City & Guilds of London Art School

...at my foundation diploma at City & Guilds of London Art School from Sep 2002-May 2003. It was not initially my first choice, mainly due to the fees, I also intended to go for a slightly more reputable and predictable school, such as any of the London Institute schools-ie Chelsea, the infamous Saint Martins, Camberwell etc. However, due to a late application, I chose to apply to City & Guilds which I think without a doubt was ultimately the right ...
.../> City & Guilds is a very unique institution. Situated centrally in a group of Georgian terraced houses in Kennington, London, it is very easy to access art resources from here such as galleries, for example-the Imperial War Museum is a mere 15 minutes walk from the School. Due to the scale of the school-approx 300 students- it has an intimate, friendly but focused atmosphere. It is also unique, especially in comparison to larger institutions in ... more

I studied at my foundation diploma at City & Guilds of London Art School from Sep 2002-May 2003. It was not initially my first choice, mainly due to the fees, I also intended to go for a slightly more reputable and predictable school, such as any of the London Institute schools-ie Chelsea, the infamous Saint Martins, Camberwell etc. However, due to a late application, I chose to apply to City & Guilds which I think without a doubt was ultimately the right choice for me.

The School
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City & Guilds is a very unique institution. Situated centrally in a group of Georgian terraced houses in Kennington, London, it is very easy to access art resources from here such as galleries, for example-the Imperial War Museum is a mere 15 minutes walk from the School. Due to the scale of the school-approx 300 students- it has an intimate, friendly but focused atmosphere. It is also unique, especially in comparison to larger institutions in London as the student:teacher ratio is 12:1, which means tutors are easily accessible and ultimately, support is there almost instantly whenever you need it!

It runs many courses such as the Foundation, Fine art, Conservation and Carving (including stone, wood and ornamental amongst others.)

One very important point concerning the (practical) teaching staff is the fact that they are all practising artists, which I think is essential in order to teach students about their particular profession.

The course
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The course is structured similarly to any other foundation course, providing you the chance to experiment with many different aspects of art and design, such as; painting, sculpture, graphic design etc.

The first term is based on your own discoveries and experimentation, leading you to make the choice of which particular field of art and design you would prefer to specialise in. Once you have done so, you are divided into groups of your chosen specialist area and focus solely on this practise. You are encouraged to work hard, although self motivation is always a valuble asset. The majority of students intend to further their studies by applying to university to study their chosen practise/media, and in order to do this your work is developed to be submitted to your portfolio in use for interviews for such courses. I myself got into my first choice of university due to this-Bath Spa University, studying Fine Art, Sculpture.

One thing I think is very important to mention is the drawing studio, this is run by a tutor which is a personal favourite of mine. Whilst a large number of schools and universities are trying to discourage students from taking the traditional route, and in fact discourage them from life drawing all together, City & Guilds provide (free) twice weekly evening classes, lasting a couple of hours, with an exemplary tutor on hand to advise you if you cannot get past a certain point. I find it very refreshing to find life drawing encouraged, bearing in mind when I arrived at Bath Spa I was told, it was frowned upon!

Alongside the practical side of the course, there is also a theoretical, art historical aspect. This culminates in weekly lectures/debates, none of which bored me in the slightest, each one helps you as an artist in order to contextualise your own work. They are structured more as general discussion groups, visits to galleries and a few slide shows. Seperate to this, we also had quite a few external artists and previous students who would give lectures and advice on being a self sufficient working artist.

As with most Foundation courses you put on a collective show at the end of the year, which provided a fulfilling sense of closure and chance to show off your work! There were roughly 40 students in my year of study, (which could sound a lot to some people, but Chelsea School of Art have hundreds of students on their foundation!) so there was a huge variety of work for the show.

Students
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I think you get a fairly broad range of students on the course. There were quite a few foreign students, mainly Japanese as has to be said of many a London institution. I think it helps you to gain different perspectives due to the cultural differences, which in turn affects how you see your work and this is a very positive move.

I thoroughly enjoyed my year at City & Guilds, the support and resources were brilliant. However I think the main aspect that could dissuade you would be the fees, as it is privately funded it is quite expensive in comparison to other institutions, although I believe it is worth it, simply for the individual tuition. As they say, you get what you pay for!

More information can be found at...
www.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk 

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