3 December 2018 

Cath Stanley and Derek Cowper, staff members from the Pendleton School of Creative Art and Design, show that it’s not just the students that shine at the college, it’s the teaching staff too. Both members of staff have recently shared very special accolades with their students in hopes of inspiring their own ambitions. Cath Stanley, Photography Teacher at Pendleton Sixth Form College, has for the past year been with FORM, a new collective of seven artists working on new works in photography and the visual arts. Back in September, Cath, alongside her FORM colleagues, exhibited for the first time at Brighton Photo Fringe, thanks to the support of Arts Council England. Brighton Photo Fringe is a festival of new photography and only the most prestigious photography groups, with the most inspiring work, are invited to exhibit. Cath, as well as her students, were both extremely proud and excited about this accomplishment. Cath said: “Working with a small collective has been a fantastic experience and being able to work towards exhibiting at such a prestigious event has helped me to explore new ways of making imagery. “The festival was huge, and the opportunity even bigger. It’s very difficult to get accepted in to and my students here at the college were extremely impressed, as was I.  Creatively, this year has been brilliant for me and I’ve achieved many accolades and learnt many new things. This has helped me immensely with my teaching as I’ve been able to share so much more with my students.” As if this wasn’t enough, Derek Cowper, Teacher of Creative Arts and Design, has been selected to have his own work exhibited in the University of Bolton’s School of Arts Commemorative Exhibition, which is being displayed at the Bolton Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibition, in celebration of more than 150 years of the School of Arts, includes stunning works produced by past and present students. Pendleton teacher and former Bolton University student, Derek, was selected to submit several pieces of work to be displayed as part of the show. This is particularly impressive as the artists invited to take part in the exhibition were all carefully chosen and recognised as distinctive and talented creative practitioners, who have gone on to achieve significantly in their field. Derek commented on his achievement, saying: “It was such a privilege to be asked to display my work and become part of the Commemorative Exhibition at the newly opened art space within Bolton Art Gallery. To be recognised by the university as a former student who they have deemed to have gone on to become a success in my chosen field, through my work with Salford City College and Pearson. “On top of this, to have my work displayed alongside artists such as Trevor Lofthouse, Michael Brennand-Wood, Professor Robert Williams is very humbling and incredibly exciting.” The Commemorative Exhibition will run until the end of December at the newly refurbished Bolton Museum. Find out more here: https://www.bolton.ac.uk/bolton-school-of-arts-commemorative-show-to-launch-at-museum/ Congratulations to both of the Pendleton teachers on these incredible achievements! If you are interested in studying photography or any other course at Pendleton Sixth Form College, please contact us on 0161 631 5000 or by emailing Admissions@salfordcc.ac.uk