Art and Design at university; for past, present, and future students and parents

[PhotoDad]

I've been on a wonderful thread about applications for art/design applications for the coming academic year, and I thought it might be useful to have a more general place for people at different stages of the process to share advice and hints. The normal MN advice about universities is often not applicable to these subjects!

I'll keep this short because I personally don't like huge posts that appear at the top of each page, but I'll add some starting thoughts below. I know that there's a huge range of experience here and a lot of support, so please do ask questions, or share triumphs and disasters.

The original thread is here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4626697-2023-uni-applications-for-those-pursuing-art-and-creative-routes

The point that the picture is at most danger of damage is transit. Like someone said, insurance is there for replacement or repair really.
Say the surface was scratched, would you pay a conservator or would DD do it herself, so insurer wouldn’t pay out anyway.
The most vulnerable part is the frame anyway, it’s what it’s there for. I also wouldn’t get glass..

Personally if I was worried then I would get a good carry case for it. The galleries insurance should absolutely cover it whilst it is on display/in their hands anyway.

I can see why people would assume that the galleries’ insurance would cover it, but it doesn’t!

a-n have confirmed she could become a member, but the insurance terms they know are age 18 and over.

Oh, that’s frustrating! Can their insurance broker help as a one off rather than their standard A-N policy? Or, and this is a long shot, could you add cover for it to your household insurance (as a valuable insured when it’s away from the property)?

@artant I have emailed the contact a-n gave me for insurance (possibly their broker). So will see what they say. Just trying to deal with all this for her, as she’s currently doing her GCSEs, haven’t mentioned the fact that she can submit an artist mini film if she wants 😂

@FriendlyLaundryMonster fingers crossed for a successful insurance hunt! Many years ago I worked for a small artists’ organisation that set up the precursor to the schemes A-N offer now. The broker for that has long since retired but was always able to sort out bespoke policies when needed.

And good luck to your daughter with her GCSEs. She’s clearly doing well at making art, whatever else happens!

The lack of insurance is ridiculous. I’m an ex curator and we had insurance for the gallery, which covered us up to a certain amount. We would just need adjustments for very valuable works. The main thing we needed was valuations to log with the insurance team.
In 25 years there was never a claim though.

DS had a piece in an exhibition/competition in y12. He did not win.

One of the judges reportedly said,

"That kid has problems."

DS's tutor said to DS. "That's better than winning. I'm so proud."

Speaking of insuring against losses, I've been reading about the Momart warehouse fire in 2004 with estimated losses in tens of millions.

https://plone.unige.ch/art-adr/cases-affaires/warehouse-fire-2013-gillian-ayres-et-al-and-momart

Sorry to be personal but I am curious how a 16 year old's art work could possibly be worth £2k? Have they sold a lot of work before?

Not sure whether they’d have anything useful on insurance but another handy source of information might be Artquest.

Glasgow! She went for an offer's holder day and really liked it. Good facilities and a very warm, Level 1 year tutor.

@Yodel294 That’s the price she would put on it if she wanted to sell it, but she doesn’t. She has already won a couple of other art prizes and has just started a commission for a piece which is paying around £3,000 and materials. It’s a large painting, so I think the value is about right. But, at the end of the day it’s only worth what someone will pay!

@appyaug that sounds great. I'd live to go to Glasgow.

Can I just jump on this thread and ask about London foundation courses if we live in North London. So CSM is moving to Lime Grove? Kingston is in Surrey? So quite far away. We will look at Morley and working men’s college but is there anywhere else we should look at as DD will live at home ideally for the year. She is interested in film production as a possible degree and wondered if there are aspects of film covered on any art foundation courses. Timing wise she is coming to the end of year 12 and hasn’t looked at anywhere yet- her art teacher advised if would all be covered at the beginning of year 13 but has she missed end of year shows? If not what and where( if anyone has any personal knowledge) otherwise I will start researching with her. Thanks

@sunglasses What part of North London? Lime Grove is right by Shepherds Bush bus station and trains. It has decent transport connections really.

I think UAL film production is at LCC at Ele & Castle. Book an open day there?

Thanks for the replies. She is just looking at foundation at the moment but will check out the film production recommendation ( assuming that is degree level?) she will apply to CSM but I know it’s heavily oversubscribed. Just wondering if there are other foundation courses I don’t know about. We are near Finsbury Park

@sunglasses Ravensbourne - Foundation Diploma in Art and Design (Design and Media) | Ravensbourne University London
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design (Media Production) | Ravensbourne University London
City & Islington College (Camden / Holloway branch) - Art and Design: Design Pathway - Level 3 Foundation Diploma - CCCG (capitalccg.ac.uk) this is a short bus or walk from Finsbury Park.
City Lit, but you have to pay - Foundation diploma in art and design | Art & design course | London | City Lit
City & Guilds, ditto you have to pay - Foundation Diploma Art & Design, Central LondonCity & Guilds | London Art School (cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk)

Thank you

Her interests may well change but I would say a larger Foundation is more likely to have decent support for those interested in moving image.

I think end of year shows will all be finished by now (I know I’ve missed the ones I wanted to catch) but there maybe online shows to check out.

Ravensbourne may be a good shout. Kingston would be a longer commute but it’s worth looking at. And if she wanted to move away from home, somewhere like Arts University Bournemouth might be worth a look.

There are lots of degrees. I just said LCC was the UAL college that offers it. I’d book an open day and ask about Foundation for the course. Does it need a foundation?

Look to see if they offer what she's interested in as a degree - that may indicate if they have aspects of it (and equipment) at Foundation level.
Kingston does. The Foundation program is very competitive with about 10% entry, and I have heard of students applying to the Foundation year AND the degree course and getting in to the latter not the former. Amazing facilities.
UAL did not have great facilities but this may change with its new location. Large co hort but 50% are international (as at Kingston).
My DD went to Morley and her interest is Animation (Fulham Broadway nearest tube). She did that as her final project but no one else did animation. But class year of only 40. She also got the opportunity to apply to the Turing Scheme and did a month work experience in Lisbon, all expenses paid.
We were impressed by some of the work at Ravensbourne but enquire about contact hours - they were cutting them down when we went to the open day last year. They also do a year zero (which you pay for).
Foundation is not essential and depends what they want to get out of it. Exploring new avenues, improving their portfolio, and/or as a bridge between school and uni. Plenty go straight into a degree programme if they know exactly what the want to do and have a good portfolio.

@sunglasses you probably already know this bit for standalone art and design foundation at most places (not all as above) there are no fees if 18 at start.
There is also no access to maintenance through student finance.
This may or may not influence your thinking.
My DS did a standard foundation at our local FE college, albeit one with a good art reputation.

@mondaytosunday Depends if dd wants to live at home for foundation. However does film production actually need one? I’d be looking closely at this as she’s y12. Many dc are clear about what degree they want. DD went straight to LCF degree without foundation.