THE advent of summertime signals a spate of graduations across Greater Manchester's 'big three' universities.

Up the Oxford Road, the University of Manchester knocks out a crowd of budding Art Historians from its theory-driven courses.

Meanwhile the buzz builds down the college corridor at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) where some of its 3,000 art students finalise summer shows. And, last but not least, there's that 'Greater' Manchester Uni over in Salford.

While the Mancunian equivalent of the Mongolian hordes storm the MMU's Grosvenor Building - the hub of the School of Art & Design - and spill beyond to the streets and bars, it's a calmer affair over the river.

A stone's throw from Deansgate, the University of Salford perennially pushes out decent artists and designers. Recent graduates have won a range of national prizes while many avoid the pull of London, contributing to this region's cultural output.

This year an appetiser for Salford's Art & Design can be tasted smack bang in the heart of, oddly enough, Manchester. The Town Hall may seem a funny choice but as Brendan Fletcher, a tutor in the Visual Arts Department at Salford explains, it makes sense.

"The visual arts show is on at the Irwell Campus as usual," says Fletcher, "but the university is doing another show [at Manchester Town Hall] to promote itself to a wider audience."

TO read the rest of this article buy this week's City Life (issue 589), out now priced '1.50.

University of Salford Visual Arts Degree Show 2005, Irwell Campus, June 9 - 14. University of Salford Art & Design Show 2005, Manchester Town Hall, June 13 - 15. MMU School of Art & Design Show 2005, Grosvenor Building, June 17 - 23. Click on the websites below for contact details.

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