BA Graphic Arts student Hannah Teague talks about what it’s like to become an Arts Ambassador and about wanting to experience more culture in her life, as well as talking about her dreams for the future.
My name is Hannah and I am a third year BA Illustration student, based on the Winchester School of Art Campus.
People don’t really tend to understand my course, and think it’s just doodling or creating picture books all day, and I’m not going to lie, that is some of it. However, I also focus heavily on research to influence my work, and give it a better understanding in the real world. Illustration is a pathway of the Graphic Arts course, so I also have a good understanding of design and real world practice as well.
When I’m not being an Arts Ambassador or completing my degree I spend a lot of my time drawing, or learning new crafts. My style varies quite a bit, from drawing cats with dip pen and ink, to digital portraits (and more cat images)! I also have a developing love of musical theatre, this year alone I’ve seen Miss Saigon, The Addams Family, and Wicked at the Mayflower Theatre. After I finish my degree, I’m planning on taking a PGCE in Art and Design so I can become a teacher at a school or sixth form. Teaching people new things has always been something I love doing, so this just puts something I often do anyway into a practical form. As well as teaching, my dream is to write and illustrate children’s books, and being published is my goal.
Being based at the Winchester Campus means I often feel isolated from all the exciting things that happen in Southampton. This feeling is what gave me the inspiration to apply to become an Arts Ambassador, I want to make sure that students both in Winchester and Southampton are given all the opportunities they can have to really take advantage of the art and culture that is on offer around them.
One of the main reasons to become an Arts Ambassador was to experience the things that are going on first hand for myself, I would probably not make the effort to go to Highfield Campus and go to Turner Sims for example, and this job gives me not only the opportunity to do that, but also means I can then tell my fellow students about it too. As the Arts Ambassador programme is only in its second year, I’m excited to really be able to explore the different ways we can get people more engaged in the arts, and discover interests they might not know they had.
In my opinion, the arts should be accessible to everyone, not just art students, or those who are more privileged, but to anyone who wants to give a different experience a go. It does not matter whether you study Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, or Fine Art, the arts exist for everyone to enjoy.
Arts Ambassadors is a paid opportunity, supported by the Careers and Employability Service’s Excel Southampton Internship programme, University of Southampton.
