Art Activities

Art is extremely popular at Oswestry School and pupils’ work attains a very high standard. The outstanding art department encourages pupils to explore their creativity in fine art, drawing and painting, ceramics, textiles, photography and sculpture. Much of the pupils’ art and design work is show-cased throughout the school during the year and there is an annual summer exhibition. Each year a number of pupils move on to study and develop their skills further in foundation art courses, many at prestigious London schools.

There are teaching rooms dedicated to specialist teaching in the above areas and a gallery for visiting exhibitions. The School is unusual in that it is fortunate enough to be equipped with acid-etching facilities, a press and an aqua tint booth, which enable large pieces of graphic work to be created.

The art and design course provides the opportunity for personal expression, analytical reasoning and self-directed learning. The art department has close links to the work of professional artists and visiting artist in residencies, including hosting meetings and dinners which provide a lively focus for debate. There is also a full range of trips including the galleries of London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and a European study tour.

Oswestry School acts as a cultural centre for the local community and sponsors the annual Borderland Visual Arts ‘Open Studios’ weekends. At this time our sexcentenary commemorative wall hanging, designed and created by parents and local artists, is on display to the public.

A new regional community development from the School art department is the launch in 2010 of the Peter Edwards Art Award, an annual competition which aims to promote, inspire and educate audiences about the visual arts, showcasing work in different media by newly emerging, talented amateurs and established professional artists, with a winner's prize of £2,000.