BA (Hons) Fine Art graduate Carl Truscott shares this years New Graduate Award with fellow student Clare Massey. The New Graduate Award is a The New Graduate Award is a post-education professional development opportunity and studio-based residency from Arts Council National Portfolio organisations Middlesbrough Art Week and The Auxiliary Project space.

The award aims to supports selected graduates from North East institutions with an artist and materials fee, three months of free studio at The Auxiliary, talks by local artists and organisations with a focus on professional development, one-on-one crits with curators from MAW and  a space to showcase their graduate work at Middlesbrough Art Week which takes place this September. Middlesbrough Art Weekend (MAW) is a visual arts festival that occurs across the town of Middlesbrough in galleries, institution, project spaces, museums and public and meanwhile spaces.

Carl, from Southbank, joined us from our Middlesbrough campus and continued on to student BA (Hons) Fine Art in Hartlepool because the “degree felt tailor made to me. It provided me with the right amount of creative freedom and academic challenge. My tutors pushed me to develop myself constantly, and helped me transfer the skills I learned into real world experience. This was achievable because I was able to regularly pick their brains, no matter the subject.”

Carl’s impressive FMP installation “makes a subject matter out of ‘the exhibition’ itself in an exploration of the importance of context. I amalgamated the influences of my fellow student and created a meta installation that questions our preconceived notions of viewing Art in a gallery context.”

In response to winning the award he said “I feel lucky as there was so much good art on display, and happy to see all the hard work pay off. The opportunities that are attached to the award can be nothing but beneficial for my development as an artist.”

Carl said his favourite memory from the school was “a conversation with my tutor where he said that I “had that alchemy” to recognise the artistic potential and make something of it. It’s the highest artistic compliment I could have been paid. Alongside that, the trip to Barcelona during second year has made me think about nothing else but returning since.”

Alongside taking part in The New Graduate Award Carl will be studying for his postgraduate degree, “I’ll be doing the MA where I’ll hopefully progress onto becoming a regular practitioner, hopefully working alongside some of my fellow students who are very talented. I also think a PhD will happen down the line somewhere, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

Carl wasn’t based in Hartlepool but said his favorite thing to do here was “taking the camera down to the coal beach in first year was great… when it wasn’t freezing.”

When asked what his advice is to new students is to “really consider all criticism of your work, never take it personally, and take advantage of the fact that you have lecturers who know their stuff. Those who progressed and had the most success were the ones who took the criticism in their stride. Good luck never hurts too.”

Keep an eye out for Carl’s work on his Instagram @carltruscott.art. If you are interested in a career in fine art our degree programme our degree is a well established and dynamic course, that offers students the freedom and resources needed to define their practice. Find out more about BA (Hons) Fine Art today!