Showcasing creative success at Gray’s Degree Show 2023 Neon Futures
Sunday 11 June 2023
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 & Fine Art Awards which are funded by RGU’s Art & Heritage Collection.
The awards celebrate outstanding talent selected from across the Painting, Contemporary Art Practice, Communication Design, Fashion & Textiles, Three-Dimensional Design and Photography courses.
Winner of the Principal’s Award for Fine Art is Munroe Ritcher from Painting who comes from Denmark. Munroe 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.”
Winner of the Principal’s Award for Design is Agnieszka Kubica, from Poland, who studied Three-Dimensional Design and created a jewellery collection focused on relationships. After receiving the award, Agnieszka said: “Wow! It’s a feeling of being spotted and appreciated. It is an unbelievable feeling. I feel that the message I wanted to send from my project was understood.
“I designed a jewellery collection that looked at the bonds we create with other people. I distinguished family, friends and romantic relationships. I wanted to say how important they are in our lives. They are very crucial, and it is very important to keep them alive and to nourish them on a regular basis. One of my pieces of jewellery from my collection is an envelope and that’s the sign for us to take action, and to send a message, to our close ones, our close relationships.”
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.
Dean of Gray’s School of Art, Libby 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.”
Professor Lynn Kilbride, Vice Principal for Academic Development and Student Experience, said: “The University is delighted to have the Gray’s Degree Show on its Campus each year. The show is a shining beacon in the region's art and cultural diary and attracts people from across the North East and beyond to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our talented Gray’s graduates from the class of 2023.
“As a University, with a strategic commitment to contribute to Scotland’s economic, social and cultural development we are committed to supporting sustainable growth, particularly here in the North East of Scotland as our region undergoes economic change and diversification. The work of our art and design students from Gray’s plays a significant part in the cultural offering of the North East of Scotland and I’d encourage everyone to come along to see the amazing work of our talented students that is on display at the degree show.”
In addition 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 won the Critical Creative Award
- Jessica Reid from Communication Design won the Collaborative Creative Award
- In Contemporary Art Practice, a student under the alias ‘NWL Ltd. Chief Value Officer, Scotland Officer’ won the Enterprising Creative Award
- Weronika Turowska from Three-Dimensional Design won the Socially and Environmentally Engaged Creative Award
- Miriam Foy from Contemporary Art Practice won a Special Recognition Award
Niamh Hughes of Painting also won the Daniel John Stephen Bequest Award for Excellence in Painting.
The show is now open to the public until Saturday 17 June and is free to attend, with many works being for sale. As part of the degree show week, networking events are planned which include a Gray's Alumni and City Creatives event, a teacher's networking event and Aberdeen Cultural Summit will lead two sessions 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 student's exhibiting.
Images taken by Martin Parker, Gatehouse Design Agency. Images show Dean of Gray's School of Art with RGU Principal Award winners Munroe Ritcher and Agnieszka Kubica, Munroe Ritcher, Agnieszka Kubica, Professor Lynn Kilbride and Dean of Gray's, Libby Curtis, Gray's collaborative duo 'Olive & Anya', Miriam Foy, Jessica Reid, Summer Mapplebeck, Kirsty Bell, alias 'NWL Ltd. Chief Value Officer, Scotland Officer' ,Weronika Turowska, Megan Naysmith, Fionnlagh Skinner, Nicola Lyttle, Shannon Park, Kira Leese & Gabriela Proszowska.