Graduate residents move into Arts University Plymouth’s Workroom at Light Studios

The first cohort of Arts University Plymouth graduates has moved into Workroom, a creative business incubation space in Eat Work Art’s Light Studios that supports recent Arts University Plymouth’s graduates to develop and grow the next generation of creative entrepreneur start-ups.

Collectively their creative business ideas span fields that include connecting local musicians and artists to community events; commercial illustration, gallery photography and videography; jewellery, fashion and hotel interior design; and a service that will help bridge the gap for creative students who are soon to graduate with pathways into employment.

The first wave of graduates to take up residency in Arts University Plymouth’s Workroom includes:

• BA (Hons) Fine Art graduate Molly Erin McCarthy (aka molmor), an artist and streamer who works across sculpture, installation and interactive mediums. Balancing a successful artistic practice with roles supporting a range of galleries, exhibitions and regional development projects, Molly is using Workroom to extend the synergies between her personal and professional practices. 
• BA (Hons) Illustration graduate Blue Skye, an illustrator and communicator with experience live-scribing events for a range of organisations across the South West, who is using Workroom to widen her commercial services and establish the professional networks needed to ensure that her skills are more widely visible to potential clients.
• BA (Hons) Painting, Drawing & Printmaking graduate Charley Dyson is launching the Artist Community Chest, a platform for people within the South West to easily commission local musicians and artists for events, building on their extensive experience in event and project management.
• BA (Hons) 3D Design Craft graduate Emmeline Kwaan, a ceramicist and silversmith who plans to launch a new business endeavour organising retreats and events that promote creativity, social cohesion and artistic expression.
• BA (Hons) Fine Art graduate Hannah Cade, whose personal practice focuses on the camera lens, analogue photography and film negatives. Hannah is using Workroom to expand her services by offering photography and videography in a professional capacity for galleries, exhibitions and events, artist interviews and commercial content creation.
• BA (Hons) Interior Design & Styling graduate Nicola Rickard is developing ‘The Hotel Aesthetic’, a blog and lifestyle platform that considers the role of digital imagery in the concept development of hotel design and how that then impacts design trends. This work has so far seen her travel to Ibiza, Dubai, New York, and Paris, with both hotel groups and consumers sharing an interest in her research.
• MA Creative Education: Making Learning graduate Stacey Hunter is conducting research into adult learning, focusing on bridging the gap for students who are soon to graduate from university and looking for employment in creative fields in the South West.
• MA Illustration graduate Sunny Wu is a freelance illustrator and YouTube creator born in Southern California, with past clients including The New York Magazine, NBC, Vice, and WeTransfer.
• BA (Hons) Interior Design & Styling graduate Zoe Crewe intends to use Workroom to leverage her experience as a stylist and creative director to design a new clothing brand.
• BA (Hons) Fashion Design graduate Megan ElizabethTrapnell is a designer with a passion for natural and sustainable materials, promoting zero waste design concepts and regenerative farming practices. Her recent fashion collection features materials such as Silks, Leather, Suede and dead-stock fabrics. Megan will use Workroom to further develop her existing fashion collections and grow her fashion business.
• BA (Hons) Illustration graduate Hannah Harveyis an illustrator, with specialisms in children’s and educational illustration. Hannah’s work is strongly influenced by nature, fairy tales, fantasy and history.

Also taking up residency in Workroom are Arts University Plymouth’s two StudioLab for Embodied Media Affiliates, Natalia Lombardi and Sam Grotzke. Natalia Lombardi is an MA Textile Design graduate specialising in sustainable textiles and biomaterials. Sam Grotzke is a BA (Hons) Animation & Games graduate and current MA Illustration student who specialises in AR and XR technologies, particularly within game design. As StudioLab for Embodied Media Affiliates, Natalia and Sam work under Arts University Plymouth’s Dean of Arts Design and Media, Associate Professor Stephanie Owens, building on the arts university’s body of experimental research into wearable technologies and adaptable and responsive biomaterials.

Research carried out within the StudioLab for Embodied Media focuses on the sustainable and ethical integration of biological and computational systems, with interests spanning wearables, immersive media, network technologies, augmented reality, haptics, computation, and ethics. Within Workroom, multidisciplinary researchers Natalia and Sam are ideally situated to collaborate with other artists and develop their individual specialisms in a supportive, ambitious environment.

The graduates joining Arts University Plymouth’s Workroom will receive benefits including 24/7 access to Light Studios (now including a roof terrace social space), with access by arrangement to other Eat Work Art creative spaces across Plymouth and London. Residents also have bookable access to cutting-edge resources and equipment through the new Arts University Plymouth Creative Associates scheme. In addition to opportunities to learn alongside other graduates from different disciplines in an entrepreneurial community, the graduates also have access to the same benefits and facilities offered to other Eat Work Art residents, including social media and newsletter promotions and a joint Arts University Plymouth Eat Work Art Accessprofile, an online platform with a network of over 1000 creatives across all Eat Work Art sites.

To support graduates in growing their creative business ideas, Arts University Plymouth is delivering a programme of monthly talks, seminar discussions and continued access to advice and support from the arts university’s Enterprise team. Graduates also receive one-to-one mentoring with industry and enterprise specialists Micronomy, who offer practical business support covering areas including income generation, talent development, digital innovation, and marketing.

Workroom is an Arts University Plymouth Knowledge Exchange activity designed to help graduates create, grow and innovate their business ideas, supported by Research England’s Knowledge Exchange Funding for Smaller Providers.