Art and design students were recently visited by the Shrewsbury Drapers’ Company, Gaynor Bowen, Sally Perrin, Diana Bailey and Caroline Oakes, to be briefed on their upcoming annual textile design competition.
Our students have been tasked to submit pieces for the company’s 2024 competition on the theme ‘The Four Seasons’. They will have their work on display for the public to see at Shrewsbury Library, with the chance to win a number of prizes, and a unique opportunity for a student work placement.
The Shrewsbury Drapers’ Company is a long-established guild which was granted a Royal Charter in 1462, and has been continuously running almshouses since 1444. Today the guild is a modern, volunteer-led organisation which mobilises the skills of dozens of volunteers dedicated to community services.
The company encourages textile skills and education with an annual textile competition for both adults and students, at school and college, to continue their heritage and traditions of the company within Shropshire.
The student awards consist of a Gold Award with a prize of £200, a Silver Award of £150 and a Bronze Award of £50, as well as the Jackie Ryan Memorial Award, created to commemorate the founder and managing director of Tweedmill Textiles Ltd based in Flint, North Wales.
This award allows a student to carry out a two-week work placement where they have the opportunity to create a woollen throw or blanket, with their final design entering production and being sold in the Tweedmill catalogue.
“Our theme this year is ‘The Four Seasons’, which is a very broad subject and it’s how the students interpret that theme” says Gaynor Bowen, Immediate Past Master of the Shrewsbury Drapers’ Company. “It could be any form of textile piece or fashion, including embroidery, felting, woven pieces or printed textiles.”
“Our competition has been running for over 25 years, and we want to offer the students the chance to be a part of the competition’s proud history.”
“Working to an externally set client brief gives the students valuable industry knowledge” says art & design lecturer Claire Routledge. “Entering competitions like The Shrewsbury Drapers’ Textile Competition helps to raise the student’s profile as an artist and designer, the students can include the experience on their CV and their personal statement which in turn will help them get into a university course in their chosen specialist area.
“Last year, our students managed to earn a highly commended, three commended awards and one student was selected to win the Jackie Ryan Memorial Award and associated work experience at Tweedmill Textiles and we’ll be hoping for another triumph this year.”
For more details about the award, visit the Shrewsbury Drapers’ Company website here.
The exciting opportunity to work with companies, such as the Shrewsbury Drapers’ Company, provides a massive boost for our Fashion and Textiles T-Level course – starting next year.
