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creativity Blog Posts - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

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Beyond The Bookshelf: Your OCA Library thumb

Beyond The Bookshelf: Your OCA Library

Having joined Open College of the Arts at the start of the year, it felt high time for a proper introduction! I’m Richard, OCA’s brand new Librarian. Having stumbled into libraries by accident as a Biochemistry graduate, my career has spanned across a number of settings in Further and Higher Education and I couldn’t be more excited to bring everything to this role and help make the library make sense for you!

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Electronic Music 1 – Halim El-Dabh  thumb

Electronic Music 1 – Halim El-Dabh 

In 2023, I ran a Listening Group session with OCA students, focused on electronic music. There was quite a lot of enthusiasm for the ideas we discussed and, consequently, I have decided to write a series of blog posts exploring the history, techniques, and aesthetics of this beautiful and bewildering type of music. 

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Critical reviews in Interior Design thumb

Critical reviews in Interior Design

Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to be invited to take part in some first year student reviews with the Interior Architecture degree course at Westminster University in London. As a tutor it’s really helpful for me to see the work of students at other institutions so that I have an idea of the wider picture of Interior Design education (and student output) in the UK today.

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Introducing our Interior Design External Examiner, Marianna Velissaropoulou thumb

Introducing our Interior Design External Examiner, Marianna Velissaropoulou

With assessment events held regularly three times a year, many of you will be familiar with what happens once you have completed the final assignment of your unit. But you might not know what happens in between the point that OCA staff have assessed your work, and the day that the confirmed result comes to you. Our current external examiner agreed to answer a few questions to throw some light on her role, what she most enjoys about being an external examiner with us at OCA, and whether she has any hints and tips for you as Interior Design students going forward for assessment.

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OCA News: Creative Arts Update thumb

OCA News: Creative Arts Update

The Creative Arts Programme Leader, Doug Burton, will leave the OCA in November after twelve years of service to develop his Arts business. During this time, Doug has been instrumental in developing the Creative Arts degree to meet student’s expectations for a contemporary interdisciplinary programme that is unique in many ways within the university sector. […]

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Creative Arts Showcase 2023 thumb

Creative Arts Showcase 2023

The Creative Arts Showcase is now in its third year and is an end of academic year presentation from our students. We thank all our students who chose to participate and for their enthusiasm in putting forward their work this year.

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Artlab23 Collective thumb

Artlab23 Collective

The aim of the Collective is to provide a mutually supportive environment which will continue to provide inspiration and impetus post-OCA study. It is open to all students on the Painting, Drawing, and Fine Art pathways who have recently graduated or expect to complete their final year studies within the next 12 months.

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Student stories: Ange Mullins thumb

Student stories: Ange Mullins

I’m Ange, a Creative Arts student, and I’m within touching distance of the finishing  line after many years of study with OCA. I began in about 2008, although I can’t  now recall exactly when I signed up with what was then a very different OCA. I  joined purely as a means to learn more about ‘art’, a promise validated with a  certificate of completion at the end, along with a vague suggestion to have work  assessed; little did I realise that my journey would culminate with a BA (Hons) Creative Arts Degree. 

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