West Dean College

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West Dean College

West Dean College West Dean is internationally recognised for excellence in art, craft, design & conservation education

Full Time Study

You can expect a rare immersive environment with a forward-thinking approach, strong professional connections and a rich heritage of creativity, The college is set in the historic and atmospheric West Dean House, former home of Edward James, poet and lifelong patron of the Surrealist Movement. It's an inspirational setting conducive to focused study and innovative practice. Short

Courses

Learn in some of the best-equipped studios and workshops in the UK with a pottery, forge, fine-metals workshop, art studios with overhead natural light, a sculpture courtyard and a facility for stone carving. Join a community of tutors and fellow students, each driven to enrich their lives through creating.

28/04/2025

Do you want to develop your craft but your life demands flexibility? Our BA in Art & Contemporary Craft is a unique course that allows you to study regardless of prior commitments you have!

3 reasons to study Art and Contemporary Craft:
✨ You will benefit from a low student:tutor ratio and be supported by staff who are practicing artists and industry professionals.
✨ You will study and make art in a stimulating, supportive, dynamic, and intellectually ambitious environment.
✨ You’ll be supported to refine a self-directed studio practice and to understand how your work contributes to your chosen field of study, preparing you for further study or a career in the arts.

Apply now for our September cohort 👇
https://www.westdean.ac.uk/degrees-and-diplomas/ba-art-contemporary-craft

24/04/2025

One week until our Creative Writing Campus Open Day! 💫

📍 West Dean College, Chichester on Thursday 1st May at 11am - 1pm

Our Open Days are a chance to immerse yourself in the inspirational surroundings of our Sussex campus, talk directly with our tutors and current students, get into the details of scholarships and bursaries, and explore the full range of Creative Writing & Publishing courses open to you ✨

BOOK NOW to start a new chapter 👇
https://www.westdean.ac.uk/events/open-day-creative-writing

23/04/2025

Explore the potential of experimental embroidery using free machine stitching on this new online course with tutor Priscilla Edwards.✨

Learn how to develop line, texture and colour before moving your sampling into three dimensions, using the interior and exterior of West Dean College as inspiration. Designed to build confidence and inspire a creative approach to machine embroidery, the course will offer a plethora of ideas for developing your own practice.

📍Visit the website to book your place: https://onlinecourses.westdean.ac.uk/course/experimental-machine-embroidery

22/04/2025

Art inspired by nature 🍃

Our first year BA Art & Contemporary Craft students have been creating new works in response to the campus grounds drawing inspiration from lichen, local geology, yew bark, flowing rivers, and seed pod structures ✨ Through these natural elements, their work explores themes of the body, translation, coding, vibrant matter, and repair.

📸 Featured artists:
1 - Anne Cady
2 - Ma**ca Santos Sánchez
3 - Nicola Hall
4 - Terri Lee Howard
5 - Anita Goddard

Learn more about our part-time Art and Contemporary Craft degree 👇
https://www.westdean.ac.uk/degrees-and-diplomas/ba-art-contemporary-craft

20/04/2025

Wishing a very Happy Easter to those celebrating this weekend! 🐣

17/04/2025

Get creative anywhere, anytime this Easter weekend with an online course. From paper-folded fan making to hybrid relief printmaking, and tapestry weaving to oil painting - there's something for every interest and ability.

Explore all online courses: https://www.westdean.ac.uk/short-courses/online-courses

Image: Thom Atkinson

09/04/2025

Life after graduation 🎓

MA Creative Writing & Publishing alumni, Catherine Kurtz has recently been featured in The Bookseller for her new novel 'Feast' which follows a girl with an extraordinary sense of taste who is pitched into the French aristocracy at the very end of the 1800s. Exploring what it means to be an unconventional woman in a man’s world. It is to be published by Dialogue Books (a division of Hachette) 💫

"West Dean is a place with stories around every corner, and packed with people who care about them, and to talk to about them. Being at West Dean is dwelling in a space that invites you to think, an idea-generation overload...Read more about Catherine's journey by tapping the link below ⬇️
https://www.westdean.ac.uk/blog/creative-writing-alumni-Kurtz

Interested in Creative Writing? Join us for our OPEN DAY on Thursday 1st May ⬇️
https://www.westdean.ac.uk/open-days/creative-writing

04/04/2025

POV (pin 'ole view). Explore the fascinating world of pinhole photography with this May and discover the joy of lo-tech photography.

29/03/2025

All eyes on as he perfectly demonstrates dovetail joints.

20/03/2025

🌸 Spring is here! 🌸Longer days, bluer skies, and fresh inspiration... Let your creativity blossom with our short courses this season! From basketry and pottery to painting and printmaking, explore your craft in the stunning South Downs.

Plus, there’s still time to apply for our degree and diploma courses if you want your skills to flourish even further.

For more info, head to our website, Link below 👇
https://www.westdean.ac.uk/

📸

19/03/2025

Screen printing with food waste? A wonderful weekend with creating natural dye pastes from foraged material, food waste and more.

08/03/2025

Happy International Women's Day ✨

Celebrating women breaking boundaries, achieving remarkable feats, challenging stereotypes and inspiring inclusion everywhere.

MFA student, Melissa Sharpe's, subject matter is deeply intertwined with her environment and her experiences as a female artist, prop and set stylist, wife, and mother. She delves into themes surrounding domesticity, the concept of home, mental health, as well as the essence of 'femaleness' and its marginalised voices.

"This selection of work was produced whist balancing the ‘Daily labour’ in the realm of domesticity and my art practice.
The slightly uncomfortable imagery is made from tumble dryer detritus (fluff and dust from the filter) and which was in continual and abundant supply in my home. The work is a metaphor for the essential, hidden, undervalued and non-paid work carried out in the home usually by women.
Statistics today show women consistently performed 4-8 hours more housework per week than men. Tasks like shopping, cooking, cleaning, and washing were primarily done by women in 43-71% of couples, compared to less than 20% where men did these tasks." -Melissa Sharpe

01/03/2025

Congratulations to year one MFA students on their recent pop-up exhibition, ‘Fragments & Echoes’🎉

Each year, first year MFA students undertake a project based on material from the West Dean College Collection and Archives. Using these materials to discover and interrogate creative strategies within their practice, the exhibited works represent the culmination of research that explores fact, fiction, and the excavation of the archive as a site of creative imagination. The exhibition includes different perspectives on site, place, and material engagement, in works of striking diversity.

Works by:
Melissa Sharpe
Kaz Clucas
Emre Özdinçer
Catherine O'Connor
Rekha Godbole

Read more about the students work by heading to the blog section on our website, link below ⬇️
https://www.westdean.ac.uk/blog/mfa-pop-up-exhibition

25/02/2025

Book your place at the 32nd International Classical Guitar Festival held at West Dean! This year promises another outstanding programme of repertoire classes, ensemble performing, individual lessons, evening concerts and more.

We will be joined by a host of concert artists and tutors with evening performances from Pavel Steidl, Alexandra Whittingham, Jan Depreter and The Aquarelle Guitar Quartet.

Address

West Dean College
Chichester
PO180QZ

Website

http://www.westdean.ac.uk/

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