The Art Academy is a very close-knit artists’ community. It’s a meeting place for people from a myriad of starting points to come together and share a common passion to make artwork. It’s not always a straightforward path to start studying here. This year, lots of our graduating class joined us from professional backgrounds, with the drive at a later stage to re-skill and follow the illusive ambition of becoming an artist.It’s often a brave decision, but at The Art Academy we are very proudto be able to make that aspiration a reality. We are incredibly lucky to have such a wide range of specialist tutors, all practicing artists, who are happy to pass on their knowledge. Along with passing on skills, we also heavily invest in professional development and credit our approach with being much more successful than comparative institutions at sustaining successful practicing artists beyond graduation.

 

This year will be no different and it gives me great pleasure to introduce the graduating class from our Fine Art Diploma. Their work is diverse and exciting and it is wonderful to see how well they have progressed after studying with us for three or more years. Happily, we can predict that this year’s group is likely to be one of our most successful yet, with Graduates already winning prestigious public prizes and commissions.

 

As a small community it is always sad to say goodbye to a group of students, but at the same time The Art Academy continues to grow and there is much to look forward to. We are currently working in partnership with the Open University to validate our Fine Art Diploma, creating a BA starting in 2018. We are also working with Turner Prize winners Assemble on a new look Art Academy Graduate Programme. But as we widen our horizons what is evident is how valued our unique character is. Yes, there is a continued need for us to offer a strong grounding in skills training, but our open collaborative approach and lack of dogmatism makes us special. The broad basis of tuition means that we impose no house style, which is evident through the diverse work you see in this year’s show. Nothing gives us more pleasure than seeing that each student has emerged as an authentic individual artist, with their own voice, point of view and means of expression.

 

We wish all graduating students every success and look forward to hearing their news as they continue on their journeys as artists.