Coleg Ceredigion art students exhibit in the heart of Aberystwyth as part of Heddwch a Chariad winter season

We are committed to giving learners real-life opportunities where they have to respond to a specific brief and deliver work to a professional standard.” Jess Baudey, Coleg Ceredigion Art & Design Lecturer

Art and design students at Coleg Ceredigion will be taking their work into the heart of the community as official participating artists in the Heddwch a Chariad winter season in Aberystwyth.

Heddwch a Chariad (Peace and Love) is the theme that ties together a series of art events and interventions over the winter season in Aberystwyth. This is the second year students have been involved in a town wide arts event.

Celebrating arts, peace and love, they are launching a series of pop-up exhibitions within shops in the community.

It is vitally important to provide students with the experience of working on live briefs and by moving beyond the college studios and exhibiting in public spaces, they gain essential skills in curation, professional practice, and public engagement.

Final-year students will display their work in diverse venues across the town, including Arad Goch, Eco Hub, and Inky Pinky Tattoo. By exhibiting in local businesses and community hubs, the students are helping to widen access to the arts within the town.

Jess Baudey, art and design tutor at Coleg Ceredigion, said: “This project is vital for our students’ professional development. 

“We are committed to giving learners real-life opportunities where they have to respond to a specific brief and deliver work to a professional standard.

“Working with the National Library’s archives, specifically the Peacemakers and Portrait and Power collections, has challenged the students to interpret complex historical themes for a modern audience. 

“Seeing their work displayed in the town centre, rather than just in a college studio, gives them a taste of what it means to be a working artist in Ceredigion.”

The student exhibitions form a key part of the wider Heddwch a Chariad season, organised by community interest company Big Wave Ton Fawr.

The student work will be on display from mid-February until the end of the month at Arad Goch (arts centre), Eco Hub (community space) and Inky Pinky Tattoo (independent business).