Student-led art exhibition promotes wellbeing at Aberdeen Health Village

June 5, 2024

Year 1 HND Contemporary Art Practice (CAP) students have created 34 pieces for an exhibition at the Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village, located on Frederick Street. The residency is open to the public until 10th June and has been organised in collaboration with the Grampian Hospital Art Trust (GHAT).

As part of the programme for NESCol’s new creative industries festival, Luminate, the students have curated the exhibition themselves, choosing pieces of their work that a variety of ages can enjoy.

This is the second year that GHAT has approached the College with the opportunity for students to display their pieces in the Health Village. GHAT is a local arts charity, that works to improve the wellbeing of people visiting, working or using the services within Aberdeen’s hospitals and health centres.

Mhairi Allan, Lecturer in Art & Design, NESCol, said: “For many of the year 1 HND students, this is their first time being part of an exhibition. It’s a fantastic experience for them to curate the pieces, learn hanging techniques and write their artist statements and bios.

“The exhibition is also a great representation of the course, showing the public the huge variety of art that our students have created. We hope everyone visiting the Health Village enjoys the hard work the students have put into this project.”

The central theme of the exhibition is ‘work in progress’, encompassing both the students as budding artists, and the public who may be visiting the centre. The project formed the professional practice and exhibition studies module of the HND, which teaches students how to sustain a career as a creative.

The students had freedom to interpret the theme in their own way and produced a range of pieces including portraits of famous figures, artworks geared towards engaging children, traditional landscapes, abstracts and sculptures.

Student Ian Anderson designed the poster chosen to promote the exhibition. He said: “I was excited to be involved. I visited the Health Village to take photos of all the pieces and fitted these together like a jigsaw for the poster. I tried to show the different creatives and types of pieces in our exhibition.”

For student Hannah Fayers, this was her first time working on an exhibition. She said: “It’s been really helpful in understanding how exhibitions work. Seeing my artwork displayed in real life is surreal – I’ve enjoyed watching it come together.”