UCOL Blog

Fifteen aspiring baking students are benefiting from a freshly risen partnership between UCOL Wairarapa and Masterton baking identity Breadcraft (Wai) Ltd.

Once a week, the Certificate in Baking and Pastry students are joined in the UCOL kitchens by Breadcraft bakers Todd Wilton and Motu Sturgeon.

Todd and Motu are recently qualified bakers who did their adult apprenticeships with Breadcraft. They are enjoying their foray into teaching on alternate Thursdays. “I produce more than 10,000 baked products at work in a normal day,” says Motu. “It is quite different to come here and focus on just a few baked goods at a time. The teaching part is a challenge but the students have a great attitude and are keen to learn.”

Todd agrees and says it is a new experience to have the students watching his every move during demonstrations.

UCOL Chef Lecturer Carmel Hughes says Todd and Motu have brought valuable knowledge and skill sets to the UCOL teaching kitchens. “It is great that the students have two more brains to pick, rather than just mine. The students are presented with different ways of doing things that may speed up the baking process or result in a better product.”  

Breadcraft (Wai) Ltd has a rich history in Masterton and employs up to 120 staff during its busy periods. The company trains around eight apprentices at any one time.

Co- owner of Breadcraft Peter Rewi is impressed with the quality of the UCOL Baking and Pastry syllabus, saying “all baking basics and all food safety aspects are well covered.”

He says the company is delighted to be involved in UCOL’s baking and pastry programme. “This partnership gives us the opportunity to learn more about what goes on at UCOL. It’s a way of supporting our community and the future of our industry.”

Photo: Breadcraft’s Todd Wilton (left) and UCOL Chef Lecturer Carmel Hughes watch as student Mark Giles puts the finishing touches to his baking. Also pictured are Kate Howard, Motu Sturgeon (Breadcraft), Anne Yardley and Christine Smith.

For more information contact

Angela Hewitt, Campus Manager UCOL Wairarapa,

Ph 06 946 2309 or 021 244 0668

Photo: He Pikopiko – He Whanau

New work by senior Fine Arts lecturer Marty Vreede will be on show at the Solander Gallery in Wellington from next Wednesday.

Marty is exhibiting with Wellington based multi-media visual artist Sheyne Tuffery.

The Wellington exhibition follows Marty’s recent success in the Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards.  Not only did he receive an Excellence Award, but he also won the prestigious Prime Minister’s Supreme Excellence Award 2010.

Marty is an accomplished artist in his own right, as well as a teacher.

He founded the Print Workshop at the Quay School of the Arts in Whanganui 20 years ago, and developed it as a central hub for printmaking in New Zealand. Last year he received a Fulbright award which allowed him to visit the legendary Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts in Pendleton, Oregon. 

He has also studied papermaking and printmaking in the United Kingdom, as a Nuffield Foundation Scholar. In 2007 he was the first Artist in Residence at the University of Hawaii Print Workshop (Manoa), and has been invited back for another residency. 

Over the last four years Marty has participated in more than thirty shows in New Zealand and overseas.

He says the new series of work exhibited at Solander Gallery has come from a desire to “get closer to drawing”.  Working with stone lithography at Crow’s Shadow last year brought Marty back to the immediacy and intimacy of drawing. 

“These new etchings started their life as charcoal drawings on glass and were then transferred to a zinc plate through a polymer film process.  Then the traditional layering of Hard Ground and Aquatint takes the image into a pure state of direct drawing,” he says.

This process has allowed Marty to work up in scale, with the largest etchings just over 700mm x 500mm.

The images come from a series of drawings of functional objects held in the Whanganui Museum which attracted the artist because of their craftsmanship and their inherent aesthetic beauty.  Marty sees them as symbols of promise and of a future, looking forward rather than something from the past.  “Reworking and looking anew at these beautiful objects allows us to create an alternative contemporary narrative for the intent of the object.”

The opening of his new exhibition, titled Implement of Change, will be held at the Solander Gallery in Willis Street, Wellington at 5.30 pm on Wednesday 8 September. He exhibition will run until 2 October.

Young and older have flocked to the first polytechnic beauty services programme to be offered in Whanganui.

The Certificate in Beauty Services is available at Whanganui UCOL for the first time this year. It was amongst a suite of new programmes introduced in response to community demand. In its inaugural year, it has attracted students ranging in age from 16 to 50+ and the capacity class of 38 has had to be divided into two groups.

Students Amelia Laing and Nina Gilbert are thrilled with their first semester. “It’s brilliant!” they say. Both Amelia (30) and Nina (18) studied previously at UCOL for their pre-apprenticeship hairdressing qualifications. They now share the desire to extend their skills to “more than just hair”.

The programme not only includes practical and theoretical knowledge of beauty services for the face, hands and feet. It also covers aspects of human physiology and anatomy, chemistry and business.

The students work with clients once a week in the purpose designed facility in UCOL’s Bennett building, applying what they have learned in a real-life setting.

Beauty Lecturer Anne Lindsay says “The student retention rate is amazing. It is beyond what we expected” says Anne. “They have taken their study very seriously and are determined to have a career in the beauty industry.”

Anne says she expects the Certificate in Beauty Services to be just as popular next year. “We are up there with the best equipped beauty schools in the country.”

Photo: Amelia Laing treats her ‘client’ classmate Rochelle Hopkinson. Nina Gilbert is in the background.

Three UCOL Fine Arts graduates are amongst the finalists in the inaugural Sculpture Wanganui event.

Five sculptural works by local and national artists have been shortlisted for installation along the riverfront in Whanganui. The event which starts in mid September and runs for two weeks.
The shortlisted artists are: Daniel Clifford, Paul Dibble, Mikel Durel Browne (in conjunction with Kerry McDonnell and Max Cody), Matt Pine and Sarah Mauvan.  The artists’ works will be installed and on display in the riverfront area, near the new Visitor Information Centre, during the two week event.
Kerry McDonnell, Mikel Browne and Daniel Clifford hold Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from Whanganui UCOL. Daniel also completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Graphic Design at Whanganui UCOL.
Daniel is in Brisbane where he is the project director for the building of an eight storey sculpture by United States artist Ned Kahn at Brisbane Airport.
The Whanganui sculptures will be judged by Rob Garrett, a member of Wellington City Council’s Public Art Panel. The announcement of the prizes, including a ‘people’s choice’ award, will be made at an awards presentation during the event. Each artist will receive a contribution towards the installation and/or transportation costs for their work.
Once the event closes, two works will remain and be sited along the riverfront area. The existing sculptures will be joined next year by the winners of Sculpture Wanganui 2011.

For the first time Palmerston North UCOL will host Top Art 2010, a travelling exhibition of the cream of Secondary School students’ visual arts portfolios.

Two groups of students’ portfolios that achieved Excellence at NCEA level 3 in 2009 will travel to approximately 30 schools, museums, and galleries throughout New Zealand over five months.

Top Art is a chance for this year’s level 3 Visual Arts students to see first-hand a range of high-calibre art produced by their peers in each of the five Visual Arts contexts; design, painting, photography, print-making and sculpture. This year the exhibition includes information from the artists on the development of their work.

The Top Art exhibitions also allow members of the public to see the impressive work which secondary school students are producing.

Top Art runs from 20 to 23 July in the Atrium at the Palmerston North campus and will move on to the Quay School of the Arts in Whanganui from 26 to 30 July.

More than 100 local and international artists will be represented at an exhibition at the Federal Hotel Gallery from 20 July. Alternatives 2010 will feature a variety of photographic images that combine old and new techniques.

Head of Photography at the Quay School of the Arts Rita Dibert says the exhibition attracted a large number of entries from which the final selection was made. The biennial exhibition is coordinated and presented by photography students in the Quay School of Art BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree.  The exhibition prospectus was circulated on the internet and on Facebook and artworks from Australia, New Zealand, The United States andWhanganui were chosen by 2nd, 3rd and 4th year Photography Majors.

 “The majority of work is not digital, we wanted to show our commitment to the wet darkroom and a range of photographic processes,” says Rita. “Visitors to the exhibition will be amazed at the diversity of the images using hand tinting, photo-collage and gelatine silver print techniques.”  

“There is also photo jewellery, photography on garments, a large selection of pinhole images from Certificate in Art and Design and Year 1 Fine Arts students, and digital work amongst other aspects of contemporary photography.” 

Among the Whanganui entrants are Cullinane College, Girls High School and Wanganui High School students as well as students in painting, printmaking and photography from the Quay School and recent Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates.
The intriguing exhibition opens on Tuesday 20 July at 5pm at the Federal Hotel Gallery at the corner of Taupo Quay and Market Place, Quay School of the Arts, Whanganui UCOL. Much of the work is for sale. All are welcome.

Alternatives 2010 runs every day between 11.00am – 1.00pm until Saturday 31 July.

Photo: Steve Goff’s Palladium print Fish is one of the international works in Alternatives 2010.  Steve is a well known U.S. alternative photo artist who heads the Photography Department at Odessa College in Texas.

The newest member of UCOL’s School of Nursing’s teaching staff is likely to spend all day lying in bed but she is destined to play a key role in student learning.

Affectionately known as ‘Annie’, the newly purchased state of the art, life-like mannequin is designed for scenario-based training in general patient assessment and care.

Complete with normal and abnormal heart and breathing sounds, and the ability to cough, moan and scream Annie gives nursing students a unique simulated experience of patient care.

Along with simulated lungs and stomach, trachea and oesophagus Annie provides important anatomical landmarks for students to practise basic procedures.

Annie’s functions can be remotely controlled by teaching staff who are able to programme up to ten different nursing care ‘scenarios’ for nursing students to respond to. 

Nursing lecturer Susie le Page says the interactive mannequin replicates an educational experience that is often not possible during student placement.

“Students can take Annie’s blood pressure readings,” says Susie. “They are also able to practice more invasive procedures like intravenous cannulation and intramuscular injections.”

Although anatomically a female, ‘Annie’ can also be transformed into a male patient by swapping genital modules. The ‘skin’ on her arms can also be replaced as necessary.

Photo: First year Bachelor of Nursing student Tareq Barzak takes Annie’s blood pressure. Nursing lecturer Susie le Page operates Annie by remote control.

For further information contact:
Brian Gilchrist
Director of Nurse Education and Head of School
Phone +64(6) 952 7001 ext 70463 or Mobile +64 (21) 190 0055

Fine work by three senior UCOL Fine Arts students and graduates goes on show at the Square Edge Gallery in Palmerston North tomorrow (Friday 2 July).

 The exhibition – titled Between – features paintings and glassworks by Whanganui UCOL Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate Brenda Banks, and current Glass major students Karen McIntyre and Kate Walker. 

 It will run from 2 July to 27 July.

Photo: Painting by Brenda Banks

UCOL Computer Graphic design graduate Charlie McKay has achieved another top national award.

Charlie, who is Art Director of Metro magazine, was named Best Magazine Designer at this month’s Qantas Media Awards.

Judge Matt Martell said: “As I looked at Charlie McKay’s pages, I kept reminding myself that I was looking at design, not reading stories. His intelligent use of colour, typography, illustration and photography draws readers in, entices them to read, read, read. His work stands out through his breadth of styles, depth of understanding of the subject matter and a confidence and competence absent in most other entries.”

After graduating from the Whanganui School of Design with his Bachelor of Computer Graphic Design, Charlie moved to Wellington, and worked free-lance before becoming Art Director of Metro, an urban magazine of music, fashion, food and art with a reputation for inventiveness and award-winning journalism.

Charlie added to that reputation when he was named Supreme Winner, Designer of the Year as well as the Designer of the Year, Current Affairs at the prestigious 2008 MPA (Magazine Publishers Association) Awards.

As Art Director of Metro he is in charge of all the visuals, commissioning the right illustrators and photographers for the specific task. He works closely with writers to create cohesive, interesting articles through design layout and typography. If he doesn’t do the photography himself, he directs and styles the photo shoots for covers, fashion layouts and billboards. But he says for every hour on the shoot there are about three in front of the computer designing.

He says these are the skills he learned at the Whanganui School of Design. He puts his success down to the school’s focus not only on technical ability but also on creative thinking, history and theory.

Hey everyone!

So O-Week has come once again, AS@U are out with their free food & Giveaways each day this week! so far it has been pretty interesting. Monday was ‘SLOTH’ so the “Seven Deadly Sins Challenge” was to move down a slip and slide sort of thing and eat gross (and some not so gross) food and whoever got to the end first won, The prize was 2 tickets to the big sounds small town thing. All the free food was demolished in 10 mins but I think it went pretty well overall, if you want to check out the rest of whats going on see http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=297260893532&ref=mf our facebook event info or pick up the latest Crew Magazine.

Click image for more O-Week Day 1 Photos

Day 2 (today) was ‘GLUTTONY’ so the first challenge was to eat a plate of cold spaghetti the fastest without hands and the second challenge was who could get a whole pizza first. The same guy won both challenges (and I bet he got into the free breakfast before hand as well!) what a legend! He won some tickets to small town big sounds, a couple of goody bags, a voucher for powerhouse tattoos and I think a t-shirt as well? probably even more stuff, I don’t know but AS@U seem to be giving away heaps of cool things.

Click image for mroe O-Week Day 2 Photos

I also put up some photos from the Powhiri in our photo gallery but they are terrible shots, I am not a good photographer at the best of times and to make things worse my camera was on some kind of weird setting and I didn’t know.

All of these photos are up on our facebook page as well http://www.facebook.com/ucolnz so if you are on Facebook make sure you are a Fan and if any of your friends are in these photos make sure you tag them also we are giving away a Nintendo Wii on Facebook so make sure you sign up for a chance to win!