Arts University Bournemouth
Founded more than 140 years ago, Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) continues to be a world-leading centre for creative research, innovation, and public engagement, with more than 4,000 students studying across its 39 undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
The creative specialist arts institution offers courses in art, design, media, and performance, and is a recipient of two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for Costume and Film.
AUB’s award-winning alumni include stars of cinema and screen, performance, and creative arts, from Oscar winning writer and director Simon Beaufoy to Olivier Award winning actor Olivia Brady, and Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show winner Tom Massey.
The University’s award-winning campus in Wallisdown includes specialist state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, alongside a purpose-built Drawing Studio designed by Alumni Professor Sir Peter Cook RA, the first of its kind built in the UK for more than 100 years.
Complementing the traditional with the technological, AUB’s cutting-edge Innovation Studio houses world-class design, fabrication, and 3D printing technologies; and works closely with industry innovators like Sunseeker, LUSH and RNLI.
Housed in AUB Library, on-campus museum The Museum of Design in Plastics, holds a collection of items of national importance, as designated by Arts Council England, and dedicated art space TheGallery curates nationally renowned exhibitions, artist talks and symposia.
With a teaching and learning presence in Bournemouth town centre at venues including Pavilion Dance South West, The Avenue Shopping Centre and Palace Court Theatre, and with AUB’s creative civic engagement activities animating urban areas among Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, AUB brings vibrancy and a diverse youthful energy to the town with a year-round programme of artwork, performances, screenings, and festivals.
AUB makes a significant contribution to the development of the cultural sector. Represented on the boards of both the Dorset’s Local Enterprise Partnership and BCP’s Cultural Compact, AUB staff and students also partner with Poole’s Lighthouse, The Russell Cotes Museum and Art Gallery, Christchurch Priory, Bovington Tank Museum, and nationally significant art galleries and cultural and heritage organisations including Hauser and Wirth and Messums.
AUB also offers design thinking expertise to many other sectors. Recent projects have supported creative problem solving with University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, several of Poole’s manufacturing businesses, and the levy payers of the various local Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).
In February, AUB’s WAKEUPTOAUB town centre takeover saw the University launch a series of exhibitions, demonstrations, and performances, including VFX and Prosthetics, poetry, classical music, and a nautically themed lifeboat fundraiser on Poole Quay.
The events, which provided a platform for local creatives to engage with the latest thinking in economic and social regeneration, were designed to bring a breath of early springlike creativity into the region. At more than ten venues, 2500 people engaged with the activities on offer during this inaugural four-day festival.
Dr Anna Farthing, Director of Civic and Cultural Engagement at AUB said: “Local businesses identified a need to activate the town centres with enticing events that would drive footfall, and we were delighted to respond by bringing together our creative talents and many cultural productions to showcase what AUB can offer.
“WAKEUPTOAUB was a remarkably successful pilot, and we are currently reviewing how we can make it even better next time. It was really encouraging to see so many people, both visitors and locals, braving the February chill to engage with our programme and be inspired by sparks of creative connection.”
Anna added: “We want to work with residents and businesses to find new ways to animate the town centres. Our reopening the Palace Court Theatre on Hinton Road as The Exploratorium, an interim venue with temporary facilities, is a key part of our civic and cultural engagement mission. In this confusing post-pandemic world, we want to invite more people to connect with AUB and experience the simple pleasure of enjoying fresh new ideas in good company.”
In March, AUB campus will see TheGallery host Lockdown Artists and Artist Returned, an exhibition by BA (Hons) Commercial Photography alumni Gabriel Bush, and exhibition Reuse, which explores notions of sustainability and plastics, will be heading to MoDiP until September 2023.
Through Spring, AUB’s exciting roster of creative events continues, with a performance of RENT by the Universities Performing Arts Society – the first theatrical production to be staged at Palace Court Theatre since AUB took ownership of the historic 1930’s venue.
Bournemouth Writing Festival also comes to town centre venues in April, with Pavilion Dance South West then playing host to AUB Productions’ new musical Masque Macabre later in Summer.
To read more about AUB, visit
Website → aub.ac.uk
Instagram → @inspiredaub
