Clockwise:
Fragment of 'Eames House' © Beth Rodway
'Untitled' © Diane Dal Pra
'Cold Shell' © Araminta Blue Wieloch
'Jose Luis Fernandez' © Charles Westgarth

ACS awards record £33,750 in bursaries and prizes in 2019
October 14, 2019
We are delighted to announce that over the past year ACS has awarded a record amount in educational bursaries to students from arts institutions throughout the UK.

In addition to our ongoing commitment to assisting established arts prizes and cultural charities, this past year we are thrilled to have been able to provide £33,750 in bursaries and prizes to students from UK arts universities in 2019. 

 

Our status as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company means that we operate solely for the benefit of our member artists, and that any surplus income we receive is used for the benefit of our members and the wider artistic community. This commitment has supported a wide variety of charities and educational projects since our establishment in 2006.

 

As well as renewing long standing prizes and bursaries, in 2019 we have partnered with more universities and charities than ever before to ensure that students and emerging artists are supported.

We are very pleased to announce that this year a range of new prizes at the Royal Drawing School, Brighton University, the Society of British Sculptors and Turps Banana Art School were introduced to assist artists and students alike.

This year also marked the beginning of our partnership with the Palazzo Monti Residency Program, an international opportunity for an artist to enjoy a six-week residency in a stunning 13th-century palazzo in Brescia, Italy.

 

The ACS Studio Prize was also reintroduced in 2019 to offer one recent graduate a £6,000 prize to help source their own dedicated studio space in the UK. Five finalists were chosen from over 300 submissions, marking a huge increase in applications from the inaugural Prize in 2017. This year judges Lady Bridgeman CBE, founder of the Artists’ Collecting Society (ACS), renowned artist Cathie Pilkington RA and Director & Curator of the Ingram Collection Jo Baring awarded the prize to painter Araminta Blue Wieloch.

 

Our long standing relationships with institutions such as the University of West England, Bristol and Falmouth University were again renewed this year to help undergraduate students purchase art supplies. At masters level, our postgraduate bursaries at the Slade School of Fine Art (UCL), University of Edinburgh and the Royal Academy Schools were also delivered this year.

 

We continue to work with the City & Guilds of London Art School to offer an undergraduate student a £1,000 prize to assist with materials, and a postgraduate student a larger £6,000 prize to help rent a studio space in London during the vital transition from student to practising artist. This year, artist Eleanor May Watson was awarded the year-long Studio Residency.

 

A huge congratulations to all prize and bursary winners! Over the next few months we will be publishing interviews from our Student Spotlight – catch up here with interviews from previous years.

Full List of Winners:
ACS Studio Prize

Araminta Blue Wieloch

City & Guilds of London Art School

Undergraduate Prize – Annapurna Austin

Studio Residency – Eleanor May Watson

Royal Drawing Schools

Drawing Prize – Beth Rodway

Falmouth University

Materials Prize – Arwen Nia Condry Demmar-Waters

Loughborough University

Materials Prize – Hannah Day

Materials Prize – Luke Knight

Royal Academy Schools

Bursary – Jenkin van Zyl

Palazzo Monti

Residency Prize – Diane Dal Pra

University of Edinburgh

Studio Award – Alex Hayward

Brighton University

Materials Prize – Liberty Quinn

University of the West of England, Bristol

Materials Prize – Josie Argyle

Society of Portrait Sculptors

ACS Prize – Charles Westgarth

Turps Banana Art School

ACS Hardship Fund