Student Life
Workshop Wednesdays
Arts University Plymouth is committed to, and values, exploration and experimentation across traditional material processes alongside new and emerging technologies. To support this ethos, we use Wednesdays as a day where our students, when not in timetabled teaching, are free to explore and develop skills outside their usual programme of study.
<p>Both on-campus and online, our students are able to choose from a rich, rolling menu of open access workshops, with everything from learning new or unfamiliar creative and technical skills, mastering learning technologies and software, careers and employability planning and skills development, honing academic skills and writing, to experimenting with new technologies in <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/resources/fab-lab">Fab Lab Plymouth</a> on campus.</p>
<p>Our exciting and diverse programme of rolling workshops give students a chance to encounter unfamiliar technical processes, strengthen existing skills, and engage in broader learning opportunities in the university.</p>
3D printing in Fab Lab Plymouth
<p>All of our workshops are <strong>free</strong> for registered students to take part in. </p>
<p><strong>How to sign-up:</strong></p><ol><li>Log-in to <a href="https://pca.siso.co/index.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>SmartHub</strong></a> (you must be a current registered student of Arts University Plymouth)</li><li>Click on the Workshops link on the main dashboard.</li><li>Book your chosen Workshop.</li></ol><p>If you have any questions about our Workshop Wednesdays, or student access to workshops and studios, you can contact our Technical Resource Managers on <a href="mailto:trm@aup.ac.uk">trm@aup.ac.uk</a>.<br /></p>
<p>The workshops facilitate student agency, mobility outside your subject, and a chance for you to immerse yourself in creative cross-disciplinary exchange with your peers. The programme also gives students the opportunity to engage with students from different programmes and year groups as part of our wider creative community.</p>
<p>Some notable examples include fashion students making films in our moving image and photography studios, animators exploring 3D printing in our Fab Lab, fine art students working with ceramics, and interiors and graphic design students perfecting specialist fabric printing techniques in our textile studios.<br /></p>
"There is an open door atmosphere, when you walk into the studios and workshops everyone is really helpful, and can show you what to do and introduce you to new techniques that will enhance your design opportunities"
Josh Silvester, BA (Hons) Graphic Communication
<p>In developing an awareness of cross-disciplinary thinking and making, these workshops provide the chance for students to create career and employment opportunities, expanding their creative horizons and gaining important skills, experience and industry insight, that will support them throughout their professional and creative lives.<br /></p>
<p>Josh Silvester, a <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-graphic-design">BA (Hons) Graphic Communication</a> student, collaborated with Hannah Joce from our<a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-fashion-design"> BA (Hons) Fashion Design</a> programme on projects whilst they were both studying at the university, and when they graduated they decided to set up a business together.</p>
<p>“There are so many exciting things happening at Arts University Plymouth. I studied graphic design but was able to expand my knowledge in so much more than that, learning about fashion design, photography, film, screenprinting, through the encouragement of cross-collaboration in the university.</p>
<p>"There is an open door atmosphere, when you walk into the studios and workshops everyone is really helpful, and can show you what to do and introduce you to new techniques that will enhance your design opportunities. I started my streetwear brand, KamEfla3, in the university after doing some branding work for the BA (Hons) Fashion programme. I approached Hannah Joce, a student on the fashion programme about the idea, and we started the brand together. We worked really well, producing shows and putting our collaborative skills to work, and we have carried on this venture after graduating. The wide range of knowledge I gained from all areas of Arts University Plymouth helped give me the skills I needed to get our business started.” <strong>— Josh Silvester, BA (Hons) Graphic Communication graduate.</strong><br /></p>
<p>As part of the Workshop Wednesday programme, students can access additional technical skills, academic skills, learning technologies, careers and employability opportunities, plus expand their creative practices through the technologies on offer in Fab Lab Plymouth. </p>
<p>The opportunities for collaboration and exchange are endless, and open for you to discover.<br /></p>
