To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.
Explore #WeAreOCA
Skip Navigation
As Programme Leader for the painting dept, I am pleased to be in conversation this month with artist and tutor Ilsa Brittian. Ilsa has worked for OCA since 2017. Ilsa is leaving us this month to focus her attention on her practice so I am taking the opportunity to have a conversation with her and to celebrate her significant contribution to OCA.
Read More
OCA tutor, Helen Warburton recalls the discussion of image overload, and asks how do artists and designers deal with this now in the midst of a pandemic? During lockdown, I’ve been revisiting a 2013 WeAreOCA blog post that posed a provocative question: how do we deal with the flood of images? The discussion gravitated around […]
Read More
It is common for an artist to write a statement defining their practice. In my opinion this serves a greater purpose for the artist than for the audience (who, after all, should be free to respond emotionally to an experience rather than being instructed regarding its intention). I have been writing and rewriting my statement […]
Read More
‘The Gathering’ 2018, repopulating a space in Romania left abandoned since the revolution in 1989 I learnt a lot from my conversations and brief collaboration with the late great Will Alsop. Most notably that not everything has to make sense – actions do not always have to be justified. Play is the beginning of creativity […]
Read More
‘Beacon’ 2016, Installation on an ancient beacon site where the audience is invited by the light rather than by a selective process. My work is the investigation of pathways, migrations and unplanned encounters. It is only with hindsight that I can understand the rationale behind my creative practice. I call this retrospective research; looking back […]
Read More
Robert Bloomfield and Dan Robinson As online group learning continues to gather pace across the college, we’d like to bring you a short update with the latest developments in Photography. For those who are new to OCA, or have not yet tried group work, these are video based discussions with students and tutors focusing on […]
Read More
I’m a tutor on OCA’s Interior Design courses. I was sent images of a model made by one of my students. It represented a pavilion design and was well made and interesting to look at. Trouble is, I had no idea how big it was supposed to be. The dictionary definition of scale is “The […]
Read More
I am sure as a distance learner, you’ll likely be used to incorporating different technologies into your learning experience – I was certainly Zooming ‘before it was cool’ thanks to OCA meetings and I can’t help but notice how many learning tools we seem to be early adopters of. We’re also lucky to have […]
Read More
If someone were to write a book of ‘Lessons from Lockdown’ – and I am sure they will! – then surely one of the most important is how much we should value the arts. How many of us were comforted during the worst times by reading, music or visual art or by being able to […]
Read More
All over Britain art students of all ages are setting up end of year shows. From primary school to adult education, from higher education to post graduate, artworks are filling up boards for family and friends to view and assessors to scrutinise. Open House studio exhibitions are a particularly popular way to show your work to the general public and this year I have signed up for the Richmond ARThouse Open Studio event.
Read More
