This ‘SPOTLIGHT ON’ features West College Scotland’s award-winning, student-led Art Production Company – MOYA – Minds of Young Artists.
Students from the Art & Design department at West College Scotland (Paisley Campus), have created their own production company, with the aim of promoting and selling their artwork. This has been a revolutionary concept and is driven entirely by the students from NC and HNC Graphics. This has provided the students with a platform that promotes and markets their own artwork commercially. The students hosted their first event at the prestigious hotel, Citizen M in Glasgow, in conjunction with Bridge 2 Business. They have also successfully held events at Apollo Music in Paisley and The Garrison Hotel, Millport, securing local and national press coverage.
To date, MOYA has achieved many things including the following:
- Secured funding from Paisley 2021 to establish, market and promote the production company.
- Designed and created original artwork for 5 businesses in Paisley.
- Designed and manufactured MOYA calendars, raising money for charity.
- Designed and manufactured original artwork T-shirts, tote bags and Valentines cards.
The students allocated roles and responsibilities within the production company, e.g. Chair, Researcher, Comms Manager, Student Liaison, and outwith their curriculum timetables they hold weekly meetings with invited input from teaching staff, artists and industry contacts. They have also extended an invite out to any former students to be involved in MOYA, with the ultimate goal of eventually being commercially successful enough to be able to employ current and former students into the MOYA setup. The model created could easily be transferred to other institutions now that they have created the foundation and business model.
The legacy of MOYA will be that new students will have the chance to gain real experience of running a production company and creating real products to sell to a local market. All of these experiences can go straight onto the students’ CV and will prove invaluable for their development in their studies and industry.
MOYA has not only provided a solid foundation for the students to put their artwork into circulation, but has also provided a means of implementing their learning, setting up business and earning money – the full circle!
At the sparqs Student Engagement Awards in March 2017, MOYA was runner up in the category ‘A co-curricular initiative/project (curriculum design/curriculum delivery/assessment) which has had an impact across the college or university’. Congratulations again to West College Scotland and all those involved in MOYA….view the award webpage to see them collecting their award!
You can follow MOYA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MOYAWCS/ and for further information please contact Claire Floquet, Marketing & PR Executive – claire.floquet@wcs.ac.uk
