A fashionable summer event showcasing region’s best talent

Over 100 of the region's most up and coming designers and artists are set to showcase their work at this week's annual Summer Show in Northampton.

The event, organised by The University of Northampton's School of The Arts, is held in order to showcase exceptional work from final year students specialising in everything from Fine Art and Graphic Design to Interior and Product Design, Fashion, Photography and Architectural Technology.

Studios have been painted, art work has been prepared, hung and exhibited and the University Estates team has been hard at work preparing the grounds to look their very best for the show.

An Open Evening and VIP event on Thursday 9 June will officially launch the show, which is then set to run until Friday 17 June - free of charge to people who want to pop in and view the designs, collections and exhibitions.

We already have hundreds of guests coming to the Open Evening, and the students and staff have been working for months in preparation for this event.

Christine Midgley, Acting Associate Dean, School of The Arts

Open Evening guests are invited to attend the event from 6pm, at which time there will be a welcome speech from the University's Vice Chancellor Professor Nick Petford. Guests will then be able to view the different shows at their leisure.

• Upstairs is home to the Graphic Design and Illustration team, where everything from book design, print materials and website development will be on display.
• Across the Courtyard, guests will be able to make their way to Fashion and Surface Design, offering people a close up look at fabrics, shoes and accessories.
• Product, Interiors and Architectural Technology are downstairs, with model making and computer aided imagery on display.
• Across the staff car park there is the Walgrave building, home to a stunning array of Photography, Fine Art and Painting, and Heyford, where Foundation Art and Design students exhibit.

This Summer Show is a testament to the hard work and talent we see here at The University of Northampton. Our students, and their work, rivals anywhere else in the UK and by the end of the event, talent spotters will have offered students jobs, commissioned work and bought paintings, photographs, prints and more. It happens every year and that's just one of the reasons why we are one of the UK's most hidden gems - a centre of innovation, talent, creativity and excitement.

Christine Midgley

If you would like to attend the open evening on 9 June, just drop Christine an email at christine.midgley@northampton.ac.uk

The show, which is free of charge, runs every day, including weekends, until Friday 17 June. Simply drop into Avenue Campus reception between 10am - 4pm at the weekend, and 11am - 5pm during the week to look around.