Art

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Art at Marlborough has been internationally respected over the last 50 years for its delivery of visual excellence. Our success lies in the fact that Art staff believe in every pupil’s individuality and potential to fully realise their artistic ambitions. Our aim is to foster the pursuit of artistic enjoyment and discovery; to observe carefully, describe precisely and keep an open mind to all possibilities.   

In term time, the Art studios remain open well beyond the timetabled day and at weekends, enabling pupils to seek one-to-one support and further pursue their work and ideas outside of class time. Furthermore, Upper Sixth Art pupils benefit from their own individual studio workstation.  

Our Art Department has an excellent track record in preparing pupils for first-choice destinations in higher education. Over the past two years, we have placed 28 pupils on a range of leading foundation and degree courses all over the world.  

Edward Twohig RE

Head of Art & Director of Visual Heritage

Art Publications

Facilities

Opened in 2005, our purpose-built Art School houses five open-plan studios for painting, drawing, relief and intaglio printmaking, and screen printing, as well as a photography darkroom and studio, lecture room, computer suite and a well-resourced Art library.  

Two buildings adjacent to the Art School accommodate the ceramics and sculpture studios as well as a large-scale drawing studio. We also have a dedicated gallery and archive space in the Mount House Gallery where pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community are able to regularly view a diverse programme of curated internal and external exhibitions.  

Collaborations

The Art School is a happening place with a plethora of activities: visiting artists, exhibitions and trips. We have forged strong and lasting links with the British Museum, the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in London, Verso Art Charity, Aberystwyth University, St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, and Eames Fine Art.  
  
Annually since 2018, visiting artists and Art Department staff provide an energetic and highly immersive Visual Arts Week during the Lent Term featuring workshops and talks, accompanied by a supporting exhibition within the Mount House Gallery. 

Art for Everyone

Art is a structured part of the timetable in Shell and then a subject choice through the rest of the school. The Art School not only endorses the structured teaching of examination criteria but is flexible in accommodating pupils’ individual creativity and aspirations. We nurture imagination and critical thinking, providing opportunities to communicate creative initiatives, techniques and original ideas, all of which contribute to a highly rewarding artistic life at Marlborough.  

Varied creative methods of tuition are practised, through art forms ranging from the core discipline of observational drawing to the use of digital media. From experimental printmaking or ceramics to sculpture and painting workshops, every pupil’s personal artistic process, knowledge and interests are enriched.  

Pupil Galleries

We are delighted to share the work of our A level fine artists, A level photographers and GCSE pupils. Please click on the links to open recent galleries of work.

Art Publications

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