In April 2009 we moved into prestigious new offices in Somerville Court, Adderbury. We weren’t keen to furnish the offices with anonymous mass-produced, corporate artwork. So instead, we approached Oxford & Cherwell Valley College to see if their further education students from courses (including – Access to HE Diploma in Art and Design, Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, National Diploma in Art and Design and National Diploma in Graphic Design) could come up with innovative and inspiring artwork on the theme of ‘Engaging Hearts & Minds’.

With the help of Laraine Jones, Programme Manager for Art, Design & Photography at OCVC, we launched a formal competition for art students. The submissions surpassed all expectations. Philippa Thomas, Managing Director of JML, said:

“We were amazed, inspired and delighted by the creativity and intelligence of the OCVC students. The artwork they submitted was original and of an incredibly high standard. Judging the competition was very difficult, but we finally managed to select an overall winner and two runners up. Their work will be displayed in our offices for the enjoyment of not only our staff, but also our clients from leading UK and international organisations. I would like to express my thanks to Laraine Jones and the OCVC tutors, for all their support. It was a real pleasure to be able to make a donation to contribute towards the work of the college.”

Laraine Jones from OCVC said:

“It was a fantastic opportunity for these level 3 learners to engage in a live project with real deadlines – giving them the opportunity to liaise directly with the client and implement their requirements. We were delighted to receive so many submission pieces for selection and were impressed by the overall diversity and standard of the work. Matchett was very supportive throughout the process and it was a wonderful opportunity for the three students, whose work was selected, to get to meet and discuss their work and studies with Philippa and Harry.”

The overall competition winner was Justina Strizigauskaite (middle). Emilia Hapka (left) and Rebecca Small (right) were the two runners up.