To celebrate International Women’s Day this year, the Kirklees College Creative Industries department hosted an art exhibition in collaboration with the Dewsbury branch of Soroptimist International – a network that aims to transform the lives of women and girls through education, empowerment and enabling opportunities.
The level 3/4 Art, Design and Media Practice students were tasked with responding to a live brief set by Soroptimist International based around the 16 Days of Activism and International Women’s Day to incite meaningful conversations about gender equality.
The exhibition took place in the atrium at the Huddersfield Centre where 58 pieces of work were on display and was attended by staff and students with their family and friends.
Over 40 students completed the live brief as part of their work placement on their study programmes. The judging panel selected two winners with nine runners up who they felt best responded to the brief with new and original ideas. All students who completed the brief were presented with a certificate by Steve Plumstead, Curriculum Area Manager for Creative Industries and guests from Soroptimist International at the awards ceremony.
Emma Crosland, Work Placement and Employer Liaison Officer at Kirklees College said:
“The live brief from Soroptimist International has provided our students with an opportunity to work with employers and gain an insight to responding to a real-life industry brief. We are proud to have exhibited the insightful and unique artwork that our students have produced to shed light on an important cause.”
Steve Plumstead, Curriculum Area Manager for Creative Industries at Kirklees College commented:
“The students created a fantastic portfolio of work which they can be really proud of. The Creative Industries team were delighted to participate and raise awareness of Soroptimist International, 16 days of activism and International Women’s Day. The high quality of the work illustrates our collective ambition to inspire the next generation of creatives with in our community and how their voice can be heard.”
Linda Davis and Pat Thornes from Soroptimist International Dewsbury Branch added:
“When we contacted Kirklees College we were delighted that Steve, Emma and Grace agreed to run both 16 days of activism and International Women’s Day as briefs. We were so impressed with the work the students have done that we really struggled to pick winners.
The work the students have done is thought provoking, made even us as soroptimists think about the research behind the art work. The work is just such high quality, a lot more advanced that what we initially expected and we did many years ago. We are so happy to be here tonight to see all the work and we hope to work with Kirklees College again next year.”
For more information about Art and Design courses at Kirklees College, visit https://www.kirkleescollege.ac.uk/subjects/art-and-design/.
