Creative Studios Teacher Selected for European Commission

Dr John O'Rourke is a higher education teacher and Course Leader on the HND Art and Design (Fine Art) course at The Creative Studios at the Queen Alexandra Campus in North Shields. He is a Painter and Sculptor with an international profile, including commissions, exhibitions and a long list of publications in Art and Architectural Magazines as well as academic esoteric journals.

As part of North Tyneside Council’s involvement in RUHR 2010, Essen on the Ruhr for European Capital of Culture, Oer-Erkenschwick in Germany invited each of its twin towns to nominate an artist from their area to create a new sculpture to be sited in the town. John was chosen to be North Tyneside’s representative for this project.

The sculpture 'Indweller' which John has produced is an exact scale model for a symbolic depiction of a miner in an architectural and industrial form. It relates to the mining industry of Oer-Erkenscwick and the Ruhrgebeit region. The sculpture also references Art Deco and Ancient Egyptian forms. The title is double-edged, alluding to both a mystical inner path and interior mining spaces. It will be 6 feet 3 inches tall and be fabricated in 8mm corten steel plate which will, over time, rust on the outer surface only, resulting in a patina of age which reflects the changing environment and industrial heritage of the area. Apprentices from the Auguste Victoria (AV) mine in Marl are to manufacture the sculpture. Engineers from their hi-tech steel workshop will be supervising fabrication of the work. The sculpture will be sited in a prominent position by the main entrance of a redeveloped area on the outskirts of the town, leading to a pathway up the Halde, a former pit heap which has been transformed into a pleasant recreational area.

The scale model of the sculpture was on exhibition at Quadrant, North Tyneside Council HQ during the summer months. It has since been taken to Germany as an aid to the fabrication process.

John completed his Fine Art practice-led PhD in March this year. Entitled ‘East-West-Occult, it involved six years of research through the University of Wales, Aberystwyth School of Art. Early on in his research he won the Dickinson Dees first prize of £3,000 for Blue Labyrinth, an oil painting of art critic David Lee. The exhibition was organised by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Although not a member of that organisation, he was subsequently invited to exhibit with them again as guest painter, in the Mall Galleries in London. As well as being a painter, John is a life member of a different professional body, the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

In addition to gaining his PhD, last year John was commissioned to complete a sculpture for an interior space within a priory in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho, which is an independent kingdom land-locked in South Africa. The sculpture is a 2 ft 2 inch high oak head, a symbolic portrait of Herbert Hamilton Kelly, who was the founder of the Society of the Sacred Mission. Like most of John’s sculptures, it has micro-labyrinthine inter-connected interior spaces; a symbolic reference to contemplative mystical traditions.

TyneMet and Queen Alexandra's Creative Studios are also fortunate to have many award winning Art students under his tuition; for example, as an integral aspect of a course project, Val Farrar submitted a brief for the commission of a sculpture to stand alongside the new Greggs building in Longbenton, North Tyneside. The competition was open to all FE and HE organisations in the region, The Creative Studios were delighted to be informed that all of the 5 shortlisted briefs were from their students and were elated when Val’s brief was chosen as the winner and she was awarded the £10,000 commission, her sculpture will be unveiled, probably by the end of this year. Other outstanding students include the winners and runners up of this year’s Newcastle Building Society’s Annual Art Competition, Karen Duffy, a Foundation Degree in Fine Art student scooped the first prize of £500 and the two runners up, who received £250 each were, Karen Cartwright, studying on the HND in Fine Art, and Lynne Corrall-Wymes, an HNC fine Art student.

John O’Rourke, Fine Art teacher, The Creative Studios, Queen Alexandra Campus, North Shields, said:
"The Creative Studios on the Queen Alex Campus have some very talented students. This is the third time, in the four years of that competition’s existence that students from this course have taken first prize. Furthermore, over half of the runner-up prizes over the four year period have also been awarded to HE Fine Art students from this College - and this year all three prizes went to us. It’s one of a few excellent opportunities available to students, including a healthy interaction with Arts Staff at North Tyneside Council, who enable the students to exhibit their work at Quadrant, creating temporary and permanent site specific works at a range of venues within the local community. I am very committed to supporting my students and actively encourage them to showcase their work at every opportunity."

Denise Bolton, Head of Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College, said:
"John has a remarkable portfolio of work and has become a well know artist and designer in his field. We are fortunate and delighted to have John as a member of our teaching staff; he is able to give the HE Art students a thorough insight in the disciplines of Art and Fine Art and Design. The successful achievements of his students clearly highlights that we have tutors who regularly go above and beyond their roles to support their students and create an outstanding student experience. John has ‘real life’ experiences in various disciplines which adds to the excellent quality of teaching and learning that we provide at The Creative Studios at Queen Alexandra Campus in North Shields."