Past meets future at Manchester Met’s art and design degree show in refurbished historic home
The achievements of this year’s final year creative students will be celebrated at a commemorative degree show marking 200 years of Manchester Met including exhibits at the historic and newly reopened home of Manchester School of Art.
Following in the footsteps of celebrated creative alumni including artist LS Lowry, actor Bernard Hill and fashion designer Ossie Clark, graduates from across art, design, fashion, digital arts, performance and architecture will display their vast and varied work to the public, industry professionals and friends and family.
The show will see doors open to the University’s Grade II listed Grosvenor West Building for the first time since its recent major refurbishment. Built in 1881 and home to the Holden Gallery, a public art space at the heart of the building, the historic site will once again showcase the talents of its student artists.
Grosvenor West once hosted notable names such as former students LS Lowry, Adolphe Valette and Sylvia Pankhurst, and today continues to inspire creative thinking through boundary pushing mediums including sculpture, painting and 3D installations.
The site first emerged as a masterpiece crafted by the visionary architect George Tunstal Redmayne. Its splendour expanded in 1898 with a rear extension, elegantly designed by the renowned Joseph Gibbons Sankey.
An extensive overhaul was recently completed to preserve the 46,000 square foot historic building, boost its sustainability and enhance and reintroduce its original heritage features. Work included repairs to the exterior brick and stonework, roof and rooflights, as well as the addition of secondary glazing to improve insulation.
Stretching across six buildings including Benzie – soon to be renamed the Lowry Building in honour of this anniversary year – and SODA, the School of Digital Arts, the University’s degree show will display work by students in disciplines including graphic design, digital arts, textiles, architecture and fine art.
Professor Martyn Evans, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Arts and Humanities said: “The art and design degree shows are a highlight of the academic calendar, and this 200th anniversary year is particularly special.
“Manchester Met has a long and prestigious history of creative excellence in the arts, from our roots teaching iconic artists like Lowry to enabling today’s class of 2024 to continue to innovate, create and shape the future.
“We are delighted to open the doors once again to Grosvenor West and the Holden Gallery, spaces steeped in history and now primed to inspire future generations of students. I’m incredibly proud of this year’s graduates and pleased to give the public a glimpse of their phenomenal talent in a such a historic building that has shaped our institution.”
Among the artworks on display at the degree shows are an alternative Mancunian ‘Angel of the North’ inflatable installation, a striking large-scale graphic display addressing motherhood, and tactile textiles designed to self-soothe people with ADHD.
This year’s degree show marks Manchester Met’s 200-year anniversary which this month is celebrating how it champions creative excellence. It follows a recent announcement that the University is to rename one of its buildings in honour of its celebrated alumnus LS Lowry, as well as the publication of historic report cards showing the artist balanced work and studies during his time at Manchester School of Art.
The renovation of the 143-year-old Grosvenor West Building off Oxford Road forms part of an ongoing programme of works by the University to enhance its campus. The works programme comprises the refurbishment of several existing facilities, the construction of new buildings in place of outdated properties and a new and improved external landscape.
Manchester Met’s degree show will be open to the public from Saturday June 15 to Saturday June 22 across Benzie, Chatham, Grosvenor West, Righton and SODA buildings on the University’s All Saints Campus. For more information go to Degree Show 2024 – Manchester School of Art (mmu.ac.uk)
Find out more about Manchester Met’s 200th anniversary and celebration of its creative excellence here: Championing Creative Excellence | 200 years | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk)
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