t wait to see what else we can create together.”
For some of the Telford College students, the project has proved particularly successful – Matthew Hodnett from Telford was selected as the overall winner whose design best met the brief, receiving a family pass to the festival as his prize.
His design concept was for ‘rideable dinosaurs’ – and his inspiration came from his own childhood fascination with dinosaurs, knowing he would have been delighted to see such an attraction when he was younger.
Another 10 college students have had their work chosen for the gallery exhibition in the grounds of the stately home.
Telford College’s learner manager for creative and music, Andy Turner, said: “This partnership and live brief is exactly the type of project that we love to embark on with our creative staff and students.
“Two of our art team, Claire Routledge and Anna Bartlett, have been instrumental in making this happen and giving our students an experience that goes way beyond just studying a course.
“We are really proud of what the students have achieved and we hope Matthew and his friends have a great time at Camp Bestival.”
Gareth Williams, curator and head of learning at the Weston Park Foundation, said: “The students’ visit to Weston had evidently fired up some great imagination and I am very excited at the prospect of sharing the selected items with our visitors.
Gareth came into the college to select work for the exhibition and said: “The time I was at Telford College was fantastic.
“The students have produced some really excellent, inspired, cleverly-conceived and well-made work and I loved every minute of seeing it.”
Up to 20,000 people are expected to attend Camp Bestival Shropshire, where headline acts include Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Britpop legends Shed Seven, and DJ sets from Faithless and Fatboy Slim.
- For more details about the range of creative courses on offer at Telford College, click here
