THREE free art exhibitions in Trowbridge, Salisbury and Chippenham will showcase the talent of creative arts, media and performance students at Wiltshire College & University Centre.

More than 650 students will be displaying or performing more than 500 pieces of work as parts of the campuses are transformed into vibrant exhibition spaces. “We exhibit a range of works, including fine art, graphics and photography, fashion textiles, 3D sculpture, jewellery, films showing and playable video games,” said Head of Faculty, Creative Arts, Media & Performance, Owain Milford.

“We will also have music performances at Salisbury and Chippenham with stages outside if weather permits.”

The popular shows, which attract hundreds of visitors are the culmination of years of work for many of the students, said Owain. “They are great events and really are a celebration of all of the work the students have put in to this point.

“The majority of the work is students who are going on to higher education but there will be some first year level threes and maybe level two students as well. But most of what will be on display is work that shows our students at the peak of their creative process in the areas they’ve chosen to pursue.

“Because it’s all based on their final projects and we give them free reign, you have a really diverse range of work.”

Each piece of work is carefully curated and staff spend weeks deciding where to place them. “We think carefully about how people move through those spaces, how the work will sit next to other work, the lighting and the mood it creates,” said Owain. “There’s a long process of creation and development for the student and then it culminates with the curation of the work.”

Each exhibition will launch with an evening viewing from 6pm to 8pm, for which the public can apply for free tickets. Dates for these events are:

• Trowbridge: June 12
• Salisbury: June 19
• Chippenham: June 24

Each of them will have the exhibition running for a week after the launch. Many of the students act as gallery assistants throughout the week and are on hand to show visitors round and answer questions.

The shows are important not only for the students but also for the college to reinforce its credibility as a creative force in the region. “We will have guests from the Arts Council and the art world at the launches,” said Owain.

“Our foundation degree students, particularly at Trowbridge, go on to the top universities like Oxford Ruskin, Winchester and Glasgow so the exhibitions are about letting people see and celebrate the work we do and raising the profile of the college, which strengthens our reputation and relationship with our HE partners.”

For the staff who have been alongside the students guiding their development and challenging them to grow and improve, the exhibitions are a chance to look back on how far they have come.

“You can see these students have gone from someone who had a very basic understanding of their processes and techniques to moving towards a mastery of them,” said Owain.

“We also have students who believed they were one thing but, because we’ve been able to expose them to so many things, they’ve gone on to something completely different. They might start wanting to do graphics but now they’re doing sculpture. Seeing that kind of growth and development is really exciting for us staff.”

To access the week-long exhibitions after the launch, visitors can just go to reception at Chippenham, Salisbury or Trowbridge and ask to see exhibition during college opening hours.