Showcasing creative talent at Gray’s Degree Show ’23 Neon Futures
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Students from Gray’s School of Art Degree Show Neon Futures are celebrating success after receiving awards at the opening launch on Friday, June 9.
Friends, family, students and community of Gray’s gathered at RGU’s Garthdee campus for a launch event with live music, a DJ, awards ceremony and speeches. A special stakeholder event, with speeches, prizegiving and private view also welcomed industry figures from the north-east’s creative sector.
This year’s degree show showcases the work of 150 students and celebrates the theme Neon Futures, reflecting the graduates ‘new’ and bold futures in the making.
Dean of Gray’s School of Art, Libby Curtis and RGU Vice Principal for Academic Development and Student Experience, Professor Lynn Kilbride, presented the Principal’s Design and Fine Art Awards which are funded by RGU’s Art and Heritage Collection.
The awards celebrate outstanding talent selected from across the Painting, Contemporary Art Practice, Communication Design, Fashion and Textiles, Three-Dimensional Design and Photography courses.
Winner of the Principal’s Award for Fine Art is Munroe Ritcher from Painting.
Munroe, who comes from Denmark, said: “Winning the award was quite nerve racking but really exciting. I’m very grateful for the recognition.
"I tried to follow my intuition, but I am also obsessed with technique, my project was a balance of being playful whilst staying close to academic principles.
“When making my work, it feels quite individual but when I see it all together in the degree show I can see there’s a theme of working with processes and something dreamlike or mythical with my work. It’s hard to put into words but I feel there’s a cohesiveness to my work and my technical approach shines through.”
Students who received Highly Commended Awards (RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Prize Awards) in Design are Nicola Lyttle, Megan Naysmith, Kira Leese.
Students who received Highly Commended Awards (RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Prize Awards), in Fine Art are Summer Mapplebeck, Fionnlagh (Fionn) Skinner [he/him], Gabriela Proszowska, Shannon Park.
A number of external awards were also presented at the launch including RSA New Contemporaries Award: Scottish Society Artist’s Award, Compass Gallery and Visual Arts Scotland Award.
Ms Curtis, said: “I am absolutely thrilled for all our graduating students and to those who have won awards.
"Our degree show is a real celebration and marks a major milestone in our student’s creative journeys. All our students are winners and the talent on show is a testament to their hard work and a credit to the staff who have supported them at Gray’s.
“At Gray’s, we’re in the business of nurturing creative minds but really, we’re about much more than that. We play a huge role in building a culturally connected society so that culture is seen not just seen as a luxury but is an essential part of a modern, progressive society.
"I believe Gray’s Degree Show Neon Futures celebrates our graduates ‘new’ and bold futures in the making and I would encourage everyone to come along this week to see it for themselves.”
on to the Principal’s Awards for Fine Art and Design, there are four additional awards that reflect the importance of Gray’s core graduate attributes. The Four Pillar Awards, presented at Gray’s stakeholder event, mirror Gray’s four pillars which are central to the curriculum and its development.
The awards recognize students who are a: Socially Engaged Creative, Collaborative Creative, Critical Creative, Enterprising Creative. The winning students include: Kirsty Bell, who won the Critical Creative Award; Jessica Reid from Communication Design, who won the Collaborative Creative Award; In Contemporary Art Practice, a student under the alias ‘NWL Ltd. Chief Value Officer, Scotland Officer’ has won the Enterprising Creative Award; Weronika Turowska from Three-Dimensional Design who won the Socially and Environmentally Engaged Creative Award; Miriam Foy from Contemporary Art Practice who won a Special Recognition Award.
The show is now open to the public until Saturday, June 17 and is free to attend, with many works being for sale.
As part of degree show week, networking events are planned to include Gray’s Alumni and City Creatives event, teacher networking event and Aberdeen Cultural Summit leading two session to explore the vitality of the north-east’s cultural economy.
An online directory has also been created, highlighting the work from each of the students exhibiting.
