|
Tom
Goddard has made it to the third and final year of his Fine Art
degree at the University of Gloucestershire.
It
may not sound like much of an accomplishment but considering the
threat of closure that has hung over the Fine Art department for
the past year, Tom is extremely pleased to be graduating in June.
The
course is advertised well in the prospectus but it doesn't live
up to that. If it was any other business we would have received
a refund by now but because it's a university it doesn't matter. |
| Tom
Goddard |
"I'm
pleased and relieved to be finishing. I've produced some good work
and maintained high grades but it wasn't the university experience
I was expecting it to be," said Tom.
"I
expected more support during my time here but the staff are now
so stretched and resources so low that it makes it difficult."
Course
closures
In
the last few years the university has closed the Visual Arts, Ceramics,
Fashion Design and Performing Arts courses and the threat of closure
still hangs over the Fine Art degree.
According
to Tom, even though the security of the course is still undetermined
students are still being offered places for the 2005 intake and
Tom feels it is unfair to prospective students.
He
said: "The course is advertised well in the prospectus but
it doesn't live up to that. If it was any other business we would
have received a refund by now but because it's a university it doesn't
matter.
 |
|
Ape
Faces In Drawers by Tom Goddard
|
"The
University isn't making people aware that the future of the Fine
Art course isn't secure."
New
courses
|
The
University Council gave approval back in September 2003 for
the Fine Art course as it currently exists to be replaced with
three new specialist Fine Art courses, Fine Art Painting and
Drawing, Fine Art Digital Media and Fine Art Photography.
|
| Dave
Keskeys, Head of School of Art, Media and Design |
Dave
Keskeys, Head of School of Art, Media and Design at the University
of Gloucestershire said: "We are currently developing a new
suite of Fine Art courses.
"The
University Council gave approval back in September 2003 for the
Fine Art course as it currently exists to be replaced with three
new specialist Fine Art courses, Fine Art Painting and Drawing,
Fine Art Digital Media and Fine Art Photography.
"It
is to these courses that we are currently recruiting for the 2004
intake. While the courses are being developed, it is made clear
to prospective students that they will run subject to validation."
Feeling
helpless
Tom
and other students feel their hands are tied but they are determined
to highlight the threat still concerning the Fine Art degree.
"We
don't want to go quiet about the threats to the university, we want
to do as much work as possible and show them what they'd be missing
if the course was to close."
|
We
don't want to go quiet about the threats to the university,
we want to do as much work as possible and show them what they'd
be missing if the course was to closed. |
| Tom
Goddard |
To
reiterate the point Tom and fellow art student Brian Watkins have
created a fanzine called "The Fear and Loathing at Pittville
Campus," to showcase student work and continue the fight against
closure.
"We
have fine art students that are winning international art awards.
We've beaten Wimbledon, Camberwell, Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham,
two eminent London universities, and the fear is they're still going
to close us down. It doesn't make any sense."
The
debate continues
But
Mr Keskeys added: "There are still discussions going on in
the School of Art, Media and Design about whether there should also
be a degree title offered called Fine Art - without the specialism
added to demonstrate a more holistic approach to the subject."
He
also pointed out that the University has started running new courses
including Advertising, Film Studies, Design for Interactive Media
and Broadcast Journalism.
He
continued: "It would not have been possible to develop and
run these courses without having made the decisions to close courses
that had suffered a slow decline in applications and were becoming
an increasing drain on the resources of the school."
Tom
hopes that by showcasing the talents of the Fine Art students he
will make it tougher for the university to close the course because
"ultimately
the people that pay the price are the students."
|
Third Year Fine Art Student Degree Show |
| Venue |
University
of Gloucestershire, Pittville Campus |
| Date |
June
21st - 31st 2004 |
| Time |
Open
all day |
| Tickets |
Free |
|
