The future of post 16 Art & Design education in this country seems to be under considerable threat at the moment with the funding attacks on the Foundation Course and the potential scrapping of Art & Design National Diplomas to make way for the subject lite / employability skills heavy New Diploma in Creativity & Media qualification. UCAS's decision seems like another nail in this coffin...

Read More: UCAS to Scrap Route B Applications for Art & Design Students

This was a very interesting and thought-provoking event on widening participation into art and design at all levels. Speaking at the event were Patsy Forde from the Glasgow School of Art, Paul Haywood from the University of Salford, Jane McKeating and Tim Dunbar from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Supported by: NAFAE (National Association of Fine Art Educators), GMSA Regional Progression Network in Art and Design, Faculty of Arts, Media and Social Sciences (University of Salford).

Read More: Engaging Communities: Arrt & Design Networks

Thanks to NAFAE funding the University of Sunderland ran an event around a symposium for prospective students and staff from local schools and colleges. The aim was twofold. Firstly to bring students into a university setting so they could see the value of the Foundation/Level 0 course, also...

Read More: Read the Full Report: NAFAE funded Symposim

Hosted by Nottingham Trent University, this year’s GLAD conference will build on and develop the themes and ideas published in the book, which resulted from the 2007 conference held in Cambridge, The Student Experience in Art and Design: Drivers for Change. GLAD will bring together practitioners at all levels in art and design who will engage in participatory workshop activities, with an emphasis on individual delegate participation.

Read more: The student experience in art and design: action for change

Both within the gallery setting and beyond, artists are negotiating new ways to engage with the public. This symposium aims to examine certain practices and consider the changing possibilities and potential opportunities for the graduate artist. Discussion will be encouraged around the implications of this for curriculum design at BA level, particularly in relation to professional practice.

Read more: Artist As Performer

A Symposium considering conteporary issues are 'site', including the following speakers:

• Mary-Lou Barratt (Art) - 'NO-W-HERE: Artists Navigating Between the Lived and the Longed-For'
• John Bell (Architecture) - ‘Displacements’
• Nic Clear (Architecture) - ‘Synthetic Sites’
• Derek Hampson (Art) - ‘Shopping and Looking: The Retail Park as a Site of Heidegger’s Functionality Contexture’
• Lucy Harrison (Art) - ‘Fragile Spaces: Community, Memory and Large-Scale Architectural Change’
• Gabor Stark (Architecture) - ‘Site Effects: Inhabiting Terrain Vague’

Read more: Art/Architecture - Research Symposium: Rethinking Site