Dudley Mayor praises wealth of creativity on show at ArtsFest exhibition
The Mayor of Dudley attended an exhibition of work by arts students at Dudley College of Technology last night (Monday 12 June).
The ArtsFest art exhibition features work by students of animation, fine art, fashion and textiles, games design, graphic design, illustration, media, music, performing arts, photography, and production arts.
ArtsFest exhibitions are being held across the colleges campuses at Evolve, Inspired, Dudley Sixth and Enhance campuses from the 12th until the 14th June 2023. A virtual gallery is also available to view at on our ArtsFest website.
The exhibitions are a chance for people to view work by emerging creatives in the Black Country, Birmingham, and the wider West Midlands region and to find out about the range of arts courses the college provides.
Students at the college have also helped to raise thousands of pounds for the Ronnie and Friends charity. It was founded to support Dudley Group NHS Charity Baby Bereavement by College employee Aimee Garratt, in memory of her son Ronnie. The students have made a book of all their charity work in this area, which they presented to Mayor.
The Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Andrea Goddard, said:
“I really enjoyed myself at the ArtsFest exhibition, it was lovely to meet the students and see the sheer range and quality of the work they’d produced. The arts department offers a huge range of courses and there was just so much to see – paintings, clothes and fashion, music, photography and more.
“The students were clearly passionate about their subjects and I’m sure with their talent and the support of their tutors, will go on to greater things.”
Commenting on the event Neil Thomas, Principal and Chief Executive of Dudley College of Technology said:
“This annual event has become a highlight of the Arts calendar at Dudley, with hundreds of pieces of work on display, showcasing the diversity and quality of what students produce. Any member of the public can come and look round and I’m sure they will be stimulated by the breadth of creative talent we have”.
Praising the hard work of students, Phil Brooks, Course Leader in Photography, at Dudley College of Technology, noted:
“ArtsFest provides our students with the opportunity to showcase their work in a professional setting. It also gives visitors the chance to see first-hand what they are capable of, and with the new virtual exhibition which we introduced during Covid, even more people can see the results of all their hard work.
“I’m really proud of everything they’ve achieved, both with their studies but also the effort they’ve put into their fundraising. It was a pleasure to be able to share both the exhibition and their specially printed book documenting all of this, with the mayor.”
ArtsFest runs daily from 9.00am to 8.00pm with a Performing Arts showcase on Tuesday 13th June 6.00 – 7.45pm at the Evolve Theatre and a Media Production showcase showcasing short films and documentaries on Wednesday 14th June 7.00 – 9.00pm also at the Evolve Theatre.