Art Education Abroad

The first thing I noticed about ASP Katowice is how artistic the main building, Raciborska 50 is. The architecture is modern and geometrical in style with pristine glass windows and lots of open space around the exterior. There are two other separate buildings that make up the University as well, Raciborska 37 which is an older building with more traditional looking architecture and Koszarowa 19 which is pretty modern from the outside but not as bold as the main building. 

Raciborska 50

Christina outside Raciborska 50

Raciborska 37

I have a keen interest in Architecture, my final piece for the Self Promotion aspect of the last unit was based around the theme of 'Inspirational Architecture'. I hope to make observational drawings of the buildings I am particularly drawn to, perhaps noting down little architectural details and how they make me feel. UCA Farnham is fairly modern but I don't think the architecture is as crisp and clean as it is here. ASP Katowice is situated on a fairly quite street whereas UCA Farnham is closer to the centre of town so the area is quieter.

Considering the classes we have attended so far to gain a taster of what they offer, I have noticed that the learning environment appears to be alot more relaxed than it is at home. Admittedly, the Editorial Graphics class seemed fairly formal in some ways because the tutors appeared to be speaking quite seriously and they were stressing the importance of needing to be proficient in using InDesign as well as having good time management to complete the large projects of the second semester within the 4 month timescale. However, the class also felt relaxed because it started late, this may have been because it was the first class back of summer semester but this wouldn't happen in the UK. Also, one of the tutors actually answered his phone in the middle of a discussion between tutors and students. I thought this was quite rude but nobody else seemed surprised in the slightest.

The drawing studio we visited next was probably the most relaxed class we have been to so far. The tutors were sat in a corner having a chat and they welcomed us in with open arms. They explained the studio in an animated way and said that they believed the most important part of the class was to have fun. This put our minds at ease as we had found the Editorial Graphics class a bit full on and stressful. The tutors told us that we were welcome to work in the studio, somewhere else in the University or at home - wherever we felt most comfortable.

Like the majority of the classes offered by ASP Katowice, students only really need to come in to have consultations with tutors. These happen every week. They may be allocated a time to sit down and talk through their work and then they are allowed to stay and continue working in the studio or go. This is alot more relaxed than UCA, when we have studio days we are expected to attend for the whole day. We also don't tend to chat to tutors about our work every week so our assessment process is different.

I have also noticed how beautiful the University walls are, they are full of very skilful work by students. Alot of the work is framed which helps to make it look even more professional. We do of course have exhibitions and work exhibited on the walls at UCA Farnham but I don't always think they look as professional as they could and often there are empty spaces, especially in the studio we use for Illustration. The University as a whole is very clean considering it's a specialist arts academy.

Wall Art - they encourage students to draw and paint large scale on the concrete walls

I'm not sure if I think that this way of learning is better or not. Of course as a second-year student going into third-year in September, I know that independent work is becoming all the more important. But there is still many skills and techniques I can learn. I think that the print-making studio called 'Graphic Art Basics' and 'Graphic Art - Literature Interpretation' may be more suited for the way of learning we are used to. Tutorials tend to be given before you can use printing equipment and working from text could need more explanation and tutoring. There isn't a specific Illustration course here for second-year students so we have had to adapt and are able to choose some art and some design units. I think this will be very useful because we will be able to experience new ways of working and gain a full sense of how art is taught differently abroad.