Art

Art Department

The newly built spacious & light rooms of the Art Department provide a versatile and creative environment within which our students can immerse themselves in an exciting range of artistic endeavours and fully explore their talent and potential. The Department boasts excellent studio space for specialist work in 2 and 3 dimensions with individual work spaces allocated for especially for printmaking.

Although the department is run with a Fine Art emphasis, with painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking being particular current strengths, additional facilities for digital photography, ICT and ceramics are up and coming and proving very popular and effective disciplines.
Art is a vital and thriving subject at Bridge Learning Campus and it is always noted by visitors how incredibly good the standards are. Art is high profile with students work exhibited around the school. The department ethos is on individuality and ownership so the work that the students' produce is diverse and very personal.

Every year we have students who graduate to continue their artistic education in popular & acclaimed Art Schools of the South West including St. Brendan's Sixth Form & City of Bristol College.

Departmental Philosophy

Art fosters the imagination and self-expression through a response to the visual world. It brings self-awareness, confidence and both intellectual and manual skills.
Art is a subject for everyone, not purely the talented elite, and each student needs individual tuition to help them to realise their particular strengths. As the sculptor Eric Gill wrote, "An artist is not a special person but every person is a special kind of artist!"

The environment in the Art department enables the students to work in a creative and personal manner, knowing that their endeavours will be encouraged and their opinions listened to and respected. The philosophy of the department is to provide disciplined study in an informal atmosphere.

The principal aim of the Department is to provide for the students of Bridge Learning Campus, the facilities the guidance and the expert help, the stimuli and encouragement necessary, to enable successful study of the subject.
Individual confidence is first developed through the framework of clear, well organised and exciting projects directed by the teacher. As students develop, these starting points become more thematic/stimuli driven, allowing individuals to make Art that reflects their own concerns, interests and issues.

The Department Staff set a high priority on catering for "the individual" and seeing to it that the artistic side of the personality is allowed to grow and mature and flourish.
An appreciation of both contemporary Art and that of the past, through discussion, analysis, transcription, interpretation and response, is considered vital at all stages and is fully integrated into all schemes of work.

Museum visits and trips, both locally and further afield, are considered essential for developing knowledge and understanding of Art, in its various forms, and providing essential stimulus and support for students' studies.

Displays of the students own work is important in terms of motivation and creating a sense of purpose and pride, as well as displaying examples of the work of local & world known artists, bringing Art work directly to the students.