Cardiff and Vale College students have a ball decorating the New Theatre with a Cinderella theme

Creative Industries students from Cardiff and Vale College have decorated the New Theatre with their own work to tie in with its 2019 pantomime – Cinderella.

The students were given a live brief to decorate all four floors of the Cardiff theatre. CAVC live briefs involve learners being commissioned to work for external clients, giving them the opportunity to test and validate their skills in a real, not just realistic, environment.

Briefs are designed to give students work experience, ensuring that they meets the needs of the job market in their chosen industry when they leave the College.

“It was my first experience to work for any theatre and it was fantastic,” Level 2 Diploma in Art and Design student Waniyah Farah said. “We have some stunning work like the beautiful Cinderella’s slipper, flying horse, a photo booth and many other works.

“I loved the way our designs were appreciated and the theatre staff were really helpful and everything was so well organised. We were all so pleased after displaying our work because everything looked amazing and it was a pleasure to have such a marvellous experience.”

Extended Diploma in Art and Design learner Sam Franks said: “As a student of Cardiff and Vale College for the past two years I have had the opportunity to work in collaboration with the New Theatre to design, create and exhibit artwork in relation to the annual pantomime. It is such a wonderful experience to be able to exhibit work in a real Cardiff landmark.

“As a student artist it’s a fabulous opportunity to be able to display work of your own innovation and design where it will be on display to a vast number of the general public due to the high footfall at the theatre at this time of year. The collaboration with the New Theatre also provides experience and understanding of the creative world in which we hope to enter in our future career. This preparation is incomparable to any learning which takes place in a classroom environment.”