Open only two years, Longley Park Sixth Form College’s first intake of students are soon to graduate. ‘The Creative Show 2006’ displays the accomplishments of its young local artists.
Longley Park offers courses in Art and Design; Textiles; Graphics; Photography and 3D Design. The works show maturity and independence which Tania Hussey-yeo (Deputy Director) puts down to the lack of a Longley Park “house-style” which allows “each student to have a personal voice”. This is apparent in the diverse responses to a brief called ‘image + text’. One striking work by Philipa Roddis uses images of rock climbers set against bright backgrounds with quotations from both Hemingway and Aristotle.
The statement ‘we are what we repeatedly do’ could well apply to the repeated success of each student in creating a range of imaginative and stylish works. As many students are progressing onto further courses and degrees it is clear they have developed a ‘lifelong passion’. This is certainly true of Sarah Hussain – a Burngreave resident who wants to be a fashion designer or an architect. Sarah is most proud of the artwork she has titled ‘looks can be deceiving’ (pictured above) because it took so much time and includes such detail. Sarah speaks with enthusiasm about the painting – inspired by the work of Chuck Close – which focuses on close-up slices of a face and uses aspects of distortion to question the viewer.
Such enthusiasm points to the continuing success of Longley Park: last year the students created five interactive sculptural artworks for ‘Visual Dialogues’ including ‘A Different Perspective’, a mirrored room in which people are invited to pose, exploring the relationships between two- and three-dimensional forms and body image. Shown as part of the Tate touring exhibition ‘Human Figures’ at the Millennium Galleries these works were so successful that they have been invited back this year.
Tania Hussey-yeo bases their success on the combination of the teachers’ ‘high expectations’ and the students’ own attitude: “They are so proud to be here and have risen to do their best”. She also recognises the positive influence of the ‘lively, interesting, diverse’ area from which Longley Park’s students are drawn.