Creative Networking at the Arts Campus

On the evening of Thursday 19 March we held our second annual Creative Networking Event at the Brampton Road campus in Carlisle.

The event was targeted  at creative alumni, final year students and creative businesses, with the aim to help match local businesses to their next dream employee and provide useful guidance and advice to our students.

Over 60 people attended, and we were delighted to see a split of alumni and students from a range of creative disciplines including fine art, photography, graphic design, Contemporary Applied Arts, Drama and Media.

The event provided a unique opportunity for local creative and digital businesses to meet the cream of the crop of creative students and graduates who may be able to meet their distinct business needs.

The free event was held in the refectory at the Brampton Road Campus; giving alumni chance to re-visit their alma mater and also to see our new library and gallery spaces.

The evening comprised an expert panel made up alumni who have made careers in vibrant local creative industries together with a networking opportunity over drinks and nibbles.

Our panel members were Derek Eland, an internationally renowned contemporary artist; Helen Statham and Tom Little both from CN Group working on their digital projects; Lucien Toma, independent web developer; and Kathryn Jones, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce.

Joanne Lusher, Alumni Officer and Event Organiser:

“You never know who you might meet or what connections you might make at this event and we were overwhelmed to be able to introduce and connect so many creative people. Our alumni are our best asset and their creative career paths can be a huge inspiration to our final year students.”

We received some excellent feedback from the students; with a photography student exclaiming that the event was ‘friendly and organised and that the variety of different business  professionals provided a wealth of knowledge and tips.’  One final year graphic design student commented that it was ‘hugely motivational’ to hear the speakers.  

Details of all future events will be posted on our webpages.