A-LEVEL
You’ll already be inspired by the work of a dizzying array of artists and have a real passion for creating your own.
Galleries will be your second home. You’ll be entranced by colour, reflections, light and dark. Portraits, still life, illustrations. And you’ll want to take advantage of the extensive painting, drawing and printmaking facilities at Xaverian College to reach your full potential in the worlds of mixed media, collage or sculpture.
This Fine Arts course is one of our most popular A-levels.
You’ll learn from some of the most talented creators in your field. Meet visiting artists and spirited alumni, and work alongside them. Tour many of the region’s galleries and museums to gather your thoughts, ready for your next practical assignment.
You set the agenda.
Decide on the style that works best for you, and then specialise in it, bringing to every session and workshop your own interpretation, getting in flow, developing your form, refining your observational process, and enjoying constructive feedback from your peers and mentors to build a portfolio of Xaverian work that is beyond anything you ever expected you would achieve.
We’re excited you’re considering joining us for this journey in Fine Arts. Whether oil or acrylic, pen or pencil, charcoal or chalk, mono or screen printing, canvas, wood or metal, clay or porcelain, you’ll have every chance to express yourself and reach heights of creativity you never dared imagine.
How far would you go seeking inspiration? We’re thinking trips to Berlin, Barcelona and New York.
Though with one of the world’s most creative cities on your doorstep, you never have to travel far to get those creative juices flowing. We have super close ties with the Whitworth Art Gallery, 10 minutes’ walk from campus. Students have collaborated with its visiting professional artists on a huge range of inspiring multimedia projects.
We think it is really important to work alongside practising artists, and regularly attend gallery workshops.
And in recent years artists including Jamil Keating, Sophie Mason and Bella Leonard have visited the Xaverian campus to deliver workshops on resin casting, performance and conceptual art, and sculptural textiles.
Join the Creative Consultants group at Manchester City Art Gallery and you’ll have the chance to create work, and curate an exhibition, with fellow artists.
Xaverian alumni Rosie Sevink-Johnson had her work exhibited at the London Royal Academy. And we’ve had fashion students display at Manchester Art Gallery.
Still life is all textures, angles, light, shadows, reflections, angles and perspectives.
Today you’re getting the chance to turn your hand to a fabulous miscellany of objects, from clay bird to sheep’s skull, garlic press to vintage video camera.
Join our teachers and students as through an observational, mark-making exercise they develop interpretations appropriating from two entirely different artists.
We go Cubist with pencil and charcoal before an entirely different approach modelled on the work of Alberto Giacometti with pen, pencil, charcoal and chalk.
Fine Arts students are likely to head into teaching, fashion, interior design or gallery roles.
With your keen eye for how things are put together you might choose an architecture route.
We’ve even had students combine their love of science and art to go on to engineering roles, with their artistic flair bringing an entirely new perspective to product design.
Fine Arts experience also lends itself to film, television and jewellery design.
There are lots of different degree courses related to Fine Arts. During the course you’ll find a passion which may lend itself in one of these directions:
Emma Jones, a Year 12 student at Xaverian College, has been named one of four winners in the prestigious Portico Sadie Massey Awards, which aims …
Two Year 12 students at Xaverian College, Caitlin Bowler and Nadia Bishop-Broadhurst entered The British Association for American Studies (BAAS) School Essay Prize earlier this …
This year we celebrated 160 years of Xaverian! There have been many changes over the years, however the fundamentals have stayed the same. The zeal …
Emma Jones, a Year 12 student at Xaverian College, has been named one of four winners in the prestigious Portico Sadie Massey Awards, which aims …
Two Year 12 students at Xaverian College, Caitlin Bowler and Nadia Bishop-Broadhurst entered The British Association for American Studies (BAAS) School Essay Prize earlier this …
This year we celebrated 160 years of Xaverian! There have been many changes over the years, however the fundamentals have stayed the same. The zeal …
