“I really enjoyed all of my courses at college, they still influence the artwork I create! The lecturers, particularly Mark Kellett and Paul Parsons, were fantastic and truly supported my work throughout my time at Havant. Paul even encouraged me to start selling my work locally, which eventually led to me starting my own business!”

HSDC offers a wide variety of artistic courses across all three of its campuses, ensuring that young creatives can truly flourish during their time at college. One of these artists is Kitty Turner, who studied A Levels in Fine Art, Graphics and Computer Science at HSDC Havant from 2015 to 2017. After leaving college, Kitty studied illustration at the University of Portsmouth, allowing her to truly embrace her creative interests. Kitty's artwork on display at Hotwalls. Kitty credits much of her success to the skills she developed whilst at Havant. For her graduate project, Kitty was able to use skills she had developed at college and university to make a stop-motion film called Drawn to Light. This project won Kitty various awards at film festivals, including Best Student Film at Worcester Film Festival, and Best Low Budget Film at Margate Bookie Film Festival. Since graduating from university, Kitty’s art career has gone from strength to strength. Recently, she was offered to be a guest artist at Hotwalls Studios, a major art studio located in Portsmouth. Kitty’s exhibition was held in the historic Round Tower, making it a truly special showcase of her work. Kitty's artwork on display at Hotwalls. Kitty’s artwork on display at Hotwalls. Speaking about the exhibition, Kitty said: “It was a really exciting opportunity to be the guest artist at Hotwalls Studios. To be given the chance to display and demonstrate my artwork at the historic venue was really special. The team was able to create such a friendly, supportive and creative atmosphere.” Kitty’s exhibition was a showcase of her colourful nature-inspired work, which she often sells as prints through her business. She also creates 3D puppets and models whilst continuing to experiment with multidisciplinary techniques. Her work is often displayed in small businesses and markets in the local area.

Eden Gains, who studied a UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Music Performance from 2021 – 2023 at HSDC’s South Downs Campus, has landed some incredible music-focused work placements alongside her studies. Eden, who is currently studying Music Business at Southampton Solent University and hopes to pursue a career within the music industry began building connections within the industry whilst studying at HSDC. With the help of her lecturers, Eden was introduced to a range of industry professionals, including Victorious Festival co-founder Ben Miles who then offered Eden the opportunity to work at the popular South Coast festival. In turn, this enabled her to gain hands-on experience within the industry alongside the chance to network with a range of professionals. Eden was then invited back to work at Victorious again this year where she did an array of tasks including running supplies to the stage, picking up riders, conducting site walks ensuring each stage had everything they needed for the day and artist liaison work. In addition to this, Eden has also been offered a number of other incredible opportunities within the industry including at SONY Records and Glastonbury Festival to name a few!

“My favourite part of college was the people, lecturers, and course mates alike. It gave me an environment coming out of school where I could showcase my creative side and study something completely different to what I did at GCSE as well as meet a new set of friends.”

Tom Hooker, who previously studied Creative Media (Journalism & Communications) at HSDC’s South Downs Campus, has recently completed his undergraduate Journalism degree at the University of Winchester. Alongside this commendable achievement, Tom has also been lucky enough to work at well-known establishments such as ITV Meridian and presented for radio station Voice FM based in Southampton.