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New Art Department to open soon

Published on isbi School News dated Monday 3rd of March 2014

The Spring term began with much anticipation and excitement at St Mary's and already this term girls have excelled in Music, Art and Dance. Girls are currently exhibiting their work at the Salisbury Art Show (8 Feb 1 March) and the Shaftesbury Snowdrop Festival (14 Feb 28 Feb). Our Dance Showcase, which took place last weekend, was a huge success with beautiful performances taken from Swan Lake, West Side Story and a variety of modern songs.

Our brand new Art Building, way ahead of its June opening target, is nearing completion. The new complex will be home to Fine Art, Photography, Textiles and Ceramics and will create an inspiring work space for the students.
The project is the third phase in Headmaster, Richard James' building plans for the school in order to modernise facilities. Phase one saw a fantastic extension to the Mary Ward Upper Sixth building and with phase two came the introduction of the new academic building 'Rookwood', which took only a year to complete, and now houses the departments of English, History, Geography and Learning Support.
The new Art building itself has been designed to enhance the natural surroundings in which St Mary's is situated, taking full advantage of the beautiful Dorset scenery and wooded landscape. Complete with solar panels on the south facing roof, the new structure will be environmentally friendly and ecological, using natural light in the raised pyramid style roof to help enhance a creative atmosphere. The roof has been designed especially for St Mary's to give students the best possible conditions in which to produce and exhibit their art, photography, textiles and ceramics.
A local firm is currently overseeing the development of the new project and its radical design, which includes a 2D and 3D studio, a photography studio, a processing room, a large textiles room and an art resources room, which will become a research and reference facility purely tailored for art and art history. Modern features of the new building also include Wi-Fi access throughout and underfloor heating.
The standard of art is extremely high at St Mary's and a number of girls go on to do Art Foundation courses and Degree courses at some of the best art colleges and universities in the country. We hope that the new facilities will continue to inspire girls to achieve outstanding results.
The great news is we still have the Fashion Show to look forward to this term!
New Art Department to open soon - Photo 1New Art Department to open soon - Photo 2
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