Harrogate College

Our Higher Education centre features purposeful classrooms, lecture theatre, research lab, social spaces and a computer lab, giving you all of the university experience right on your doorstep.

Studying a higher education course at Harrogate College means you’ll benefit from smaller class sizes, greater flexibility for different lifestyles, and may get to experience on-the-job learning as part of the programme.

Take a look at what our current Creative Practice Masters’ students are involved in below.

Final major exhibitions 2024

Travelling the sublime, by Andrew Stratford

In a world dirtied by human disregard for our surroundings and persistently ravaged by seemingly endless conflict we can still, if we look hard enough, find some prodigious beauty around us. My current work is about a continuing search for the sublime in the landscape. Whether that is the few remaining scraps of the natural environment or that which has been manipulated by agriculture or even scarred by industry. I find the world around us endlessly fascinating, exciting, calming, uplifting and occasionally slightly terrifying.

I am as equally fascinated by nature as I am by the stark contrast of industrial and urban decay. I often find myself drawn to wide open spaces, big skies, the coast and the sea. Both outside in the landscape and in the studio, using my notes and sketchbooks for reference, I experiment with expressive, gestural mark-making to add spontaneity. I attempt to capture an emotion, a feeling of movement and atmosphere and to create depth and texture by building up layers of paint. Although my paintings are semi-abstract in nature, I always attempt to retain a sense of place and the human connection to it.

Visit St Wilfred’s Church, Duchy Road, HG1 2EY from 30 July – 2 August, 10am – 6pm to view Andrew’s work

Find out more about Andrew’s work

http://Art%20work%20by%20Andrew%20Stratford

http://Art%20work%20by%20Amber%20Newband

Net/amorphoses by Amber Newband

Immerse yourself in an explosion of texture and colour with Net/amorphoses that talks about the exploration of plastic netting, we get mainly with our food products. We are unable to recycle the majority of this plastic but we are told by companies to “turn our packaging into something new” rather than these big companies that have lots of money to spend to come up with more sustainable options, instead they have put the responsibility on to us.

Visit St Peter’s church, 23rd – 27th July – 10am – 4pm

Find out more about Amber’s work here

Belonging, by Melanie Benn

The title for these spheres is ‘Belonging’. My Master’s journey has taken me from exploring concepts of decay and regeneration to ultimately delving into the theme of ‘Belonging’. Creating spheres that transition from man-made to natural entities, symbolizing nature’s reclaiming process is quite powerful. It’s intriguing to imagine these spheres becoming integrated into the forest landscape, echoing the resilience and adaptability of nature.

View Melanie’s work on the Malton sculpture trail at Dalby Forest, from 17th July – December 2024

Find out more about Melanie’s exhibition here

The Enchanted Forest: Croatian folklore by Ingrid Moss

I have always enjoyed and appreciated the Design Process and have found working on the MA Creative Practice course at Harrogate College, extremely rewarding as I have accomplished my goals; developing and creating refined results when working with clay. Whilst embracing a variety of techniques and methodologies has helped me to realise my Final Project.
For my Final Project, I decided to look towards my maternal Grandma’s native town of Lovas, Yugoslavia, now Croatia, for inspiration and as a tribute to my Gran, Franciska Rack-Mullion (1924- 2018).

‘Croatian Tales of Long Ago’, written by Ivana Brlic – Mazuranic and illustrated by Vladimir Kirin and originally published by Matica Hrvatska in 1916, provided the starting point for my research.

View Ingrid’s work at St Peter’s Church, Cambridge Road, HG1 1PB 11th – 13th July,10am – 4pm

Find out more about Ingrid’s exhibition here

IVHU by Letty Gwanzura

I am a fashion designer and my main focus is making surface patterns on my fabrics. I use acrylics and pen before putting them on illustrator or photoshop to make the images look better and also to see if the repeat pattern comes out the way I would like it to look on fabric.

My collection was inspired by my Zimbabwean roots and it shows the spiritual connection between music and the soil, hence it is called IVHU.

Ivhu is a word taken from the Shona language from Zimbabwe meaning the soil. We are from the soil hence we are referred to as daughters and sons of the soil. Our ancestors are called ‘vevhu’ meaning those in the ground or the soil, so part of our connection to them is through music with some powerful meanings and the use of instruments like the drum, mbira (lamellphones), hosho which consists of a pair of (mapudzi) maranka gourds with seeds which is played alongside the mbira. My prints are very colourful and fun as I play around with colours on illustrator and photoshop which is one exciting thing about this collection.

View Letty’s work at Harrogate Fashion Week, A21 Hall A on 6th August, 9.30 – 3.30pm

Find out more about Letty’s exhibition here

http://Art%20work%20by%20Anthea%20Hendry

A journey into the uncanny, by Anthea Hendry

An exhibition exploring the museum, curiosities and cyanotypes. Recognising the link between museums being the guardians of collections deemed precious, and our individual needs to collect and care for personally precious things, was a starting for this exploration. I was experimenting with cyanotype printing while preparing to facilitate an art therapy group at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Exploring the cultural history of museums and their changing status and function made me view features of Cartwright Hall through a new lens. What story did its architectural features tell? Was there an obvious invitation from the outside to explore the inside?

View Anthea’s work at UPCO, 7 Courthouse Street, Otley, LS21 3AN on 27th – 28th July, 10am – 5pm

Find out more about Anthea’s exhibition here

Our Higher Education Courses

http://Creative%20Practice%20Master's%20Degree

Creative Practice Master’s Degree

The Masters in Creative Practice is a practice-led modular programme designed for creative graduates from a range of disciplines to enhance their knowledge and skills. On this programme you will develop specialist practical skills while refining your practice and enhancing your employability skills. You’ll build a professional creative network to support your career in the Creative industry.

You are supported throughout the programme to critically engage with your creative practice and to refine your creative identity. You will develop your ability to attain work as a creative freelancer, to work for creative agencies and employers, or to progress to further study.

We welcome applications from a range of creative disciplines including Art, Graphic Design, Film, Make-up and Photography. The programme is designed for students with strong technical skills in their specialist practice, but you will work in a multidisciplinary environment, enhancing the potential for cross-subject work and reflecting the collaborative nature of the creative industry.

View courses here

How to Apply

Please call 0113 235 4450 to discuss applying for one of our Higher Education courses.

We can talk you through the next steps of the application process.

Contact one of our friendly team on admissions@ucleeds.ac.uk.

Higher Education at Harrogate College