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Meet the students who created the designs for the horses painted by Dubai Men’s College and Dubai Women’s College.
Designing and painting Arabian horse sculptures was a unique experience for students from the Dubai Women’s College (DWC) and Dubai Men’s College (DMC) who took out their paintbrushes in the Dubai Celebration of the Arabian Horse Exhibition.
Both colleges’ Communications Technology programmes received the horse sculptures through the sponsorship of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence.
Each college used a similar method to select the final design.
At DWC, 40 designs were submitted to graphic design instructor Gigi Ramirez who then narrowed the field to eight semi-finalists.
Their designs were presented to Patricia McGourty Palmer of Artworks, organisers of the exhibition, for final selection.
Maharaja, an Indian henna pattern design created by Latifa Darwish, a second-year applied media studies student, was chosen.
At DMC, students were instructed to submit designs based on a media theme.
Anthony Lovelock, graphic design instructor, was in charge of shortlisting the designs which were then sent to Patricia McGourty Palmer.
The winning design
The design, which was finally chosen, is a multi-coloured, abstract image of an eye designed by Moath Bin Hafith, a first year applied media studies student.
“I submitted five or six designs,” says Moath.
“The one that was chosen was the simplest among all of them; it was felt that the others were too complex to apply on the horse model.
“I really feel content, because my design will represent DMC on Dubai’s roads. I am very proud of the finished product, especially after the unbelievable amount of effort my fellow students and faculty have spent on it.”
DWC’s Latifa Darwish submitted two designs, both based on Indian themes.
“One had maroon and brown as the main colours,” she said.
“The selected design is a brighter one with blue and yellow as the main colours.
“I like Indian themes and referred to many henna design books for inspiration. I was so happy that they chose my design, it really motivates me to participate in future design competitions.”
She added, “I am really proud of how the DWC first-year Communications Technology students painted the horse and we are all really excited to see it around Dubai.”
Excellent experience
The project was an excellent opportunity for students to use their creative design skills.
The graphic design instructors at both colleges were responsible for implementing and managing the project.
“It was a really fun and exciting project; an excellent experience for the students,” said Gigi Ramirez of DWC.
Anthony Lovelock of DMC said, “The design that was chosen was the simplest, but when it came time to applying it, it turned out to be a hard job. I am really proud of the student’s efforts, in which they were helped by Blake Chamberlain, DMC multimedia instructor.”
All the students who took part in painting the horses felt it was a good opportunity to work together as a team on something outside the normal classroom curriculum.
They are also all very proud that their hard work and efforts will benefit the community after the horses are auctioned off for charity.
Dubai Celebration of the Arabian Horse Exhibition
• The community art project is the brainchild of Ken and Patricia Palmer of Artworks LLC.
• The colourful project was launched to coincide with this year’s Dubai World Cup.
• In mid-May, the horses will be auctioned off in a gala public auction. The funds raised will be donated to children’s charities and used for art-related initiatives.
Hamdah Noor is a student of Dubai Women’s College and Mohammad Mohammad Al Mansoori is a student of Dubai Men’s College.
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