Artistic stream of achievements celebrated at Fort William End of Year Art Exhibition

An artistic stream of achievements was celebrated in Fort William last week at the opening event of UHI North, West and Hebrides’ End of Year Art Exhibition.

The exhibition, which will run from May 15th until Friday May 29th (weekdays only, from 9am-5pm) showcases the diverse range of creative work from the NC & NQ Art & Design with Textiles, NPA Painting and NQ Introduction to Sewing courses.

This year’s exhibition highlights several collaborative projects undertaken with external partners and reflected themes of sustainability, creativity and community engagement.

Lecturer at UHI North, West and Hebrides in Fort William, Laura Kingswood Smith said:

"This year’s exhibition really reflects the creativity, curiosity and commitment of our students across art, textiles and painting. It has been wonderful to see them engage with projects connected to sustainability, storytelling and our local environment, while also developing confidence in their own creative voices. The collaborative opportunities with external partners have given students valuable real-world experience and helped showcase the strength of creative talent here in Lochaber.”

One of the featured projects is ‘Woven Memories: Stories in Stitch’, developed in partnership with The Highland Hospice. Students were invited to give new life to a collection of donated wedding dresses, using them as inspiration for drawing, painting and upcycled textile pieces. The project explored the idea of garments as vessels for memory, time and place, while also encouraging conversations around sustainability and reuse.

The exhibition also includes work inspired by the ‘Creative Rainforest’ project, which explores the fragile ecology of the region’s temperate rainforests. Students and lecturers responded creatively to themes developed in collaboration with The Nevis Landscape Partnership and organised by Aeon Creative. The project culminated in a public exhibition at The Highland Soap Company, where various artistic disciplines came together to highlight the importance of protecting the West Coast of Scotland’s natural environment. NC Music students also contributed by creating a collaborative musical composition especially for the event.

Another highlight of the year, which is part of the exhibition, is the professional fashion photography shoot held at ‘Beauty Paradise’ in Fort William, supported by husband-and-wife photography team Patryk and Dorota Palicka.  After receiving professional makeovers from NC5 Beauty students at the ‘Elysian’ Beauty studio, students modelled garments they had created themselves for the ‘Nu Romantic’ fashion theme.  The resulting photography forms part of the exhibition and showcases the creativity and craftsmanship of the students involved.

Thanks were extended to the Palickas for sponsoring the exhibition through their support of the event, and to ‘All Round Signs’ for professionally printing the photographs.

The success of painting student Katy MacLachlan is also celebrated in the exhibition. Katy was selected to exhibit in the prestigious ‘New Highland Graduates’ exhibition at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery. As one of only three artists in the exhibition based in Lochaber, Katy’s inclusion reflected the strength of artistic talent emerging from the area.

Recognition is also given to Caitlyn Martin, who was nominated as NC Student of the Year for her hard work, persistence and exceptional attendance. Throughout the year, Caitlyn demonstrated enthusiasm across projects, developed skills in fashion, textiles and digital creative practice, and made a valued contribution to class discussions and collaborative learning.

Congratulations were also extended to Fi Austin, Daisy MacDonald and Oliwia Palicka, who secured places for further study in the creative arts. Fi progressed to study HND Fashion & Textiles at Edinburgh College, Daisy secured a place on the Fine Art Degree at UHI Moray, and Oliwia continued her studies at UHI NWH.

The exhibition celebrates not only the artistic achievements of students across the courses, but also the strong partnerships, creativity and community spirit developed throughout the academic year.

Find out more about our Creative Arts courses.