Oaklands College and Giffen Group announce date for Charity Art Exhibition

Giffen Group and Oaklands College have recently announced an exhibition to be held at St Albans Town Hall on Wednesday 29th April where they will be displaying some 34 items of original art. The exhibition will be open to the public for a minimum entry fee of £1.

All the artwork has been created by art foundation, national diploma and foundation degree students at the college, from a design brief initiated by Giffen Group, one of St Albans larger employers, as part of its Centenary celebrations in 2009.

The artwork takes its lead from the operations of the Giffen Group (an electrical contractor best known for its work on the rail and underground networks) and is one of several initiatives to raise funds throughout 2009 for its nominated charity, the Cancer Treatment and Research Trust (CTRT) based at Mount Vernon Hospital.

Giffen Group has a long association with the College, through its apprentice training programme, and worked closely with the Art Department in delivering this project.

On display on the 29th will be 34 pieces, short-listed from over 80 items of work, and from which 6 pieces will be identified by the judging panel as ‘winners’. Each of the 6 winning students will receive a cheque from Giffen for £200.

Funds for CTRT will be raised via a minimum donation on entry of £1 to view the exhibition and through ‘sealed bidding’ for the artwork. Bidding will commence at a private Giffen Group viewing on the 28th April, throughout the public display and culminating at the Giffen Group Centenary Dinner in October.

Commenting on the project Oaklands Principal Mark Dawe said:

"This is a truly innovative exhibition. The quality of the work produced by the students is outstanding and provides a window into the creativity of both the students and staff at the college. I would like to thank Giffen Group for approaching us to work together on this project in aid of CTRT. I think this is an excellent example of how a business and an educational establishment can work together in a very worthwhile partnership."

In response Jo Giffen, Chairman of the Giffen Group said:

"I have been very impressed by the fabulous work created by the students and the professionalism of the staff at Oaklands. As a business we wanted to give something back to the community in our centenary year and this link with the college will be of benefit to the students and a very worthy charity."

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