Four students in the School of Art have received cash awards as part of an initiative established in 2011 via a donation from Charlie and Arabella Bridge.
The Bridge Awards aim to support Fine Art Painting and Printmaking students to advance their artistic practice. The top two awards of £500 each went to Imogen Patel and Kahee Jeong, with highly commended awards of £250 each made to Archie Rogers and Harriette Lloyd.
Chris Stevens, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art Painting, said: “We are continually looking for opportunities to give our students more support to develop their practice and expand the ambition of their work. Therefore, we were delighted to be able to make four awards this year. The applications we received were extremely well written, making it a highly competitive process. We look forward to seeing the impact of these award on the development of the students’ practice ahead of their final year.”
On receiving the award, winner Imogen Patel commented “I feel honoured and excited to receive this award, I would like to thank you for the recognition and consideration of my work. My practice aims to address the division I faced growing up in two different ethnic communities and the impact it had when reflecting upon my own identity. With this award not only am I able to further understand my heritage, but also reach out to other BAME artists who share these experiences.
“Growing up there was misrepresentation in the media for people of colour. The thought of creating work that a ‘younger me’ would find relatable is inspiring.”
Arabella and Charlie Bridge said: “We are delighted by the enthusiastic response from all the recipients, and we are excited by the quality and variety of the work we have seen online. We very much hope we might get a chance to meet the artists in person and see their works in the near future.”
