Centre Space Gallery provides invaluable work experience for Newcastle College students.

Students Zak Reece and Jordan Burton, who are studying towards a HNC in Graphic Design, and Daniel Jones and Emily Cooper, who are Studying towards a HNC in Photography at the College, have been encouraged to gain as much work experience as possible with local artists and businesses alike to further enhance their studies and future career prospects.

The students, who have been working alongside Gallery Manager, Darren Washington, were tasked with helping develop and create a leading display graphic for the Spode Workers of the past gallery; an exhibition showcasing a series of photographs depicting the workers through the history of the sites working past, as well as the opportunity to work on other areas of the museum during their winter closure period.

Working closely with the museum’s management, the students were required to think outside the box and work towards creating something which will engage and entice all demographics of visitors to the Spode Museum Trust Heritage Centre. The final designs will be submitted on the Friday 8 February, where one will be selected and used as the face of the exhibition which opens to the public on Saturday 2 March, 2019.

On the opportunity, Shannon Ball Mulley, Curriculum Leader for the HNC/D in Fine Art, Graphic Design and Photography at Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, said: “ I feel that our learners should complement their HE practice and learning with a sense of responsibility to their local community, by forging long lasting relationships with local companies, galleries and creative practitioners in order to establish ourselves as a provision that prides itself on creating professionals that will be able to give back to the community and help to contribute to the continued creative development of the Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent area and develop continued partnerships with organisations such as Spode and Centre Space."

Darren Washington, Gallery Manager at the Centre Space Gallery, said: “The students have been a great help in giving the centre a new, fresh looking format and one which is eye catching to visitors of the museum. Working with the students has been great, they've all worked tremendously hard and shown a great deal of professionalism in developing the display."

Centre Space is a mixed media art gallery, based in the heart of the Spode Museum Trust Heritage Centre. For more information on upcoming exhibitions visit centrespacespode and for more information on studying a HNC/D in Fine Art, Photography or Graphic Design, click here.