AA2A STUDENTS NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the latest AA2A students newsletter. I’m Georgia, the AA2A National Administrator, and a recent arts graduate now working with Wendy Mason (the National Coordinator). I found out about the scheme while I was studying and followed the artists at my college, keeping it in the back of my mind as a scheme I might want to apply for in the future. So, whether the scheme benefits you right now or when you’re a practising artist yourself; it’s worth finding out about. Read on for more general information about the scheme, news of recent improvements and ways for you to get involved.

Project background

AA2A is now in its eleventh full year as a national project with 37 colleges across the country taking part see list of Colleges This year there are 148 artists on AA2A schemes nationally. The funding to run AA2A comes from your Colleges and the Arts Council, England. You will be eligible to apply to AA2A the year after you leave College.

Many of you will already be aware if your college/university is hosting an Artists Access to Art Colleges (AA2A) scheme. The scheme works like ‘mini residencies’ with four artists or designer makers working on their own projects in your college. For you, this means that there are practising artists around, who may be able to give you insight into life after college, the local art scene, a particular material process or a theoretical idea. They often also exhibit the work produced at the end of the scheme. It’s hard to define what the average student/artist interaction on the AA2A scheme is, as it can range very broadly. It could be attending talks or exhibitions, following an artist online, assisting an artist to make/exhibit work, there have also been cross-discipline student/artist collaborations.

We’re always trying to improve students’ awareness of AA2A and encourage more contact between you and the artists. As part of this we are looking for ten AA2A student advisors nationally - see details below. We hope you’re able to get involved with AA2A and meet the artists at your college during their 100 hours of access, which are usually used between October and April.

How to find your AA2A Artists

When artists applied to your college for an AA2A place, they were asked for an image of their work and a short statement about their proposed project. The idea being that this statement and a photo of the artist should be displayed somewhere prominent within the department so that you and the staff know who the artists are and what they are doing. You may even find that there's an AA2A noticeboard.

As artists information is not always displayed in college, we also put it online. We now have two websites: www.aa2a.org is our main site, and www.aa2a.biz is our artists’ networking site. On the main site you will find your AA2A artists by clicking the appropriate links on the main website AA2A Artists 2009/2010 This gives you an overview of their work including artists images, statements, weblinks and contact details. This will allow you to find out about the artists, both in your college, and around the country. So, even if there isn’t an artist working in your area of interest at your college (eg. digital animation, textile design) you might find an artist who is at another college. Most artists are very open to enquires, but please be patient if they don’t respond quickly. This is not a requirement of the scheme; although, in artists' evaluation feedback, the commonest complaint was that artists wanted more opportunities to interact with students.

Using 'Dotbiz' - the artists networking site

The AA2A artists networking site (affectionately known as ‘Dotbiz’) is a phenomenal showcase of work being produced on the AA2A scheme. You can get an in depth and up to date view of artists’ work as the schemes progress. Day by day, more blogs, image albums and exhibition listings are uploaded onto the site.  As a student, you can have your own profile, which means you can interact with artists through messages, comments and the main forum, and also have access to full exhibitions listings and all blogs/images. Its a great way to research and find out about the scheme.

Voting and Prize Draw

You can also vote for your favourite AA2A artist of 2010 from either of our websites. Whether you’ve met an artist in your college or saw work you liked online you can enter. There’s also a separate vote for the public and students from non-AA2A colleges Voting closes at the end of May and all AA2A student votes will be entered into a Prize Draw. You could win an art/craft magazine subscription plus an itunes voucher or book token (total value £50). more about voting

Student advisors

Could you be an AA2A student advisor? We are looking for ten students from AA2A colleges/universities across the country, to become student advisors and help us spread the word about the scheme and increase the benefit to students. This is a great opportunity to get involved with AA2A, meet local artists and would also look good on your CV. As an advisor you’d be in contact with the national AA2A team giving us feedback and ideas about student involvement; it won’t be a big time commitment, you’ll simply respond to a few emails over the year and maybe a phone call to give us feedback about your experiences of AA2A.

If you’d like to be considered for the role please answer the following questions in an email with ‘AA2A student advisor’ as the subject and send to : georgia@aa2a.biz georgia@aa2a.biz
Please tell us: -  Where you're studying?  -  How you found out about AA2A?  -  Whether you'd like your own profile on the Dotbiz networking site? - Any ideas you have to help us spread the word to other students?  

Finally we’d like to wish you all the best with your course and maybe we will see you on AA2A some time in the future!

Georgia Rodger AA2A National Administrator