Wolverhampton University's Saturday art club passes year milestone

The partnership between the University’s School of Art and the National Saturday Club has delivered the series of programmes for young people.

The National Saturday Club is a national, charitable initiative which gives 13–16-year-olds across the country the opportunity to study subjects they love at their local university, college or cultural institution, for free.

Wolverhampton's School of Art ran two Saturday Clubs covering Art & Design and Film & Media. Using the City of Wolverhampton’s motto – Out of Darkness Cometh Light – the Art & Design Club members were inspired to produce a broad investigation into photography, digital, analogue and ‘cameraless’.

The young people had the opportunity to explore everything from pinhole photography, solography, chemigrams, and light painting to stick and ink life drawings, advertising and storyboarding, psychogeography, moving image, sound and casting.

Film and Media Club members experimented with pinhole photography, digital photography and filmmaking as well as storyboarding, sketching, tracing and 3D modelling. Together the Club uncovered brand new ways of communicating with cameras, from the basics to the more experimental.

The finale of the National Saturday Club year is the Summer Show at London’s prestigious Somerset House, a public exhibition of work by members and a celebration of all they have achieved.

Members of the University team included Niki Gandy, Ricky Lynch, Robert Millward and Pritpal Sembi assisted by Charlotte Webb, Julia Foster, Kimberly Barnes, Paul Gallagher, Reuben Wilde.

Paul Allnutt, UK Network Director, National Saturday Club, said: “Their dedicated team have made a real difference to the young people who have taken part in the programme, not only through the educational opportunities their Saturday Clubs offer, but also by increasing the confidence and aspirations of these young people at a pivotal time in their lives.”

Club tutor Niki Gandy said: “It’s been a true pleasure to get to know the children who have taken part in our Art & Design National Saturday Club and seeing them pushing their creative boundaries. Our aim has been to introduce our visitors to some ideas and processes that they may not have previously been exposed to, and that the experience they’ve had with us helps them continue further on their creative journey.”

Before the club 57 per cent of club members were not taking part in other out of school activities, 71 per cent had not visited a college or a university and 43 per cent had not been to London.

Club tutor Ricky Lynch said: “It has been such fun seeing so many unique outlooks on the world we live in, but most importantly, seeing how our visitors wished to present it. I hope I gave everyone some of the technical skills to go out there and showcase their imagination, with the understanding of the importance of how to do it effectively and inclusively.”