Visual Arts Summer Exhibition 2026

The Visual Arts Summer Exhibition at BHASVIC Sixth Form College offers a vibrant snapshot of the creativity, concerns and ambitions of its Fine Art, Graphics, Textiles and Photography students. As ever, the exhibition reveals something of a ‘state of the nation’, highlighting the themes and ideas that resonate most strongly with this emerging generation of artists and designers.

This year, the breadth of work is particularly striking. In Photography, Tammas Brinklow’s Isolated England presents an almost post-apocalyptic vision of the familiar. By visiting well-known attractions just before opening hours, he captures unsettling, eerily empty scenes that transform the everyday into something strangely dystopian. Graphic Design student Rosie Mayers, meanwhile, explores the fragility of memory through a sensitive booklet and thoughtful series of posters for the Wellcome Collection, using a distressed, grainy visual language to evoke the instability of recall.

Fine Art work is equally compelling, with Otto Mackinnon’s frenetic collages offering sharp social and political commentary. Constructed from street finds and layered visual fragments, his pieces reflect a fast-paced, complex contemporary world. In Textiles, Awen Williams turns to nature for inspiration, focusing on concentric circular forms. Using botanical dyes and hand-pieced patchwork, she echoes these rhythms in exquisitely crafted cushions, on display in the Textiles studio.

The exhibition is further enriched by the involvement of visiting artist Faye Bridgewater, who selected and presented the prestigious CASS Art Awards to a group of exceptionally talented students, recognising both technical accomplishment and conceptual strength.

Overall, the Summer Exhibition is a powerful celebration of student achievement, thoughtful, ambitious and deeply engaged with the world around it.

Winners of the CASS Art prizes 

• 1st place Otto Mackinnon £100 voucher 
• 2nd place Ana Nurcellari £50 voucher

Highly commended 

• Archie Jenner
• Lotte North
• Rosie Nelson

Winners of the endeavour prize 

• Rosalyn Purser 
• Alice Eve 
• Mai Cordery 
• Sid Aparo 
• Noah Lock
• Will Davies
• Betty Geary