Discovering the Graduate Diploma: Insights from our students to guide your journey

Sarah and Anika, can you tell us how you came to study a Graduate Diploma?

Sarah: I’ve lived and worked in London for the last 35 years and had a career as a creative director in the music industry, which covered graphic design, film, live show design, audiovisual installations and a mixed reality project. I felt that I needed to give myself the opportunity to realign my thought processes with fresh academic thinking around the subject of contemporary art and also to re-engage with a more material way of working because my life on a day-to-day level had become increasingly linked to sitting at a computer. I wasn’t clear about how to achieve that – but when I came to an open day with one of my daughters, someone mentioned the Graduate Diploma in Fine Art and it immediately appealed to me as an interesting access point to achieving some goals that I’d set myself.

Anika: My initial background was in Human Resource Management, and I had worked in this field for over 5 years. During the pandemic I decided to move to the UK with my husband and that’s when I wanted to restart my career and began my exploration in art.

I think studying at Chelsea College of Arts was a dream the minute I knew I wanted to leave the field of HR and pursue art. Every time I visited Tate Britain, I would hope of the day I would be walking the halls of the Chelsea campus. The textiles workshops at Chelsea intrigued me and it provided an outlet for me to explore my passion for textile design.

I opted for this course as it provided a strong introduction into textile design, without having to do a longer undergraduate degree. This course sits between undergraduate and a master’s degree and is very suitable for people changing their careers.

It was also important for me to look at programs that had funding opportunities and fortuitously I found out about the William Callaway scholarship and bursary program which has not only helped fund this course but has given me a sense of duty to do the best I possibly I can.

What have you enjoyed about your course so far?

Sarah: I’ve loved the access we get to the workshops. The technical staff are excellent and endlessly enthusiastic. Being exposed to academic lectures, artists’ talks and visiting curators has been invaluable and stimulating. Our small class means that we have the opportunity for direct contact with people working within the art industry.

Anika: Graduate Diploma Textile Design encourages students to place sustainability and social responsibility at the core of their practice and this has helped me make conscious and considered design choices for my projects. Also, the course leader and workshop technicians at Chelsea are very knowledgeable and have continually helped and supported me throughout this course.

Earlier this year we had the opportunity to work closely with Commons Coffee to produce new design solutions using their coffee waste. Following the collaboration, the café owner gave us an opportunity to exhibit our work in their café.

We also had the opportunity to collaborate with the Graduate Diploma Graphic Design course in response to a live brief from The Rodina Studio in Amsterdam. The project ended with a class trip to Amsterdam where we had a performative event, studio visits and a trip to Tilburg Museum.

In my current project ‘Decolonising Woven Spaces’, I have looked at ways of using textiles to tell stories of a colonial past. I draw inspiration from Bangladeshi Jamdani weaving techniques to create woven textiles with motifs and Bengali script. I have used materials such as indigo and jute to explore the complex relations between Bengal and Britain. My research into decolonial artists, studies and practice has helped inform my own work and has led me to explore ways in which a decolonial discourse can be created.

Throughout this course we have had many tutorials with artists and industry experts that gave us important insights into the fields of art and design. This course also opened various possibilities and networking opportunities which I am certain will be helpful in pursuing a career in textiles.

What advice would you give to someone looking to apply for a Graduate Diploma?

Sarah: Do not be afraid if your previous experience is not in fine art. Whatever you’ve done before can feed into your practice. Be open minded and let go of pre-conceived ideas of what ‘art’ is. I would say that it is important to be a self-starter and to know that you will have lots of support, but this is your journey, no one is going to tell you what to do. Be prepared to experiment and to make lots of mistakes - this is the time to try things and not be precious. It’s the learning process that’s important - not the end results so demonstrate how you think, don’t just present finished work.