Be inspired by challenging and innovative work as the School of the Arts Festival 2022 arrives on campus 

This May and June, the School of the Arts at York St John University will take over campus with a month-long graduate showcase, created and curated by our students. From performances to productions, illustrations to innovative products, the School’s artists create work to challenge perceptions, interrogate beliefs and offer new ways of looking at the world.   

Running from 26 May to 22 June 2022, the Festival is a unique opportunity for friends, family and members of the public to engage with hundreds of artworks and performance pieces across our Lord Mayor’s Walk campus in York.   

The festival will also incorporate the official VIP launch of the York St John Creative Centre, with a ribbon cutting ceremony by York St John University’s Chancellor Reeta Chakrabarti. The new Creative Centre is a striking and sustainably built 3-storey creative space that has become the new permanent home for our music and computer science courses.  

 The Centre will be the heart of the School of the Arts Festival 2022, hosting music, drama and media production showcases. Alongside this the York St John Art Show and Design Exhibition will spread across campus in the Design Centre, Phoenix and Macgregor buildings and the Arts Foyer.  

Head of School Rob Wilsmore said: “The School of the Arts is delighted to return to its first fully ‘on campus’ graduate shows since 2019. We have an array of art, design, performance, and production work made by hundreds of our student artists showing their best work as they come to the culmination of their degree studies.      

“It has been a tough time for our students, as it has been for everyone. We welcome you to join us and explore the thrilling creative work of our artists of all disciplines as we re-emerge from our online lives back into our on-campus lives.”  

Helen Turner, Associate Head: Fine Art said: “It is not easy to be a creative practitioner in our current times; living through a global pandemic, economic, environmental and political crisis. It is humbling and a privilege to be able to make work that responds to and helps understand our place in the world during such difficulties.   

“Our students are creating a future where they will use their skills of imagination, problem solving and creative ingenuity to manifest a better world. We welcome you to this exhibition with huge amounts of pride for art’s ability to help us question our world and provide us with possible futures.”  

Sarah O’Brien, Associate Head: Performance said:” Students make theatre to prompt audiences to see issues and ideas with new eyes and encourage new ways of thinking. Entertaining and radical approaches to the form will give audiences an engaging and thought-provoking experience.  

These final performances by third year students will address contemporary social, personal and political issues affecting people and society at large. Shaped over several years using research and practical exploration, these performances will cover topics that matter most to our students.”  

Find out more about all the events on offer during the School of the Arts Festival 2022