To kick-start CSM’s first series of degree shows, members of the UAL Postgraduate community were invited to attend a breakfast at Degree Show One. Cath Caldwell and Alex Schady hosted the event with the aim to showcase Art students’ work, their enterprising skills and to foster conversations about the various career paths available to artists after they leave University.
The morning began with a discussion between Art Programme Director Alex Schady and UAL Chair of Global Art and filmmaker Professor Isaac Julien about the various opportunities available to artists after University. This was followed by an insider tour of Show One led by the artists involved. During the tour, the artists were able to answer questions about their practise and the opportunities available to them to transform it into a career.
Here are some first-hand insights gleaned from the students and academics on what are the opportunities available to emerging artists to transform their art into a career after graduation.
Professor Isaac Julien, Artist and UAL Chair of Global Art:
As a graduate artist you have to make sure that your practise is aligned with some of the needs of the world. You have to be quite clear and strategic about your work. And you also have to make things work for yourself and make your own way through. When I graduated, we formed a collective with other graduates and a company to be able to sell our work and services as young artists. You have to be quite entrepreneurial and embrace a ‘Do It Yourself’ attitude.
Alex Schady, Artist and Art Programme Director
One thing artists are really good at is taking new things on and finding new ways to navigate the maze. Today for artists graduating from CSM it is crucial to be flexible and open enough to spot and seize the opportunities that are available to them, even if these seem surprising or unconventional, students need to be open enough to embrace them. This is why within the Art Programme we make sure to link with practitioners and organisations in the creative industries and beyond.
Hana Vojackova– Artist, CSM MA Photography 2015 graduate and winner of the Daniel Ford International Award for Innovation[1]. Hana has been exhibiting her work in various exhibitions around the country and has taken part in artist residencies:
As an artist you have to be curious and open to new collaborations and ways of thinking. At CSM the building itself is just brilliant for that, as you have loads of opportunities to bump into other students, graduates, alumni and professionals with whom you may end up collaborating, or who will introduce you to other potential collaborators. I had some of my best encounters just by walking in the street at CSM or sitting in the canteen.
Jared Vaughan Davis – Artist and 2015 graduate of CSM MA Art & Science. Jared also works as art director and project manager for various organisations in the creative industries
The great thing with the MA Art and Science at CSM is that you are encouraged to push the boundaries of your own artistic discipline. You need to be open to practises that are outside your normal scope, in order to develop with them links that did not exist before. Throughout the course you also have the opportunity to work on a number of industry-led projects and develop skills and contacts that will nurture your career after graduation.