VEC art students stage exhibition

The Yeats Gallery will bear witness to Sligo’s undiscovered artistic talents, as the VEC’s Post Leaving Certificate Art & Design graduates launch their end-of-year exhibition on Saturday May 19.The exhibition will be formally opened by CEO of County Sligo VEC, Shaun Purcell, on Tuesday May 22.
After twelve months of tuition and practical work, twenty four graduates will display the best of their work to the public. Attendees will be privy to various art forms such as painting, sculpture and illustration.
“The exhibition in the Yeats will be selected works from the tutors, just to show a broad range of all the things we do”, says Michelle Granville of County Sligo VEC.
An engaging course for any individual with an interest in art and design, this PLC course is open to both post Leaving Certificate and mature students, and can lead to further opportunities in IT Sligo or further afield.
Speaking about this year’s graduates, Michelle acknowledges the level of work needed to complete the course.
“There are 24 students this year, there were 30 at the beginning of the year but we had a few drop out. The majority of people are going to go full-time now.
“The majority of people [students] have applied to college and some of them are just hearing, two are currently waiting on an email to see if they got into Dublin. Some people were doing it part-time and they are already in work while others just wanted to do this on the side.”
Chair of the Department, Sue Morris, credits the links between the Art & Design course and IT Sligo for allowing their students to progress even further. Sue also acknowledges the benefits of a course such as this one for mature students.
“In terms of students who actually didn’t achieve their Leaving Cert, they get FETAC points from this that covers their Leaving Cert [when applying for further study with their portfolios].
“Often there are people that wouldn’t be very academic so there are other opportunities for them here.”
Aside from the opportunities that are to be found outside the course, this VEC PLC course annually recognises students of exceptional talent. This year, mature student John O’Kane walked away as ‘Student of the Year’ at their recent graduation ceremony. John’s artwork will be displayed alongside the work of his fellow graduates from Saturday May 19 to Saturday June 2.
Preparing for their annual exhibition, Sue concludes that “It’s usually a good turnout, with friends and family. We’ve been running for about 17 years now and it’s constantly been this successful.”
For more information on the course, email scfe@sligovec.ie or contact 071-9145480.

Category: Lifestyle