Student Art in Festive Fair

Art & Design students from East Sussex College, Lewes, will be participating in the annual Artists and Makers Fair held in Lewes Town Hall next month. Student and exhibiting artist, Phoebe Ociepka-Tearle, reports.

Fourteen of the Art & Design Extended Diploma students will be selling original artwork and prints at the annual creative fair held at Lewes Town Hall next month (Friday 2 and Saturday 3 December).

The Artists & Makers Fair is an event for professional artists and craftsmen to present and sell their art and crafts, and is organised and run by parents of Western Road School pupils. Funds raised from the £2 entry fee (free for children) allow the school children to have more exposure to art and the opportunity to create their own.

The fair gives East Sussex College students the opportunity to sell their own work commercially, and learn how to market, present, display, and promote their work (and themselves!) professionally. To prepare for this, the students have been learning printing techniques such as mono-printing, drypoint etching, and screen printing. The prints will be a range of different themes and subjects, unique to every student, and will be priced between £5-£75.

The Artist and Makers Fair is a wonderful opportunity to buy and own beautiful and unique art, crafts, and bespoke gifts. It is a very exciting experience for the students at the Lewes campus, and for some will be the start of a career selling their own pieces in the future.

James DiBiase, course tutor at East Sussex College, says, “I am so impressed with their desire and determination to try and sell their work to help raise the funds needed for a future exhibition as well as supporting a local primary school. This is the first time that we have participated in the Artists and Makers Fair and hopefully they will be able to sell their wonderful printmaking for two great causes!”

The Art & Design students from East Sussex College will use the Artists & Makers Fair to raise funds for their Royal Opera House Challenge work to be displayed in the exhibition space at the Star Brewery Gallery, Lewes in February 2023. The Royal Opera House Challenge is a nationwide competition, giving students across the country the opportunity to design sets, costumes, hair, wigs and make-up, or develop a marketing campaign for an opera or ballet, selected by the Royal Opera House. The Royal Opera House Design Challenge 2023 is based on Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’. The students’ work will be exhibited locally at the Star Brewery Gallery, before making its way to London for the competition.

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