2008 Awardee: Sara Barker

I am excited about the work I will be able to produce towards my exhibition.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2008
AGE AT AWARD: 27
ARTFORMS:
 
 
 

Biography

Moving from the Isle of Man to Glasgow to study at the Glasgow School of Art, Sara Barker has lived in Scotland for over 10 years. At art school, Sara won the Emy Sachs Award for Female Artists. Since graduating, Sara has been practising as a visual artist, predominantly as a sculptor, and contributing to the Scottish art scene.

In 2004 Sara founded, and is represented by, the Mary Mary Gallery. In 2006, she was selected by the Collective Gallery in Edinburgh for the New Works Scotland programme. In 2008 she was offered her first solo international exhibition at a major gallery in Bologne.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award helped Sara to develop work for this major exhibition.

Since the Award

Sara writes that the award enabled her to “make the body of work that I had hoped, experimenting with new materials and working in a less pressured way.” Following the highly productive period that the award allowed Sarah, she has since been offered more exhibitions and won the British School at Rome Residency in 2009. This led to more exhibitions with established artists. As a result, Sara has established a steady studio practice based at the Glasgow Sculpture Studios, which, she says, would not have been possible without the award.

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I am excited about the work I will be able to produce towards my exhibition.

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2007 Awardee: Katri Walker

I am absolutely delighted with the trustees' decision, not to mention deeply grateful... I am very excited about making the film and about GI, I know it will be a very challenging and important time for me.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2007
AGE AT AWARD: 29
ARTFORMS: ,
WEBSITE:https://www.katriwalker.com
 
 

Biography

Born and brought up in Edinburgh, Katri Walker moved to Glasgow to study for her degree in Fine Art/Sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art. She graduated in 2002 with a first-class honours degree.

Since graduation, Katri has lived and exhibited in Mexico, Finland and Australia. In 2006 she was invited to take part in the Next Wave Festival, with 5 other Scottish artists, as part of the Youth Cultural programme in Melbourne, held at the same time as the Commonwealth Games. In 2005 she returned to Glasgow to pursue a prestigious Master of Fine Art at the GSA

Katri works in a variety of media, including photography, drawing and film and video. Her films are short, direct and, employing tragi-comedy as a tool, she frequently deals with aspects of interpersonal relationships.

Katri has been invited to exhibit in the third Glasgow International 2008 in a joint show with the internationally recognised Spanish artist, Dani Marti. Katri is considered to be one of the best young artists working in Scotland today and expected to become one of the most outstanding artists of her generation.

Her planned exhibit, to create a short film on one of the ancient cultural traditions found in Mexico, won universal support of the trustees.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will go towards the expenses to creating Katri’s exhibit for the Glasgow International 2008.

Since the Award

Katri writes after her duo-exhibition at the 2008 Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art, “The public outcome of my project .. has been a really important step in my career. The response [to the duo-exhibition] was overwhelmingly positive, not only from the public but the media also.”

Katri subsequently undertook a 3-month residency in Perth, Australia and exhibited there in early 2009.

Katri features in our 10th Anniversary Exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.

Rapture [extract] from Katri Walker on Vimeo.

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I am absolutely delighted with the trustees' decision, not to mention deeply grateful... I am very excited about making the film and about GI, I know it will be a very challenging and important time for me.

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2007 Awardee: Caroline Walker

I am looking forward to starting my MA course .. and I am sure it will help me develop my work and open up opportunities for my future career.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2007
AGE AT AWARD: 24
ARTFORMS:
 
 
 

Biography

It has been a long-held ambition of Glasgow School of Art graduate, Caroline Walker, to study painting in London. Brought up in Dunfermline, Caroline completed her first degree in 2004 and went on to work as a gallery assistant to support her painting practice. In 2007 she applied for, and won on her first application, a place on the highly-competitive MA Painting course at the Royal College of Art.

Since graduating from GSA, Caroline has exhibited widely across Scotland, the UK and abroad. In 2006 her work was selected for the highly prestigious John Moore 24 exhibition of painting at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool. She is remembered by her tutors as one of the best students to have come through the GSA in the last 10 years and was one of the most naturally talented painters in her year.

Whilst many students do well at art school and produce works of high quality, only few of them have that extra something which turns them into artists. Caroline is considered to possess those qualities of drive, determination and intelligence to enable her to become a Scottish painter of rare quality.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will help towards the considerable expenses to pursue a 2-year Masters in Painting at the RCA.

Since the Award

At the end of her two years’ postgraduate study at RCA, Caroline received 3 awards: The Tom Bendhem Drawing Prize, The Neville Burston Award for a painting student and The Valerie Beston Young Artist Award which provides her with free studio space for a year.  All her paintings in the final show were purchased. Caroline writes, “I genuinely feel that my success at the degree show and the recognition my work has received is the result of having been able to fully commit to the course, which was enabled by the funding from the Dewar Arts Award.”

Caroline’s work was showcased as part of our Tenth Anniversary Celebrations. Find out more here.

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I am looking forward to starting my MA course .. and I am sure it will help me develop my work and open up opportunities for my future career.

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2007 Awardee: Christina Corfield

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the trustees. Their support is deeply appreciated.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2007
AGE AT AWARD: 26
ARTFORMS:
 
 
 

Biography

Bristol-born Christina Corfield moved to Glasgow to study art at the Glasgow School of Art. After graduation in 2003, she stayed on in Glasgow, attracted by the vibrant, challenging and active art scene in the city. At her degree show, Christina won the British Airways Glasgow Student Travel Award which allowed her to spend two weeks in Madrid visiting the Prado and other large museum collections.

Christina is now working as a freelance artist and dedicated to her practice as a visual artist. As a student she displayed the ability to question and critique her work and push it into new territory, both in relation to ideas and methods. Having developed her practice to become stronger and more diverse, now is the time for Christina to continue her studies to take her work to new levels of achievement.

Going abroad to pursue a Masters will help expand Christina’s horizons. She says that as a Briton in the USA, she will be helped to understand the cultural context of her work and become aware of broader issues in art-making and reception. Christina plans to return to Glasgow after completing her studies in San Francisco and help to establish new links between the two cities through exhibitions and residencies.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award supports Christina for the first year of study towards a Master of Fine Art at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Since the Award

During her first year, Christine had three exhibitions in the student galleries of the Art Institute and outside the Institute her work was screened at the ‘Evergold Gallery’ in San Francisco. Christina continues her studies towards a Master of Fine Art.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank the trustees. Their support is deeply appreciated.

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2007 Awardee: Emma Pratt

I am soooo pleased to hear that I have received the Dewar Arts Award. Thank you so much!

YEAR OF AWARD: 2007
AGE AT AWARD: 25
ARTFORMS: ,
WEBSITE:https://www.emmapratt.co.uk
 
 

Biography

Kirkcaldy-born Emma Pratt graduated with a first-class honours degree in Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone College, Dundee. While at college, Emma received the RSA Sculpture Prize, the Carnegie Travelling Scholarship and, for her degree show, the Farquhar Reid Art Trust Prize. She was seen as a student who combined original talent with ambition to succeed and stood out as one of the best graduates in recent years.

Emma’s works are considered original, ambitious, surprising, provocative and witty with a very unusual approach to materials, form and imagery. Since graduating, Emma has demonstrated that she has not reached the limits of her abilities. She has exhibited work in Scotland, Italy and France.

Shortly after graduation, Emma won a travelling scholarship which allowed her to spend significant time in Florence, and later went on to an artist’s residency in France. Her work is featured in collections at the University of Dundee, the Royal Scottish Academy and in private collections in Ireland and Italy.

In 2007 Emma was an invigilator at the Scottish show “Scotland and Venice” at the prestigious Venice Biennale. She is currently illustrating a book by an Irish writer and working towards an exhibition in Prato, Italy.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will help Emma complete a Master of Fine Art (Sculpture) at Edinburgh College of Art.

Since the Award

Emma writes that after graduating she spent three years exhibiting work and doing various art-related projects. “Having two years to concentrate solely on my practice in a supportive environment was exactly what my career needed. Receiving a Dewar Arts Award has enabled me to do this.”

During the MFA course, Emma showed her work in Florence, Berlin and London. She was awarded the Helen Rose Bequest for one of the best MFA 2009 degree shows at ECA. For more information on Emma’s current exhibitions and artworks see www.emmapratt.co.uk.

Emma’s work was showcased as part of our Tenth Anniversary Celebrations. Find out more here.

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I am soooo pleased to hear that I have received the Dewar Arts Award. Thank you so much!

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2006 Awardee: Claire Wheeldon

I am ecstatic, and cannot thank the trustees enough! It will make an incredible difference to the year ahead

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 29
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Claire graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a first-class degree. While at art college she won two achievement prizes and was the first student winner of the prestigious Schweppes Award (formerly: John Kobal Portrait Award).

In 2002 she was the youngest artist commissioned to create artwork for the Scottish Parliament, producing a stunning series of photographs entitled Inclusion.

After working as a freelance photographer – one of her commissions was to photograph the former director of the National Portrait Gallery, Charles Saumerez Smith, and the staff of the gallery – she won a place on the Masters course in Fine Art Photography at the Royal College of Art, London.

Claire, who was brought up in Broomhill in Glasgow, is an extremely talented photographer who has already won admiration and notice for her work.

She has recently been commissioned by the charity Make Poverty History to travel overseas to produce work for their Poverty Ticker Screensaver project.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will go towards Claire’s tuition fees and photographic expenses.

Since the Award

Claire successfully gained an MA in Photography.

She writes that “in the desire to break from my previous working practice and find new ways of working, I branched into video as a way of exploring my ideas and concerns. I found this very challenging, as it was a break in the control and direction I had previously employed in my work.”

One of Claire’s videos, ‘Samantha Singing’ was shown in the monumental 150th anniversary of all the South Kensington cultural and education institutions, from the V&A Museum to the RCA. The two-week exhibition had over 10,000 visitors. Subsequently, Claire was invited to show her video at the ‘Late at Tate’ event at Tate Britain, alongside artist Bruce McLean and human rights activist, Peter Tatchell. Claire’s video of ‘Samantha Singing’ was also shown at the Dewar Arts Award 10th anniversary Showcase, much to everyone’s evident enjoyment.

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I am ecstatic, and cannot thank the trustees enough! It will make an incredible difference to the year ahead

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2006 Awardee: David Blyth

I am absolutely delighted to receive confirmation that the Dewar Arts team have agreed to support my forthcoming exhibition

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 29
ARTFORMS:
 
 
 

Biography

David, a graduate of Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, was brought up in Perth. Since completing a Master of Art & Design, he has developed his practice as a contemporary artist. His main inspiration comes from rural North-East of Scotland where he has now settled.

David is considered to be one of the most original, inventive and thought-provoking young artists working in Scotland today. In 2003, he represented Scotland in the Venice Biennale and in 2005/06 he was Town Artist in Huntly. His unique and creative take on Aberdeenshire and the North-East inspired and challenged the local community.

It has been written of his work that, “the material he chooses to work with is often deliberately rural and particular to Scotland. He celebrates the local and the lore of a forgotten countryside… He is a unique artist dealing with matters that themselves are now foreign to most urban dwellers but this is why he is a vital element of the Scottish contemporary art scene.”

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award financed the production of a catalogue to support David’s first solo exhibition Knockturne at Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Since the Award

The exhibition later went to Lille, France under the auspices of ARTCONNEXION.

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I am absolutely delighted to receive confirmation that the Dewar Arts team have agreed to support my forthcoming exhibition

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2006 Awardee: Erica Eyres

The Dewar Award gave me the financial freedom to concentrate while completing my work for these projects, and allowed me to afford the necessary materials without having to compromise my ideas.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 25
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

A senior teacher at the Glasgow School of Art describes Erica as “without doubt one of the best artists I have ever encountered in over twenty years of teaching”.

Originally from Canada, Erica is currently working in Glasgow. Her work explores human failings, aspirations/dreams and eccentricities in ways which are sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes moving and sometimes hilarious. Equally skilled in sculpture, painting, drawing and video, Erica has developed a unique and individual voice in all of these media.

Her work has already found critical acclaim and in 2006 she was nominated for the Beck’s Futures Prize. She is regarded as one of the most promising young artists working at the moment. With her Dewar Award, Erica was able to mount solo exhibitions of her work in London and Glasgow and attend an artist’s residency in Toronto.

These have led to other exciting opportunities, including other group exhibition in London, focussing on portraiture in contemporary art. A video she made in Toronto, and which was received extremely well, is being submitted to film festivals throughout Canada, by a Winnipeg-based organisation.  Erica is now represented in Toronto, China and Japan, where her work can be shown regularly in galleries.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards enabled Erica to mount exhibitions of her work in Glasgow and London and attend a residency in Toronto, Canada. She writes, “these exhibitions and the residency are important milestones in my career and they have helped to take my work and reputation as an artist to the next level.”

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The Dewar Award gave me the financial freedom to concentrate while completing my work for these projects, and allowed me to afford the necessary materials without having to compromise my ideas.

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2006 Awardee: Laura Aldridge

I am extremely grateful for this incredibly generous offer. This award will make an enormous difference to my practice as an artist.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 27
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Laura Aldridge, from London, is a graduate of Wimbledon School of Art where she studied painting. She moved to Scotland to pursue a Master of Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art and has now made Glasgow her base where she believes that, as an artist, her work can flourish in a supportive environment.

On the strength of her final degree show at Tramway, Laura was awarded the Glasgow Sculpture Studios Graduate Scholarship, an annual award given to one graduating student. This provides valuable studio space to enable Laura to prepare for her first solo exhibition in Glasgow in 2007.

Laura has already exhibited in Glasgow, London, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv and Denmark. Throughout her studies, Laura has developed a unique and distinctive ‘voice’ through her work. It has immediacy and vibrancy, but its apparent simplicity and air of innocent fun are deceptive. Dig a little deeper and one can see in Laura’s sculptures, allegories of social structures and hierarchies.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will provide funding for research time and materials towards Laura’s first solo exhibition in the UK.

Since the Award

Laura writes “I believe that your support has afforded the space and time to make the most of this research and development period. It has meant that I have been able to realise a strong and confident body of work for my solo exhibition at Glasgow Sculpture Studios.”

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I am extremely grateful for this incredibly generous offer. This award will make an enormous difference to my practice as an artist.

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2006 Awardee: Richard Foley

I would like to thank you for this support.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 21
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Richard Foley, 21, is still an undergraduate at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee studying gallery textiles.

Richard, from Broughty Ferry, is working to mount an exhibition for and in the wider Dundee community. The underlying purpose is to promote contemporary art in Dundee and to encourage the ubiquitious ‘man in the street’ to engage with contemporary art. The exhibition will be mounted in one of Dundee unused properties in 2007. Richard will create large textile prints, based on drawings by the community, which will become individual art pieces to be displayed around the space.

Richard is considered to be one of the most individual, creative and committed students. His thought processes are highly creative and unusual and it is no doubt that he will become a creative force in the future.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will fund the preparation and mounting of the exhibition.

Since the Award

Richard writes that the project helped him in a number of ways, not least by giving him ideas about his future career choices. The experience Richard gained by curating the community project inspired him to apply for a work placement at the V&A Fashion, Textile and Furniture Deparment. He went on to volunteer in Iceland’s Living Art Museum, an artist-led organisation.

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I would like to thank you for this support.

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