It is the end of an era at Cleveland College of Art & Design Hartlepool as Tricia McKenzie has retired after over twenty years of being a big part of the family.

Tricia graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Textiles/Fashion from Camberwell School of Art & Design in London before starting her career as a hand-knitting designer. She was Chief Designer for Coats Crafts UK for a number of years before starting her own business as a freelance designer, and continues to work with yarn companies and magazines in addition to her career in education.

She was instrumental in building the reputation of our acclaimed Textiles department and led the team as a programme leader for a number of years, before using her industry knowledge and experience of design education to support the efforts of the  senior management team in roles such as Assistant HE Curriculum Manager and Head of Higher Education.

Tricia’s dedication and knowledge of the college were absolutely instrumental in supporting the transition of the college when it changed validating partners and developed it’s BA (Hons) provision to further strengthen the provision in the realms of being an art school for the North. She has led the college through many validations and rigourous processes such as QAA Quality Code assessment and we definitely wouldn’t have gold in the Teaching Quality Framework without her.

For those who know Tricia will know that she won’t be using retirement to take it easy – in recent years she has been heavily involved in the Tango scene, most notably in Buenos Aires. She will be devoting as much time as she can to her dance passion and the fantastic travel opportunities that brings!

Thank you for everything, Tricia and good luck!