First national exhibition of artwork created by prison-based learners opens at Fife College’s Kirkcaldy campus

The first national creative exhibition of prisoner artwork has opened at Fife College’s Kirkcaldy Campus.

The exhibition showcases over 70 creative pieces, including artwork, sculpture, and craft, all based around the theme of ‘connections’, opened last night (Thursday 3 November) with a successful launch event at the campus.

Guests were impressed with the array of talent and impressive pieces of artwork on display, all of which were created by prison-based learners from Fife College Learning Centres within the thirteen SPS-managed prisons across Scotland.

Open to the public from 4 November to 30 November at the College’s Kirkcaldy Campus, there is also the opportunity for members of the public to view the ‘Connections Exhibition’ via an online interactive platform.

The platform will also be made available to prison-based learners, all in the spirit of connection.

Audrey Mitchell, Director, Learning and Skills Services (SPS) at Fife College, said:

“Prison-based learners undertake a vast range of creative projects in Fife College’s thirteen Learning Centres based within public prisons in Scotland.

“However, there are limited opportunities to showcase this fantastic work to wider audiences with guest access understandably extremely restricted within the prison environment. 

“The Connections Exhibition at the Kirkcaldy Campus offers a unique opportunity for us to highlight these positive learning outcomes to a wider audience.

“We extend a warm invitation to anyone who would like to come along and see the amazing work on display for themselves.”

Theresa Medhurst, CEO Scottish Prison Service, said:

“This first national exhibition of prisoner artwork, hosted by Fife College at the Kirkcaldy campus, is the culmination of months of planning, implementation, and above all, partnership working between Fife College and the Scottish Prison Service, and also between the college and prison learners.

“Having the opportunity to showcase this at college campus has been such a positive experience for everyone involved.

“The range, style and quality of artwork on display across the exhibition is testimony to the diverse abilities of those people studying art in prison environments, and the encouraging and constructive engagement they have with their local prison-based learning centres.”

The Connections Artwork Exhibition is open from Friday 4 November to Thursday 30 November at Fife College’s Kirkcaldy Campus.

To access the online version of the exhibition, visit https://learn.fife.ac.uk/fc-sps-connections-digital-art-exhibition/

Providing educational opportunities in the country’s prisons since the late 1990s in several facilities, Fife College became the first national provider of the learning and skills contract for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) in 2017.

Since the start of the partnership, the College has supported thousands of learners in the thirteen SPS-managed prisons in Scotland.