City arts campus hosts creative careers festival

Students at Carlisle’s university arts campus are set to meet potential employers at a special event this week.

University of Cumbria’s Institute of the Arts is hosting its Futures Festival to allow students and alumni to meet creative industry professionals. The three-day festival begins tomorrow (TUES).

The aim of the event is to allow students to network with others, many of whom also trained at the  Brampton Road campus in Stanwix, and see how they’ve used their creative skills to forge careers in a range of industries.

There will also be a number of advice drop-in sessions and other events, organised by the university’s Careers and Employability Service.

Alumni making a return to the city arts campus include Gateshead-based editor Tom Strachan, who graduated with a TV and film production degree in 2009. Last March Tom, who is from Lancaster, won an award from the Royal Television Society (North East and Border) for his work on CBBC’s The Dumping Ground.

Illustration graduate Harry G Ward, whose digital painting ‘Cracks’ won a BBC Creative FanArt competition last summer for his depiction of award-winning Peaky Blinders frontman Tommy Shelby, is also expected to meet with current students.

The Futures Festival coincides with the opening of 2020 Vision, a special exhibition on display in the Vallum Gallery.

Open to the public and free to visit, staff at the Institute of the Arts will be showcasing their talents until 21 February. The exhibition, which will take in a range of different mediums, will be open 10am until 4pm daily (closed Sundays).

PICTURE: Tom Strachan at the 2019 RTS North Easter and Border Awards