Art and design students at The Northern School of Art‘s Middlesbrough campus have created a stunning display of fabulous fishy creatures that will light up this year’s Wintertide Festival on Hartlepool’s Headland.

Working to a live brief from Wintertide’s creative producers BloomInArt, first and second year Extended Diploma in Art and Design students have constructed beautiful willow sculptures of fish, including a shoal of herring and a parade of sculptural fish and sea creatures, each one of which is unique.

The ‘Shoal of Herring’ artworks will be on show in Croft Gardens from Friday 24 – Sunday 26 November and form part of a magical art trail around the historic streets of the Headland which celebrates this year’s Wintertide theme of Ignite. Illuminating and animating public spaces, the Art Trail encourages residents and visitors to see the everyday in a different way.

Second year Art and Design student Sophie from Guisborough, pictured above right, said her group created Red Herring to appeal to adult visitors as a joke as well as for children: “We called him Bill and gave him a moustache as he’s a detective in disguise. We also designed it to be a sensory experience. We included bells that will ring in the Headland breeze, sequins which will sparkle, and different textures for visitors to touch.”

She added that she had learned a lot from the project being a live brief: “It has helped with knowing what it will be like getting a job. The display is in a large space so it’s taught me how to scale up and, as it’s outside, the need to consider durability and the materials. As it’s a public event I also had to consider health and safety and apply professional standards.”

Stella, from Thornaby, who is also a second year student, explained the thinking behind the stunning skeletal design of their group: “We chose Remembrance Sunday so we’ve added poppies on to the ribs, to make it also appeal to not only a younger audience but an older audience. We used wet tissue and wet strength to create it, we started with blue paint and then a metallic to make it look slimy. The eyelashes were my idea!”

The Northern School of Art’s FE Art & Design Course Leader, Sara Drodge, said the project had provided a great opportunity for students to build on the skills they were learning as part of the course: “They’ve worked so hard with lots of thought and dedication, we’re so proud of them.

“It’s always a real pleasure to work with BloomInArt and working on such a vibrant project has provided students with lots of transferable skills for their future employment, apprenticeship and degree level studies.”

The Northern School of Art – A Shoal of Herring, 5pm-8pm Friday 24 November, 12-8pm Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 November, Croft Gardens, Hartlepool. For further information about Wintertide visit www.wintertidefestival.co.uk

Further details of the Extended Diploma in Art and Design course at The Northern School of Art’s Middlesbrough campus are available HERE