School of Art "Best in Show" at Tatton

MANCHESTER School of Art are hoping to be “Best in Show” with their exhibit at this year’s RHS Tatton.

From “meta” onions printed on ceramic plates to an interactive wall where visitors can design their own dream window box, staff and students are showing off the full range of their skills. 

This is the second year the School of Art have shown at Tatton, following the huge popularity of their “art allotment” last year.

Jane McFadyen, Principal Lecturer for Outreach, said: “After last year’s show people were really inspired by what they had seen, particularly the giant vegetable tent! We saw an article by Monty Don talking about how these shows were building more of a village fete feel, so that was also a big influence.”

From chemicals to ceramics

In addition to the interactive wall, there is also a marquee featuring designs by staff and students printed on to plates.

Clare Knox Bentham, Outreach Support Tutor, said: “We took the idea of the village show where you have all the best produce out on display on plates. Some are prize specimens and some are a twist on the idea - we have a few where the slugs have eaten the produce and the gardeners have got their own back with salt, and some puns on ‘French’ beans and ‘globe’ artichokes.”

Also on display are knitted cauliflowers, glass mushrooms and forgotten implements. Posters and prints show the chemical composition of the produce, and vegetable plots have been recreated through embroidery.

The exhibition was awarded a “Highly Commended” by the show’s judges. 

Prizes for everyone

A wall of rosettes celebrates the “also rans” at any show.

Their creator Alan Holmes, International Director for the School of Art, said: “A show like this is obsessed with winning.”You can only be creative if you take risks and sometimes if you take risks you fail, but everyone’s still a winner.”

RHS Tatton is one of the country’s top flower shows. This year’s event runs until Sunday, July 27.