A Day in the Life of an Art School Student

It was half past four on a Wednesday and I was in the lingerie section of Primark on Sauchiehall Street, crouching to the bottom rail to weigh in on the dilemma my friend was having. My friend had recently impulsively purchased an inflatable man – the kind that flail about in the wind outside car garages. In order to find a feminist slant that had yet to be fully figured out, she wanted to dress the inflatable tube man in bra and pants, and having blown most of the budget already, the rest of the project made shoestring look indulgent.

We had to communicate that this whole thing was a joke, so we opted for a pink lacy number after agreeing that ‘red is too overtly sexy’. We fell out in to the baking sun and set our sights on our next task – a pint.

If you’ve ever tried to drink outdoors at The Vic Bar on Scott Street, then you’ll know that it’s a bastard of a hill and your glass may well start sliding down the trestle table like an alcoholic log flume at M&D’s. But it’s a nice day, and we look out on to the plastic coated scaffolding structure we’re reliably informed was once the Mackintosh Building.

After two fires nearly ten years ago, it still lies silent like a haunted shrine – teasing us with glimpses of its beauty; stunning iron work, charred bricks and intact street signs can be spotted in amongst a maze of scaffolding and cladding. We hear about it in awed tones, like ghost stories – about the light and the space and the elephants that were brought in from a local circus in the early 20th century for the students to draw. Unethical, sure – but how class would it be to draw an elephant?

The thing I love most about art school is the way we talk about ideas, craft, techniques and how to move things forward. Design is, at its core, a commitment to making things better. I have never been more creatively determined and every day I am around students and tutors that are endlessly talented, interesting and curious. This is a microcosm of what our culture is driven by, and what it has always been – a love of ideas and following curiosity. This environment is amazing and inspiring. But there’s a problem – who gets to access it.

I am a proud product of a Glasgow state school and my parents do not work in the creative industries, but I am fully aware that any success I’ve had in freelance work or education has been rooted in the support of my family and the luxury of being able to fail without financial consequence.

I fear that Scottish people, working class people and those from underrepresented groups are unable to pursue the arts and the creative industries as a plausible career path. I firmly believe that if we are to push the needle forward for Scottish culture, it is essential that our creative institutions and industries fight off the classism that is inherent here.

The Glasgow School of Art’s demographic breakdown sits with 25% International Students, 20% from the rest of the UK and a minority of 20% from the most deprived areas of Scotland. At the same time, our cultural economy is being eroded, with Creative Scotland’s Open Fund being cancelled then re-instated, with its future constantly being called into question.

Education more generally is no safer. Per-student funding for domestic students has fallen 19% in real terms since 2013, and the 2024/25 budget includes a further 6% cut to teaching grants. As a result, universities are pushed to rely heavily on international fees, creating a system where well-resourced international students gain access, while many working-class Scots are shut out.

Even for those who make it through a creative degree, post-graduation things can often get even tougher. Freelance work, internships and projects for low or no fee can be amazing stepping stones to other things, but only if you have the financial support to survive them. Not everyone does. And when people have to prioritise financial stability over creative opportunity, the industry becomes less diverse, dynamic and representative of the society we live in.

It doesn’t need to be like this. Look at sports – we pump billions into sports because it is largely understood that it benefits our culture, communities, economy and tourism as well as people’s mental and physical health.

It may seem quaint to discuss arts funding in the current omnicrisis clusterfuck that is the modern news agenda. But it matters; diversity in the arts is paramount to social mobility. It’s about who gets to create, have their voice heard and shape our culture and society, and overlooking it now only deepens inequity later. I will always feel a depth of gratitude that I get to wander the halls of the Art School, and feel the sense of possibility and opportunity to move our culture forward. I just want those doors to be opened for those we don’t know we need yet.