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News Release: New York Designer’s Degree Show work helps him come to grips with his trauma following 9/11

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Master of Design student, Eli Lavett, with his work, The Things We Saw

"Two years ago, just a few weeks after having arrived in Glasgow, I found myself in a bathroom stall — hot tears streaming down my cheeks — while my friends enjoyed their second or third round of drinks in the bar upstairs. I don’t know how long I was down there, trying to catch my breath, steadying myself against the cubicle wall. All I remember is being overcome with grief — a sudden, violent wave of heartache that tightened my chest, gripped my throat, and threatened to suffocate me right then and there.

Eight people had just been killed by an act of terror in the neighborhood where I grew up. As I read the news, an ugly mix of anxiety and isolation began to swell in my stomach, the air having suddenly evacuated my lungs. In that moment, I was completely and thoroughly divorced from reality. I was seven years old again, watching the North Tower collapse on the news and feeling the tremors make their way through my body and up into my throat."

Eli Lavett


A Master of Design student has unveiled a work at GSA Degree Show today, 30 May 2019, through which has been able to come to terms with his experiences of 9/11 and its aftermath for the first time.

Designer Eli Lavett was only a young boy on 11 September 2001 and the events of that day were to have a profound effect on him. As a New Yorker from a Muslim family he witnessed the best and the worst of humanity in the aftermath of the attack. On the one hand there was solidarity and support after the tragedy, but on the other unrestrained anger from people desperate to find a scapegoat for an event that was so grotesque. 

 “It didn’t matter that as we ran through the streets of Tribeca that the debris swallowed our neighborhood and forced us out; it didn’t matter that my mother sat rocking back and forth, wondering if we were going to die as we waited for the second tower to give way at any moment; it didn’t matter that they used our school as a morgue, or that none of us were really ever the same after that day. None of it meant anything, because people like me and my mom had become the enemy — to them, we’d brought this on ourselves.”

Eli has been ruminating on the events of that day for years, but it was only when he came to Scotland to study for a Masters in Communication Design at The Glasgow School of Art that he found a way of coming to grips with what had happened and his memories of it. Through his Degree Show work, The Things We Saw, he has not only accepted the pain and heartache, but also found a way to confront and share it.

“I hope to place the viewer within a certain time and place, and to evoke some of the emotions that I felt as a seven-year old in Lower Manhattan, or at least a suggestion of those emotions.”

Eli Lavett’s film work, The Things We Saw, will be on show in the Reid Building at 2019 Degree Show which is open to the public from 1 – 9 June 2019. This year also offers the first opportunity for the public to see the newly refurbished Stow Building as the School of Fine Art Degree Show returns to Garnethill.

Ends

For further information, images and interviews contact:
Lesley Booth, 
07799414474



News Release: The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show returns to Garnethill

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  • School of Fine Art and Innovation School show over five floors of the newly refurbished Stow Building
  • Design School exhibition is spread over six floors of the Reid Building
  • Mackintosh School of Architecture showcase staged in the Bourdon
  • MFA show is in the Glue Factory and Summer School in Fleming House 
  • Following Degree Show in Glasgow work will be in shown in Birmingham, Cambridge and London



The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show has returned to Garnethill this year with the public being given the first opportunity to see the newly refurbished Stow Building where over 100 Fine Art students on the Fine Art Photography, Painting & Printmaking and Sculpture and Environmental Art pathways are showing their work. 

Master of Design student, Eli Lavett, with his work The Things We Saw

In the Reid Building the Design School exhibition sees projects by students of Communication Design, including Eli Lavett, whose two years at the GSA and Degree Show project have helped him deal with the trauma of experiencing 9/11 as a child; Fashion and Textiles including work by Asia Przytarska, who has just been awarded a prestigious internship with Loewe in Paris, and Product Design Engineering featuring  among others a design by Nina Birchard to help with new-born resuscitation, a new design for public drinking fountains by Anna Robb and Duncan Pattullo’s Fibre Optic fabrics for Cycle Clothing. Also on show in the Reid Building is work by students of Interior Design, Interaction Design and Silversmithing & Jewellery.

Joining the School of Fine Art in the Stow Building for Degree Show 2019 are students graduating from Innovation School whose work includes designs for Precision Medicine in cancer care co-devised with experts from Glasgow University , a collaborative project on the future of banking undertaken in partnership with the RBS and self-initiated projects in areas ranging from medicine to sustainable tourism.

Elsewhere on the campus the Mackintosh School of Architecture will showcase work by students across all five years of study in the Bourdon Building. Among the work on show by Stage 2 students are propositions for the future of New Lanark. Stage 3 students have created ideas for a historic boat recovery centre on the river Clyde. Stage 4 students have looked at housing in Tradeston and created designs for an urban building which would offer a public programme on the Broomielaw. For their detailed Design Theses Stage 5 students have this year focussed on Antwerp.

“Degree Show is always one of the high points of the academic year,”says Professor Irene McAra-McWilliam, Director of The Glasgow School of Art. “It is a chance to celebrate and share with the world the creative output of over 500 students from across the Schools of Architecture, Design, Fine Art and Innovation and demonstrates the important role that creativity plays in addressing some of the complex questions facing society today.”

“Our graduating students have been part of Glasgow’s creative community over the past few years,”she adds. “Degree Show marks both the culmination of their time with us and the next stage in their creative journey.

“While many choose to stay in Glasgow to launch their careers, extending the city’s global creative reach and reputation, many others move across the world as part of the GSA’s global creative network and reinforce our position as one of the world’s leading art, design and architecture institutions.”

For further details of the work on show see Notes for Editors.

Running alongside Degree Show is Summer Exhibition, a unique showcase of portfolios by students completing the GSA’s widely-admired Portfolio Preparation classes. Following the programme students have been offered places to study on creative programmes across the UK (including at the GSA) and Europe. 

The MFA exhibition is once again being staged in the Glue Factory. This is a chance to see work by the latest cohort of students graduating from the programme that has produced five Turner Prize winners in recent years including Charlotte Prodger, who is currently representing Scotland at the Venice Biennale. The MFA is once again generously supported by citizenM.

"citizenM is delighted to be supporting the MFA Degree Show at The Glasgow School of Art for the seventh year,” says Robin Chadha, Chief Marketing Officer, citizenM

“We have a strong affiliation with contemporary art, with originally and specially commissioned pieces throughout all the hotels. The GSA is recognised worldwide as a leading creative school for the arts, and as firm believers in helping new talent, we are particularly pleased to support the GSA MFA students graduating this year."

The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show 2019 runs on the Garnethill Campus from 1 – 9 June 2019.MFA exhibition is on show in the Glue FactoryEntry to all exhibitions is free
For full details of Degree Show in London see:

Ends

For further information, interviews and images contact: 
Lesley Booth, 
07799414447
press@gsa.ac.uk


Notes for Editors

School of Design


               
Images:
     

Bournemouth Pier by Hal Haines; Keri Hannah’s Stacey Sunbathing

Designer Eli Lavettwas only a young boy on 11 September 2001 and the events of that day were to have a profound effect on him. As a New Yorker from a Muslim family he witnessed the best and the worst of humanity in the aftermath of the attack. On the one hand there was solidarity and support after the tragedy, but on the other unrestrained anger from people desperate to find a scapegoat for an event that was so grotesque. 

 “It didn’t matter that as we ran through the streets of Tribeca that the debris swallowed our neighborhood and forced us out; it didn’t matter that my mother sat rocking back and forth, wondering if we were going to die as we waited for the second tower to give way at any moment; it didn’t matter that they used our school as a morgue, or that none of us were really ever the same after that day. None of it meant anything, because people like me and my mom had become the enemy — to them, we’d brought this on ourselves.”

Eli has been ruminating on the events of that day for years, but it was only when he came to Scotland to study for a Masters in Communication Design at The Glasgow School of Art that he found a way of coming to grips with what had happened and his memories of it. Through his Degree Show work, The Things We Saw, he has not only accepted the pain and heartache, but also found a way to confront and share it.

“I hope to place the viewer within a certain time and place, and to evoke some of the emotions that I felt as a seven-year old in Lower Manhattan, or at least a suggestion of those emotions.”

For further information visit:
https://gsapress.blogspot.com/2019/05/news-release-new-york-designers-degree.html

Also showing in Communication Design are Hal Haines and Keri Hannah whose work is featured on the Degree Show 2019 posters.

Bournemouth Pier is part of a body of work documenting environments which carry meaning for me, whether places I have lived or visited regularly, “ explains Hal. “Through photography and written passages I have made observations, retracing memories, from the street my grandparents lived on to the train I took everyday when I moved to Glasgow using my connection to them as a springboard to record how I see them today. I hope that through this series I am able to evoke a sense of place and a nostalgia or familiarity, even within the viewer who has never or is yet to visit Sussex, Dorset, London, Cumbria or Glasgow."

Pretty Hurts is a constructed-imagery photo series that follows the character Stacey through her everyday rituals  says, Keri Hannah. It seeks to explore society’s ever increasing obsession with beauty, consumerism and outward appearances. Stacey is a caricature of the several facets concerned with body image expectations, and the stereotypes placed upon women. She is impressionable, pressured and naive. Personal preference and taste may change over time, but the inherent pressure and desire to be aesthetically pleasing remains."




Image: Emily Breen's overbed table for use in paediatric wards

Students graduating from The Glasgow School of Art’s acclaimed Product Design Engineering department will show a wide array of innovative designs at Degree Show in Degree Show before taking them on tour to Birmingham, London and Cambridge. This is the latest cohort of students following the programme that has produced leading international designers including Jonathan Biddle- Industrial Design Senior Manager, Amazon; Amy Corbett, Senor Designer - Lego;  Etienne Iliffe-Moon- Director of Industrial Design (San Francisco) for BMW; Scott McGuire- RDD Manager, Dyson; and Sam Smith-  Design Lead, Apple.

Ranging from a design by Nina Birchardto help with new-born resuscitation and an over bed hospital table designed by Emily Breen specifically for use in paediatric wards to a toy by Fara Stringfellowto encourage children to take breaks during continuous periods of screen time, a new design for public drinking fountains by Anna RobbDuncan Pattullo’sFibre Optic fabrics for Cycle Clothing and Tom Lever’sseating design for Hyperloop (the visionary city-to-city travel ) the designs offer creative solutions to issues facing both today’s society and tomorrow’s world. 

Working with specialists and end-users the designs are created specifically to respond to real-life scenarios. Many PDE graduates have gone on to set up award-winning companies, a number of which were founded on the success of projects that were developed whilst at GSA and showcased in Degree Show.

For further information on designs by Product Design Engineering students visit:

PDE designs in Birmingham (10 June, Autodesk HQ Small Heath Business Park, Talbot Way, B10 0HJ), London (June 11 Our/London Vodka Arch 435 & 436, Spurstowe Rd, Hackney Downs E8 1LS) and Cambridge (June 12 - Trinity Centre 24 Cambridge Science Park, CB4 0FN).


    
Image: designs by Harriet Jenkins,  William Sharp and Ellie Whitworth

Bugs, Cabbages and The Bauhaus are among the many inspirations for this year’s collections by final year Silversmithing and jewellery students. Ellie Whitworth, winner of a Goldsmiths Precious Metalrant, has taken bugs and insects as the inspiration for a collection of jewellery made in gold and silver and base metal. Hundreds of tiny beetles, bugs and moths are combined to create shimmering brooches. South Square Trust Scholarship winner, Harriet Jenkins, has used the £2,500 award to create a collection of pieces inspired by cabbage leaves. A popular form in porcelain – particularly majolica - Jenkins has brought the subject matter into silversmithing creating a range of white candlesticks and bowls by electroforming on to porcelain. Elsewhere in her collection metal bowls are cast from cabbage leaves and cabbage motifs adorn spoon handles. With an interest in the work and teachings of The Bauhaus jewellery designer William Sharphas created a collection the draws together many different disciplines. The modular systems which he has incorporated into the jewellery were developed by applying Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design.  More commonly applied to Product Design and Sustainability, Will has employed these principles to create pieces using metal and sustainable, biodegradable plastic.

For further information on Silversmithing & Jewellery visit:

Silversmithing & Jewellery will show at New Designers in London from 26 to 29 June.



Innovation School

       


Images: Erlend Prendergast’s TrialSeekone of the innovations for Precision Medicine in Cancer Care and Tori Hamilton vision for of Tourism in her home town of Oban

Students from the Innovation School unveiled designs for Precision Medicine in cancer care created as part of project working with 20 medical and healthcare professionals. The project was delivered in partnership with the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of Glasgow led byProfessor Nicol Keith.
Looking into the future where Precision Medicine has evolved the students looked at what might happen in a cancer landscape ten years from now. Reflecting on the underlying complexities surrounding the future of health, technological acceleration and human agency, they have envisioned a future context, and produced products, services and experiences for the people who might live and work within it. 

Erlend Prendergasthas looked at the challenges in recruiting people for cancer trials. His approach, TrialSeekis a service which gathers and analyses data on an individual’s lifestyle and environment so as to match them with clinical trials. By using this data is would be possible to match the right person with the right trial at the right time. In Capsule Benjamin Alexander Laing addresses the dual challenges of how denial is used as a coping mechanism and cancer patients wishing not to be defined by their condition. Benjamin's approach disrupts the current medication model though a service that helps patients track their own personal progression and offers them the chance to their lives as they intend to.

Also unveiled were self-generated projects undertaken by the students including Tori Hamilton’s re-imagining tourism for her home town of Oban. Working with the local community Tori has developed a proposal which envisages a more sustainable form of tourism. Erlend Prendergasthas addressed the issue of privacy in a time of increasing use of “help mates” such as Alexa and Siri. His Counterbugis a series of proposed accessories that would confuse the algorithms of virtual assistants and help to disperse some of the fears surrounding domestic spying and digital surveillance. Meanwhile Monika Kantor has developed designs for experimental and sensory products to improve well-being for people with Parkinson’s disease.

The outcomes of the fourth year of an ongoing collaboration with the Royal bank of Scotland looking at the future of banking are also on show at Degree Show. Following co-designing approaches to banking for Generation Y and the future of banking and financial services looking ahead to 2030,this year the subject of the co-design project has been financial health.

For further information see:

Innovation School work will be on show at Candid Arts, London on 21 and 22 June.


Mackintosh School of Architecture

Propositions for Glasgow and New Lanark and city projects on Antwerp have been unveiled in the Mackintosh School of Architecture Degree Show today, 30 May 2019.

Stage 5:  2019 Design Theses focus on Antwerp

Images: from Stage 5 Design Theses by Hannah Dawood and Jodie Wilson
The Diploma School at the Mackintosh School of Architecture has, for many years, been intimately concerned with the reciprocal relationships between architecture and the city in both their generic and specific manifestations.

In previous years of study Glasgow had been explored in some depth by way of the Urban Housing and Urban Building projects. The resulting investigative studies, urban design strategies and comprehensive design projects lay the foundations for the exploration and study of a European city by way of a Design Thesis. 

The 2019 Stage 5 students were challenged to consider the major port city of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium in the context of Myths, Modernity & MetamorphosisThe theme was derived from some initial readings of the city, which identified these three salient aspects of its historical origins, growth and contemporary development.

The students have created exhibitions combining plans, sections models and other materials as the forum for the discussion of their Thesis Design propositions. Following the exhibition in Glasgow the work will be seen in Blueprint for the Future in Clerkenwell, London from 9 – 11 July.

Stage 4 students respond to briefs for housing in Tradeston 
and an urban building on the Broomielaw



Images: from Stage 4 projects by Ella Walklate, Joshua Page and Rasita Artemjeva

Over the course of the academic year the Stage 4 students worked on an architectural thesis that was articulated through a speculative design ranging across scales - from the intimacy of a private interior to the design of an urban district in Semester 1 and a highly resolved urban building in Semester 2.
In Semester1 the studentsinvestigated the relationship between domesticity, labour and urban form collectively, conducting research and developing speculative design proposals for housing. The site for the speculation was Tradeston - a historic industrial district of Glasgow adjacent to the river Clyde and the city centre, with potential to be a live/work/creative industries node. 
Building on this inSemester2 the students weretasked with developing a comprehensive design proposal for an urban building, with a public programme, that considered contemporary social, political, cultural and economic conditions. The site for the building was one of two areas in the Broomielaw: beside the river and beside Central Station.

Stage 3 students respond to a brief for boat historic boat recovery centre on the Clyde.





Images: Stage 3 designs by Juliet Welshman and Karlis Kukainis

In 2014 Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Archaeological Research Framework commissioned a study of the surviving ship- wreck heritage of Clyde-built vessels lost within the Clyde estuary and Firth of Clyde. The study was called CLYDE BUILT and it pulled together information from a wide range of sources. As a result so much more was learned about Clyde-built wrecks and many were located, which were of local, national and international interest, reflecting the Clyde’s unique contribution to world-wide shipbuilding.

Stage 3 Architecture students were tasked with designing a boat recovery centre which would be sited at Bowling which played an important role in the history of the Clyde. The centre would offer state of the art facilities for the recovery and restoration of these important vessels.

Having this recovery centre would mean that once they had been salvaged from their resting places at the bottom of the Clyde the vessels could be carefully transported to the centre where there would be state of the art facilities to restore then. Once restored the notion is that the vessels and their artefacts could become part of the Scottish Maritime museum collection with the potential for loan to affiliated galleries and exhibitions around the world.

Running alongside the Stage 3, 4 and 5 exhibition is a showcase of work by Stage 1 and 2 students including some of the propositions made for the future of New Lanark. Read more:


School of Fine Art

Over 100 Fine Art students on the Fine Art Photography, Painting & Printmaking and Sculpture and Environmental Art pathways are showing their work in the refurbished Stow Building. This is the first opportunity for the public to see the building.



Images: Tasha Lizak Naikauskas, Philippa Carruthers, Raya Mitchell and Samantha Dock with their exhibitions at Degree Show in the Stow Building

The latest cohort of students on GSA MFA programme which has produced no fewer than five Turner prize winners in recent years are are showing in the Glue Factory once again



Images: works by MFA students Emily Chudnovsky, 
Emily Smit-Dicks, Jack McCombe and Mcgilvary/White

NEWS RELEASE: Penguin creates scholarship at The Glasgow School of Art in honour of late Art Director and GSA alumnus, John Hamilton

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  • The Scholarship will be awarded to a Scottish Masters student on either the Communication Design or the Graphics, Illustration and Photography programme at The Glasgow School of Art
  • The Scholarship will also include a paid internship at Penguin Random House UK
  • A GSA alumnus, John Hamilton, who died earlier this year, was Art Director at Penguin for 22 years



Penguin is to create a new scholarship at The Glasgow School of Art, named in honour of its long-time Art Director John Hamilton, who died earlier this year, it was announced today, 31 May 2019.

Launching for the academic year 2019-2020, the John Hamilton Scholarship will offer £3,000 to one student per year, to support them for one year of study, as well as a paid internship in the art department at Penguin Random House UK. It is open to all Scottish postgraduate students studying for an MDes in Graphics/Illustration/ Photography or an MDes in Communication Design at The Glasgow School of Art. 

Born in Glasgow, John Hamilton studied illustration at The Glasgow School of Art between 1982 and 1986, and his Degree Show consisted of a series of covers for imaginary books. After joining publisher William Heinemann shortly after graduating, he moved to Penguin in 1997 as Art Director for Penguin General Adult Publishing – later also becoming the Art Director for another of the Penguin publishing houses, Michael Joseph. During his twenty-two years with the company, he worked with many of Penguin’s bestselling authors, including Jamie Oliver, Zadie Smith, Nick Hornby and William Boyd. 

Announcing the Scholarship Tom Weldon, CEO of Penguin Random House, said:

 “We are so proud to be partnering with The Glasgow School of Art to launch the John Hamilton Scholarship. We met thirty years ago when he had just started his first job as a book jacket designer, having recently graduated from the school.”

“John was immensely talented and hugely admired within the design and publishing communities, and beyond. He was passionate about encouraging new talent and he was also proudly Scottish so it feels absolutely right that this scholarship should support new Scottish design talent.”

“I am delighted that Penguin have decided to honour John with a Scholarship to support new Scottish talent at the GSA,”says Brian Cairns, Senior Lecturer in Communication Design at the GSA. “I met John at the GSA over 30 years ago, and after graduating we stayed in touch and continued to collaborate on projects.”

“John was very proud to have been part of the GSA,” adds Brian Cairns. “He took great pleasure in discovering new talent, often in unexpected places, and giving those artists the opportunities to make new and innovative work that would not normally be commissioned in publishing.”

“John was proud of what he had achieved in shaping the direction of Penguin’s books but remained humble about his own work and his mentoring of younger designers at Penguin. I am sure he would havedelighted in the opportunity to help a student through thisscholarship in his name.”

The current cohort of students on communication design programmes are showing work in the Reid Building from Saturday at part of the GSA Degree Show.


“Our graduating students have been part of Glasgow’s creative community over the past few years,”she adds. “Degree Show marks both the culmination of their time with us and the next stage in their creative journey.

“While many choose to stay in Glasgow to launch their careers, extending the city’s global creative reach and reputation, many others move across the world as part of the GSA’s global creative network and reinforce our position as one of the world’s leading art, design and architecture institutions.”

The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show 2019 runs on the Garnethill Campus from 1 – 9 June 2019. MFA exhibition is on show in the Glue FactoryEntry to all exhibitions is free
For full details of Degree Show visit:


Ends

For further information on the Glasgow School of Art contact:
Lesley Booth
07799414474

For further information on Penguin Random House contact:
Jess Colman, 
0207 840 7382,

Note for Editors
·      The John Hamilton Scholarship will be awarded for academic excellence, with priority given to those who can demonstrate financial need. 

Message from Dr Muriel Gray, Chair of The Board of Governors of the GSA

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I have advised the Board of Governors of The Glasgow School of Art that I will be taking a temporary period of absence both as Chair of the Board and as a Lay Governor for personal family reasons. 

Given the challenges the School has faced over the past 12 months this was an incredibly difficult decision to take.

The Glasgow School of Art is an amazing institution, full of remarkable, committed and creative people who continually give above and beyond, and I look forward to working with everyone again during the next academic year.

Professor Nora Kearney, currently Vice-Chair, will take over as interim Chair in my absence. 

7 June 2019



NEWS RELEASE: Eden Project architect to be recognised at The Glasgow School of Art 2019 Graduation

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Recently appointed Chairman of Grimshaw Architects, Andrew Whalley, 
who will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate at the GSA’s 2019 Graduation


Recently appointed Chairman of Grimshaw Architects, Andrew Whalley, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate at the GSA’s 2019 graduation it was announced today, 12 June 2019

A graduate of The Mackintosh School of Architecture, Andrew joined Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners in 1986 and in his time with the practice Andrew has been partner in charge of a diverse range of projects including being one of the lead architects on the Eden Project, the redevelopment of the historic Paddington Station in London and the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center in New York. He has been an instrumental part of the international development of Grimshaw Architects establishing them as one of the eight architectural practices eligible for major public projects in New York City under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Design Excellence Program. He has also led the development of the Grimshaw portfolio in the Middle East, setting up a Doha office in 2011.

“Andrew Whalley is one of the world’s most respected architects who throughout his career has been in the vanguard in rethinking how architects contribute to the contemporary environment and changing the expectations of how buildings anticipate and respond to contemporary needs and challenges,”says Professor Sally Stewart, Head of MSA at The Glasgow School of Art. “Andrew began this journey as an undergraduate student at MSA where he questioned the orthodoxy and began to develop the research-informed practice, which he has sustained over the years.”

“We are delighted to be able to recognise his contribution to architecture on a day when the next generation of graduates set out from the Mackintosh School of Architecture and begin to make their own mark in the profession. Andrew is a tremendous role model for them and indeed for the profession as a whole.”

“I look back at my time at the Glasgow School of Art with much fondness, a place where I made lifelong friendships, and also reverence, when I think of the teaching and opportunities we were given,”says Andrew Whalley. “Probably the most important aspect was being surrounded by so many talented individuals across the whole spectrum of the Arts.”

I have had the opportunity to work in many places around the world and have learned from first-hand experience that The Glasgow School of Art’s reputation is second to none, and its reach is truly global. My experience at the Mac undoubtedly shaped me as a designer and my career as an Architect. “

Ends

For further information on the GSA contact:
Lesley Booth, 
07799414474
press@gsa.ac.uk

For further information on Grimshaw Architects contact:
Chris Spence, 
+61 3 9321 2600
Chris.Spence@grimshaw.global

Note for Editors

·    The Honorary Doctorate, which will be conferred by The University of Glasgow, will be awarded at the GSA morning Graduation ceremony on Friday 14 June 2019 at the Bute Hall, University of Glasgow.

News Release: radio documentary on the GSA and NTS work on Staffa to be broadcast this weekend

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Image: visualisation of Fingal’s Cave created by SimVis at The Glasgow School of Art
·     
The Glasgow School of Art and National Trust for Scotland's work on Staffa will be the subject of a BBC Radio 3 documentary in the Between the Ears strand this weekend. The Virtually Melodic Cave will be broadcast at 6.45pm on Sunday 16 June.

The half hour programme will focus on the ground-breaking Virtual Reality work being undertaken by experts from the School of Simulation and Visualisation (SimVis) at The Glasgow School of Art, working in partnership with the Universities of Stirling and Glasgow as well as the National Trust for Scotland, which owns the island.

Staffa is well known for its striking basalt formations and Fingal’s Cave. Its most prominent feature has been an inspiration for intense artistic and literary activity for nearly 250 years as well as being a focus for early tourism. It remains one of Scotland’s major tourist destinations to this day. 

A team led by Dr Stuart Jeffrey from SimVis has created a VR experience which aims to offer a powerful insight into this amazing cave’s ability to inspire artists and composers. Created over the last 3-years the VR response to the cave combines visual imagery, soundscape and acoustic modelling to create a virtual space where new creative work can be made.

For full details of the broadcast see the BBC Radio 3 press release (below)

For further information on SimVis contact:
Lesley Booth
07799414474
press@gsa.ac.uk


BBC Radio 3 press release


CAVE THAT INSPIRED MENDELSSOHN AND KEATS BROUGHT TO LIFE BY BBC RADIO 3 AND THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART 

Between The Ears: The Virtually Melodic Cave on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds 16thJune 6:45pm

For the first time, Fingal's Cave - the awesome natural structure on the uninhabited island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland - will be brought to homes and mobile devices across the UK through BBC Radio 3 documentary strand Between the Ears, in collaboration with The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation. 

Using cutting-edge technology, which captures not only the acoustics of the melodic cave, but its awe-inspiring visual scale and beauty, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds audiences will be transported to a site of natural beauty that has inspired Felix Mendelssohn, Jules Verne, John Keats, August Strindberg and countless others. t is reported that Felix Mendelssohn was so moved by the unearthly sounds that fill the cave when he visited in 1829, that he created the remarkabl Hebrides Overturein response.

Listeners to Between the Ears: The Virtually Melodic Cave on the 16thJune at 6:45pm will encounter a rich cinematic sound experience with new composition. They will also be able to access a virtual reality version of the experience using their smart phones via a link from the BBC Radio 3 website.

 The Radio 3 programme follows the work of Dr Stuart Jeffrey from The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation and sound designer and composer, Aaron May, to see if a virtual reality experience can capture a place’s very essence. It will see whether Aaron can be moved to create art in the same way that other artists have been, from visiting the virtual reality incarnation of the cave, only. 

Alan Davey, Controller, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Classical Music said: “At Radio 3 we’re always looking at ways to offer audiences an escape from everyday life and a chance to view the world through a different and more reflective lens. It’s also important to find new ways to make heritage sites more accessible and tangible to people -  we hope listeners will enjoy losing themselves in this awesome and evocative cave from the safety of their own mobile phones and radios. My thanks to BBC Scotland production, Glasgow School of Art and Dr Jeffrey in particular for working with us on this amazing piece of radio.”

Dr Stuart Jeffrey added: “The resonant sounds of blowing and popping in Fingal’s cave, together with booming waves; create a natural soundscape that does not match the movement of the waves – this is one of the things that makes it sound magical and musical. I’m delighted we can work with BBC Radio 3 and BBC Arts to bring that experience to audiences who might not be able to visit for themselves.”

ENDS
Contact: Alexandra Heybourne – 07973 189 364
Head of Communications BBC Arts, Radio 3, Classical Music

Notes to Editors

On the island
A few years ago Stuart and a team of archaeologists from the National Trust for Scotland discovered Bronze Age remains close to the cave and near a 19th century folly that was used by early tourists as shelter from the elements.  In Between the Ears, we join Stuart on location as he continues the dig and unearths further evidence of a Bronze Age site, and we accompany him into the heart of the cave during different sea states.

The location’s rich mythology, including that of mermaids and giants, highlights the sublime aspect of the place. Stuart's wider research, together with Sian Jones at the University of Stirling and the NTS, is trying to understand the gap between how the Romantics viewed it - a site of awe - and how we see it today. “We have become dull souls, seeing it only as a nature reserve,” he says.

A place of inspiration
 Jules Verne said, "the vast cavern with its mysterious, dark, weed-covered chambers and marvellous basaltic pillars produced upon me a most striking impression and was the origin of my book, Le Rayon Vert”.

During the 19th-century era of romanticism and the sublime, the Germans were particularly enthralled by Fingal’s Cave. Not only did they visit, but quirky plays and stories were even set there (including Bride of the Isles about vampires living inside Fingal's Cave).

The location’s rich mythology, including that of mermaids and giants, highlights the sublime aspect of the place. Stuart's research is trying to fill in the gap between how the Romantics viewed it - a site of awe - and how we see it today.  “We have become dull souls, seeing it only as a nature reserve,” he says.  

In the Lab
Whereas Stuart has spent many hours within the magnificent natural structure, Aaron has never set foot in Fingal’s Cave.  But for this documentary he has created a new musical composition based upon his experience of entering a phenomenally exact virtual reality reconstruction, made by Stuart and his team at The Glasgow School of Art. It’s all part of the experiment to see if you can recreate the awe of a natural heritage site using technology.

The VR version, features laser scans, photogrammetry and acoustic sound maps. You are able to tour the entire length of the cave and even hear how a piece of music would sound if played within it.  A version of this virtual reality experience, complete with Aaron’s composition, will be made available for listeners to explore on their smart phones.  And of course, Aaron’s remarkable and evocative soundtrack will feature in the radio documentary.

BBC Radio 3’s Between The Ears: The Virtually Melodic Cave on 16 June 18:45pm and is also available on BBC Sounds






News Release: Kate Lingard wins 2019 Newbery Medal

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  • Sculpture Environmental Art graduate receives the GSA’s highest award
  • Honorary Doctorates conferred on Andrew Whalley, recently appointed Chairman of Grimshaw Architects, and Sarah Drummond, Co-Founder and Managing Director of award-winning design agency, Snook
  • Over 40 prizes awarded to graduating students including the Newbery Medal and four Chairman’s Medals 



Image: 2019 Newbery Medal winner, Kate Lingard.  


Kate Lingard, a Sculpture and Environmental Art graduate, has been awarded the 2019 Newbery Medal. The award, named after the celebrated director of The Glasgow School of Art Francis “Fra” Newbery is presented each year to the top student graduating from an undergraduate programme.

“Also on the first floor is Kate Lingard,whose space is filled with casts created from structures of the inner ear as well as recreated videos of what looks like empty hallways. The accompanying text perfectly illustrates the work without over-explaining it; it is a highly successful work in itself. The text is often the most ridiculed part of a degree show, but this shows a strong proficiency in its union of clear intellect and unashamed emotion.”
From The Skinny, review of 2019 Degree Show

“Kate Lingard is a worthy winner of the 2019 Newbery medal.”Says Professor Alistair Payne, Head of the School of Fine Art. “Through her collaborative working with other disciplinary fields she has created a truly cross-disciplinary practice. She has also demonstrated excellence in her theoretical and philosophical research and writing undertaken to achieve this work.”

Kate collaborated with many different external institutions including medical and microbiological laboratories across Scotland and had a close working relationship with the medical visualisation department in the School of Simulation and Visualisation at Glasgow School of Art, and produced an inspirational exhibition for her final degree show.


Dr Andrew Whalley
The award was presented at the morning Graduation ceremony which also saw recently appointed Chairman of Grimshaw Architects, Andrew Whalley, receive an Honorary Doctorate of Letters. 

“I look back at my time at the Glasgow School of Art with much fondness, a place where I made lifelong friendships, and also reverence, when I think of the teaching and opportunities we were given,”says Andrew Whalley. “Probably the most important aspect was being surrounded by so many talented individuals across the whole spectrum of the Arts.”

I have had the opportunity to work in many places around the world and have learned from first-hand experience that The Glasgow School of Art’s reputation is second to none, and its reach is truly global. My experience at the Mac undoubtedly shaped me as a designer and my career as an Architect. “

At the afternoon ceremony Sarah Drummond, founder of the award-winning Design Agency We are Snook was also presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters.

“I'm honoured and totally surprised to be receiving the honorary doctorate from The Glasgow School of Art,” says Sarah Drummond. “I feel indebted for the education I had at Glasgow, a unique space that taught me the skills to think through making and explore alternative visions for the world we might live in. I've dedicated my working life to educating and building the capacity of Governments, councils, charities and the civic sector to use design to make the world more human, placing design in the hands of the public to reimagine how our institutions can work for us, leaving no one behind. The GSA will always hold a special space in my heart. Like many of the students who pass through its doors I'm part of its extended global community and the experiences I had and the lessons I learned are at the core of my practice today.”

Over 40 awards were presented to graduating students including the Newbery, four Chairman’s medals and a newly introduced John Calcutt prize for Critical Writing.The winners of the Chairman’s Medals were: Rebecca Gill (Painting and Printmaking), Lucy Kerr (Interior Design), who also won the Stakis Prize for Interior DesignGaston Welisch (Product Design) and Suraj Makwana (Diploma in Architecture).

Among the prize winners from the  Mackintosh School of Architecture were Stage 4 students Elia Watke and Joshua Page for their speculative proposals for housing in Tradeston and an Urban Building on the Broomielaw. The 2019 Bourdon Prize went to Eugenio Cappuccio.

In the School of Design the Incorporation of Hammermen prizes went to Harriet Jenkins and Shan He; Christine Wong was awarded the Incorporation of Bonnetmakers prize; Shannon Graham and Rosa Munro won Incorporation of Weavers awards, and the Incorporation of Tailors awards went to Sam Wood and Florence Hughes-Finney. This year’s The Kerry Aylin Prize for Distinction in Print was won by Claire McNally.

In the Innovation School Tori Hamilton was awarded the Collaborative Practice award for her project to develop tourism in Oban which was co-designed with the community Erlend Prendergaswho won the Innovation Design prize for his work on Precision Medicine in Cancer Care and counter bug to help counteract fears for the “spy in the house”

In the School of Fine Art the inaugural John Calcutt Prize for Critical Writing was won by Painting and Printmaking graduate Harriet Abbott.

The 2019 GSA Sustainability awards were won by Cassandra Macindoe, (Fashion) and Emma Hislop (Sculpture and Environmental Art), and the 2019 Bram Stoker Award went to Ashley Morgan (Communication Design) for a project looking at the former Third Lanark Football club.

For full list of awards see Notes for Editors.

Ends

For further information contact:
Lesley Booth, 
07799414474
press@gsa.ac.uk



Notes for Editors

HONORARY DOCTORATES
Andrew Whalley, Chairman Grimshaw Architects
Sarah Drummond, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Snook

NEWBERY MEDAL (top graduating student)
Kate Lingard, Sculpture and Environmental Art

CHAIRMAN’S MEDALS
Rebecca Gill (Painting and Printmaking), 
Lucy Kerr (Interior Design)
Gaston Welisch (Product Design) 
Suraj Makwana (Diploma in Architecture)

OPEN AWARDS

W.O. Hutcheson Prize
Sophie Rowan, Com Des
Kirsten Shanks, P&P
Marco Zaccaria, Arch
Landscape Drawing Prize
Johanne Deffarges, Com Des
Atticus Tayar, P&P
Veronika Desova, Arch
GSA Prize for Sustainability
Winners: Cassandra Macindoe, Fashion and Emma Hislop, SEA
Runner-up: Esme Macintyre, Com Des
Highly Commended: Veronika Desova, Arch and Marcelo Curto, PD
Commended: Christina Wong, Textiles and Hannah Dawood, Arch
Dissertation Prize
Karin Tokunaga, Textiles
Harriet Abbott, P&P

Essay Prize
Eleanor Whitworth, S&J
Siri Black, P&P


MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Joe Park Award
Part 1 – James Opfer, Craig Stephens
Part 2 - Antonia Kati
Bourdon Prize
Eugenio Cappuccio

MSA Stage 4 BArch(Hons) Portfolio Prize
Elia Walklate
MSA Stage 4 Diploma Portfolio Prize
Joshua Page
MSA Research Project Prize
Hannah Heaton, Hons
Samuel Stair, Dip
The Lynn Scobie Memorial Prize for Architecture
Alice Miller
Zoe Grainge
Alessandro Marini


SCHOOL OF DESIGN

Silversmithing and Jewellery
Richard H Arroll Memorial Prize
William Sharp
Incorporation of Hammermen
Harriet Jenkins
Shan He
The Peter Wylie Davidson Memorial Prize
Eleanor Whitworth

Fashion and Textiles
Incorporation of Bonnetmakers
Christina Wong
Incorporation of Weavers
Shannon Graham
Rosa Munro
Incorporation of Tailors
Sam Wood
Florence Hughes-Finney
Bill Naysmith Innovation Award
Sarah-Jane Henderson
Incorporation of Skinners & Glovers Prize
Barbara Carroll
Surnai Howard Hildige

Interior Design
James Brough Memorial Prize
Jan Wright
Katherine Walker
Stakis Prize

Lucy Kerr

Communication Design
The Avril V Gibb Memorial Prize
Arvinda Gray
The Kerry Aylin Prize for Distinction in Print
Claire McNally

INNOVATION SCHOOL

Product Design
Neil Morris Prize
Nella Piatek
Innovation Design Prize
Erlend Prendergast
Innovation Design Research Prize
Monika Kantor
Innovation Design Collaborative Practice Prize
Victoria Hamilton


SCHOOL OF FINE ART
Steven Campbell Hunt Medal
Tess Wood
The James Nicol McBroom Memorial Prize for Fine Art
Atticus Tayar
John Calcutt Prize for Critical Writing
Harriet Abbott, P&P

Critical Theory Prize
Colm Guo-Lin Peare, P&P

Painting
Emmy Sachs Prize
Sean Ellcombe
Armour Prize
Matthew Manao
Armour Travel Prize
Daniel Webster

Printmaking
Philip Reeves Prize

Florence Eckersley
Glasgow Print Studio
Adam Smith
Euan Stewart Memorial Prize
Adam Smith
Jon McFarland Prize for Printmaking
Connor Ross

Sculpture
Benno Schotz Prize
Lorna Campbell

Fine ArtPhotography
The Alice Duncan Prize
Lucija Jelenko

Environmental Art

The David Harding Public Art Project Prize
Issy Arnold

News Release: Sterling success - GSA graduates scoop top awards at 2019 New Designer

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GSA graduates scoop both prestigious Goldsmiths Company awards, the Hallmark and Mark Fenn awards 2019 New Designers

    
 

Harriet Jenkins,  William Sharp and Eleanor Whitworth, 
winners of awards at 2019 New Designers

Recent Silversmithing & Jewellery designers Eleanor Whitworthand Harriet Jenkinshave beaten competition from across the UK to scoop both of the prestigious Goldsmiths Company awards at 2019 New Designers. This is the second time in three years that both of the Goldsmiths' Awards have been won by GSA graduates.

Brooch design by Eleanor Whitworth,

Eleanor Whitworth won the Goldsmiths’ Company Jewellery Award for a collection made in gold and silver, and base metal which took bugs and insects as the inspiration. Hundreds of tiny beetles, bugs and moths are combined to create shimmering broochesand more.

‘An exemplary body of work that demonstrates a series of sensitive ideas and techniques and retains a wonderful sense of tactility.’
(Goldsmiths’ Company  judges)


Designs by Harriet Jenkins 
Harriet Jenkins was winner of Goldsmiths’ Company Silversmithing Award for a collection of pieces inspired by cabbage leaves. A popular form in porcelain – particularly majolica - Harriet has brought the subject matter into silversmithing creating a range of white candlesticks and bowls by electroforming on to porcelain. Elsewhere in her collection metal bowls are cast from cabbage leaves and cabbage motifs adorn spoon handles.

‘Harriet’s body of work shows great potential in her use of materials and technique. 
A unique take on traditional tableware.’
(Goldsmiths’ Company judges)

All students exhibiting jewellery at New Designers within the Jewellery and Contemporary Design and Crafts zone were automatically considered for The New Designers Goldsmiths’ Company Jewellery and Silversmithing Awards, and the judges considered the form, aesthetic appeal and the practicality of the piece(s) of jewellery when making their decision to present the award to Eleanor and Harriet. For full details of the prize, which includes work experience with a master craftsperson at the Goldsmiths Centre, see Notes for Editors.


Designs by William Sharp

Also picking up awards at New Designers was recent GSA jewellery design graduate William Sharp, who won both the Hallmark Studio award the and Mark FennAssociation ofContemporary Jewellery award. With an interest in the work and teachings of The Bauhaus William Sharp created a collection the draws together many different disciplines. The modular systems which he has incorporated into the jewellery were developed by applying Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design. More commonly applied to Product Design and Sustainability, Will employed these principles to create pieces using metal and sustainable, biodegradable plastic.

‘We loved William’s concept for its intelligence, interactivity 
and its sustainable responsibility.’
(Hallmark Award judges)

Meanwhile. Abigail Chui has been recognised with a Goldsmiths' Company Talent Spotted award


See designs by recent GSA Silversmithing & Jewellery and Textiles graduates at New Designers until 29 June 2019. Further information: https://www.newdesigners.com/visiting/

Ends

For further information contact:
Lesley Booth
07799414474

Notes for Editors
Awards information

NEW DESIGNERS GOLDSMITHS’ COMPANY JEWELLERY AWARD
The winner receives:
  • One-week of work experience in a professional jewellery workshop at the Goldsmiths’ Centre spending the week one-on-one with a master craftsperson focusing on the winner’s own work. On leaving the winner will have spent time at the bench learning or developing practical skills which will support the production of their work
  • A bursary of up to £500 towards living expenses is available to support the work experience week in London
  • An unrivalled Laser AND Punch Hallmarking Package for free comprising a 10-year registration at the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office plus laser software set-up in preparation for laser hallmarking. This means the winner can choose whether to have their hallmark applied by laser or punch each and every time they send work to the London Assay Office
  • Free access to the Goldsmiths’ Company Library and its resources, as required, to support research and design development now and in the future

AWARD CRITERIA: 
  • All students exhibiting jewellery at New Designers within the Jewellery and Contemporary Design and Crafts zone are automatically considered for The New Designers Goldsmiths’ Company Jewellery Award. When selecting their winners, the judges consider the form, aesthetic appeal and the practicality of the piece(s) of jewellery.

NEW DESIGNERS GOLDSMITHS’ COMPANY SILVERSMITHING AWARD
  • One-week of work experience in a professional jewellery workshop at the Goldsmiths’ Centre spending the week one-on-one with a master craftsperson focusing on the winner’s own work. On leaving the winner will have spent time at the bench learning or developing practical skills which will support the production of their work
  • A bursary of up to £500 towards living expenses is available to support the work experience week in London
  • An unrivalled Laser AND Punch Hallmarking Package for free comprising a 10-year registration at the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office plus laser software set-up in preparation for laser hallmarking. This means the winner can choose whether to have their hallmark applied by laser or punch each and every time they send work to the London Assay Office
  • Free access to the Goldsmiths’ Company Library and its resources, as required, to support research and design development now and in the future

AWARDS CRITERIA
  • All students exhibiting jewellery at New Designers within the Jewellery and Contemporary Design and Crafts zone are automatically considered for The New Designers Goldsmiths’ Company Jewellery Award. When selecting their winners, the judges consider the form, aesthetic appeal and the practicality of the piece(s) of jewellery.


HALLMARK STUDIO AWARD
The prize given includes a 4-week paid studio placement for the winner to gain experience working in a commercial studio environment.
AWARD CRITERIA: 
The award winner will be a graduate from 2019 who brings fresh ideas and an innovative approach to the category of greeting cards & gift presentation. They will be commercial but also be able to generate the new and different, as well as being versatile.

MEDIA RELEASE: Hey Big Splendour!

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  • The GSA and Royal Museums Greenwich come together to explore the jewellery, textiles and fashions of 16th and 17th century Queens
  • Event will take place in The Queen’s House, Greenwich on Friday 28 June 2019




Images: designs by Cara Smith,  Sarah Murdoch,and Abby Campbell 

Designs by Textile Design and Silversmithing & Jewellery students from the GSA, which respond to the iconography of the celebrated Armada portrait of Queen Elizabeth displayed in The Queen’s House (Royal Museums Greenwich), will be showcased as part of an event tomorrow, Friday 28 June 2018.

The presentation will take place after an afternoon symposium at The Queen’s House in which the use of textile and jewellery to convey messages around power and politics by 16th and 17th century queens will be explored. Speakers include jewellery historian and exhibition curator Dr Beatriz Chadour-Sampson, and Dr Thea Stevens, lecturer in Design History & Theory at The Glasgow School of Art.

“The Armada portrait of Queen Elizabeth I summaries the hopes and aspirations of the state as an imperial power, but was also designed to be a spectacle of female power and majesty calculated to inspire awe and wonder,” writes Matilda Pye, National Outreach curator, Royal Museums Greenwich in a publication that will be launched at the event.

Image: design by Asia Przytarskaphotographed at Stirling Castle
Matilda Pye worked with Slivia Weidenbach of the GSA’s Silversmithing and Jewellery department to create a brief for a cross departmental collaboration within the School of Design at the GSA. The students were encouraged to explore the visual and material culture of the 16th and 17th centuries and debate their contemporary relevancy. The students also examined how their work could be fashioned and displayed on the body, and how historical propaganda was translated into symbolism in portraits. The students looked at portraits of queens including Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots and Anne of Denmark - Queen consort to James VI of Scotland / James I of England who commissioned Inigo Jones to design The Queen’s House where the Splendour event will be staged.

Writing of the outcomes of the project in the Splendour publication Dr Thea Stevens of the GSA says: “The students have taken what they have gleaned from historical research and injected an energy from the superbly abject qualities of a choker evoking the moment of Mary Queen of Scot’s decapitation to textile samples that make smallpox pustules entrancing.”

Outcomes of the student collaborations were photographed in the historical setting of Stirling castle on garments made by GSA Fashion Design students  These images together with text by Matilda Pye (RMG), Thea Stevens (the GSA) and Helen McCormack (the GSA) are brought together in the Splendour publication. 

For further information on the Splendour event visit 

Ends

For further information and high resolution images of the student designs contact:
Lesley Booth
0779414474
press@gsa.ac.uk
or Royal Museums Press Office at press@rmg.co.uk



NEWS RELEASE: Autumn 2019 exhibitions programme at The Glasgow School of Art announced

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Details of the Autumn 2019 exhibitions programme in the Reid Building at the GSA were announced today, Wednesday 31 July 2019. The three shows, which were all postponed from Autumn 2018, will be staged in the Reid Corridor as initially planned.


IMAGE: poster from the Art School Film Club archive
The programme begins in September (14 - 29) with an exhibition of around 50 posters created over the last 12 years by students in the GSA’s Communication Design department to promote screenings organised by the Art School Film Club. Also featured in the exhibition, which is curated by Marc Baines, will be posters from earlier GSA film clubs stretching back to the 1970s that are held in the GSA’s Archives and Collections.

IMAGE: the diasonograph, an early ultrasound machine for obstetrics

In an exhibition running from 5 – 31 October The Glasgow School of Art will pay tribute to the work undertaken, as a GSA student in the early 60’s, by former GSA Director, Professor Dugald Cameron, who was an early pioneer in designing ultrasound machines for medical obstetrics. The story of his designs will be told through archival drawings, photos and witness accounts.  Interviews recorded with women and medical staff who were among the first in the world to benefit from this innovative Glasgow technology provide contemporary accounts recalling their experiences. The story of ultrasound will also be brought up to date by showcasing current research in Glasgow and Scotland, and the imaginings of future applications of ultrasound by current GSA Product Design Engineering and School of Simulation and Visualisation students. The exhibition is curated by Professor Alastair Macdonald, senior researcher in Design for Health and Care at the GSA.

IMAGE: a work by Claire Paterson to be shown in The Arbitrary Ritual

From mid-November until Christmas, the space will host an exhibition of work by contemporary painter and graduate of The Glasgow School of Art, Claire Paterson. It will showcase work inspired by collaborations she undertook while on the 2016-17 Steven Campbell New York Scholarship. The exhibition is supported by The Steven Campbell Trust.

For further details on the exhibitions see Notes for Editors.

All the exhibitions will be open seven days a week, 10am – 4.30pm. Entry free.

Ends

For further information, images and  interviews contact
Lesley Booth, 
0779 941 4474 
Press@gsa.ac.uk
@GSofAMedia





Notes for Editors

Autumn 2019 exhibitions programme


14 – 29 September 2019
Art School Film Club
A poster exhibition curated by Marc Baines

Since 2006 Illustration students in the Communication Design department have been meeting up to watch and discuss a diverse and esoteric range of films. They’ve been stretching their narrative muscles by dissecting the work of film makers with all kinds of stories to tell and all manner of ways to tell them. For that same period the 4th Year Illustrators have been trumpeting the screenings with graphic aplomb through a series of screen-printed, etched and lithographed posters. This exhibition, curated by Marc Baines in association with GSA Archives and Collections, features around fifty of the posters from the last twelve years displaying them alongside posters from earlier GSA film clubs stretching back to the 1970s. 

Films represented span the years 1924 to 2012 and include work by directors hailing from Greece (Athina Tsangari); Japan (Yasujiro Ozu); the Czech Republic (Jan Svankmajer); Turkey (Nuri Bilge Ceylan); Armenia (Sergei Parajanov) and all points inbetween. US and UK directors as varied and wide ranging as Chris Petit, Shirley Clarke and Buster Keaton feature too. 

A fanzine for ‘Art School Film Club’, edited and annotated by lecturer Marc Baines in collaboration with Susannah Waters and the GSA Archives and Collections, will be launched at the opening of the show.


5 – 31 October 2019
Ultrasonic Glasgow
curated by Professor Alastair Macdonald

In the late 50’s and early 60’s Glasgow led the world in the development of medical ultrasound. A unique combination of obstetrics, engineering and design expertise created the production models of ultrasound scanners that enabled the first scanning of pregnant women, in Glasgow hospitals, which has now become standard routine. 

Organised and curated by Professor Alastair S Macdonald, (former head of PDE and currently Senior Researcher in the School of Design, at the GSA), this exhibition documents the early pioneers of ultrasound, the imaging of the foetus and the pivotal role of the then young designer, Dugald Cameron in transforming an industrial technology into a design which was usable, acceptable and manufacturable. After a period in Industry, Cameron went on to become the head of Product Design, Head of Design and then Director of the GSA. 

The exhibition brings the story of ultrasound up to date by showcasing current research in Glasgow and Scotland, and the imaginings of future applications of ultrasound by GSA’s School of Simulation and Visualisation and current Product Design Engineering students. 


15 Nov – 20 December 2019
Claire Paterson: The Arbitrary Ritual 
Supported by The Steven Campbell Trust

Contemporary painter and graduate of the Glasgow School of Art Claire Paterson will showcase work inspired by collaborations she undertook while on the 2016-17 Steven Campbell New York Scholarship. 
Paterson’s 3 month residency at the International Studio and Curatorial Programme (ISCP) in Brooklyn - which was funded by Creative Scotland, The Saltire Society and The Steven Campbell Trust - provided her with an exciting opportunity to work with other artists from around the world, exploring ideas related to the theatrical language embedded in totems and gestures.. During the residency she hosted a series of experimental collaborations, with participants using costume and installation elements to produce tableaux that have something in common with obscure ritualistic and arcane rites. 

In keeping with the aims of The Steven Campbell Trust, Paterson also used her time in New York to promote the legacy of Steven Campbell’s work and the contribution he made to the development of Scottish Art on the international stage.



NEWS RELEASE: Care home collaboration creates new connections through music

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·      A programme of activities will take place in Anderson’s care home in Elgin from 19-21 August
·      Public invited to come along and join in the activities
·      Project also aims to support a shift in public perceptions around care homes

A care home in the North East of Scotland has partnered with The Glasgow School of Art (the GSA) as part of a wider initiative to ‘make rights real’ in care homes. 

Anderson’s in Elgin is one of seven care homes which were awarded funding through the Life Changes Trust ‘Rights Made Real’ programme. In collaboration with researchers based at the GSA’s Innovation School in Altyre the project at Anderson’s aims to support more community connections by exploring the role of music in care homes. 

Using expertise in design innovation, the researchers have been collecting stories of care home life and have co-designed a programme of music activity in partnership with residents, staff, and volunteers. The programme will see participation from children, local musicians and an international performer all the way from America. 

“The design approach of the project has placed the rights of residents at the heart of the process and meant that we can understand the role that music plays in their everyday life,” says Dr Tara French, Programme Director at The Glasgow School of Art, who is leading the project. “It has also helped us to understand the ways that they would like to see more connections being made with the community.”

“ Music is such a powerful tool that can enable us to connect with others and experience many benefits for our health and wellbeing,”she adds.

Anderson’s Manager Kathy McGrath-Gunn said “We have an exciting week ahead with our action packed musical events at Anderson’s. We hope as many people as possible will come along and join us in our events to make this a fun and successful opportunity for everyone in the community to support us to grow even stronger connections. 

“It’s been a great venture for Anderson’s to be involved and work along with the GSA in the ‘making rights real’ project. Their expertise in design innovation has brought a new perspective exploring how music and song within a care home setting can create further openings for care homes to become community musical centres”.

A wider ambition of the project is to support a shift in public perceptions around care homes,”Dr French explains, “We also hope that the project will help to communicate the inner life of care homes and move beyond existing perceptions that people might have about care home life.”

The programme ‘Anderson’s Community Medley’ will take place on 19th - 21st of August with many of the activities open to members of the public. See the Anderson’s Care Home Facebook page for more information on how to be involved. For more information about the project see https://futurehealthandwellbeing.org/bringing-communities-and-care-together/.

Ends

For further information on The Glasgow School of Art contact:

Lesley Booth, 
0779 941 4474
press@gsa.ac.uk
@GSofAMedia

NEWS RELEASE: GSA student scoops prestigious Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) “TV PhD” residency

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Image from Sean Kinnear's research

Sean Kinnear, a PhD student in the Mackintosh School of Architecture at The Glasgow School of Art, is one of only 15 academics from across the UK to be awarded a prestigious “TV PhD” residency it was revealed today, 13 August 2019.

Funded by the Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the residencies are aligned with the Edinburgh Television Festival.

The successful “TV PhD” 2019 participants will benefit from six sessions in Edinburgh built with their particular needs in mind; addressing career development, how arts and humanities programmes are made, and how ideas are developed into programmes. Session leaders are drawn from across the television landscape including National Geographic, Nutopia, Storyboard Studios, Expectation and Plimsoll Productions.

They will also be able to take part in elements of the Festival’s other talent initiatives (such as The Network and Ones to Watch). The academics will enjoy access to a specially selected group of TV professionals who will be on hand in the lead-up and throughout their time in Edinburgh to guide, advise and answer questions.

“As a PhD student I am constantly searching for new ways of sharing my Cold War nuclear bunker research to wider audiences,” says Sean. “The AHRC TV PhD Talent Scheme is a fantastic opportunity to give me an insight into how I can facilitate my storytelling, and develop key industry skills required for disseminating my academic discourse into Television outputs.”

For more information on Sean Kinnear’s work tracing, analysing and preserving the disappearing remnants of Cold War architecture and design in Scotland visithttp://www.gsa.ac.uk/study/doctoral-degrees/supervisors-plus-students/research-students/k/kinnear,-sean/

Full text of AHRC press release below.

For further information on The Glasgow School of Art contact:
Lesley Booth
07799414474
@GSofAMedia

AHRC PRESS RELEASE


Fifteen PhD studentsfunded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), have been selected to take part in the second year of ‘TV PhD’, a residential scheme at the television industry’s prestigious Edinburgh Television Festival.

The TV PhD scheme, running from August 19-23, is the result of a partnership between the research council and the Festival. The successful TV PhD 2019 participants will benefit from six sessions in Edinburgh built with their particular needs in mind; addressing career development, how arts and humanities programmes are made, and how ideas are developed into programmes. Session leaders are drawn from across the television landscape including National Geographic, Nutopia, Storyboard Studios, Expectation and Plimsoll Productions.

They will also be able to take part in elements of the Festival’s other talent initiatives (such as The Network and Ones to Watch). The academics will enjoy access to a specially selected group of TV professionals who will be on hand in the lead-up and throughout their time in Edinburgh to guide, advise and answer questions.

Dr Paul Meller, Associate Director at UKRI’s Arts and Humanities Research Council, says:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for AHRC-funded students, either with plans to work in the TV industry or whose research focuses on that industry.

“The bespoke training and mentoring they will receive is unique and will help develop strong relationships between them as researchers and professionals in the TV industry.”

In addition, they will receive a pass that enables them to attend the remainder of the festival and experience a broad range of talks, interviews, and panel discussions. 2019’s programme includes talks from Hugh Laurie, Louis Theroux, Paul Feig and this year’s MacTaggart Lecturer Dorothy Byrne, as well as contributors from all of the UK’s major channels and global platforms such as Netflix and Amazon.

“I’m delighted to welcome the TV PhD scheme in an expanded format following last year’s inaugural cohort. The support for this initiative both from the AHRC and the TV industry overall has been particularly inspiring, so I am particularly excited to bring these two worlds together again in 2019,”said Campbell Glennie, Director, Education & Talent Development, Edinburgh Television Festival.

The scheme is intended to help them get work in or with the television industry. One of last year’s participants, Ayesha Taylor-Camara, is currently working in the audience research department at the BBC. She says:
“As well as helping to shape my future research and career goals, participation in the festival allowed my BBC application to stand out and I used what I had learnt to give me the edge during my interview and assessment.”

Those taking up their places on the scheme this year are PhD students drawn from academic institutions across the UK. TV PhD participants are:

Mimi Goodall
University of Oxford
Anna Varadi
University of Bristol
Georgina Wilson
University of Oxford
Nicole Brandon
University of Dundee
Sean Kinnear
Glasgow School of Art
Charles Beirouti
University of Oxford
Aleena Din
University of Oxford
Abigail Walker
Kings College London
Naomi Oppenheim
UCL
Lisa Taylor
Manchester Metropolitan University
Nick Havergal
University of Bristol
Nina Rasmussen
Kings College London
Vincent Chabany-Douarre
Kings College London
John Beales
Keele University
Laura Minor
University of Leeds


In addition, two further AHRC-funded academics who already have a background in TV: Patcee Francis (Nottingham Trent University) and Mhairi Brennan (University of Glasgow) have been selected from the application process to attend the Festival to develop their careers.

Ends

For further information contact:
Corinne Mosese, Media Manager- UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
07522 218070 
Corinne.Mosese@ukri.org

NEWS RELEASE: Virtual Fingal’s Cave comes to the Edinburgh Festival

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Opportunity to experience one of the UK’s most celebrated landmarks in glorious VR 


Image: from Staffa and Fingal’s Cave VR 

"it was one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description
 I had heard of it… composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, 
and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, 
as it were, with ruddy marble, [it] baffles all description.”
Sir Walter Scott on Fingal’s Cave

The Isle of Staffa, known for its striking basalt formations and its most prominent feature, Fingal’s Cave, has been an inspiration for intense artistic and literary activity for nearly 250 years as well as being a focus for early romantic tourism. It remains one of Scotland’s major tourist destinations to this day.

Now through a collaboration between the School of Simulation and Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art and the National Trust for Scotland in partnership with the Universities of Stirling and Glasgow the cave has been brought to life in sound and vision offering people the chance to experience this wondrous site as never before. Created over the last 3-years the VR response to the cave combines music specially commissioned by BBC Radio 3, visual imagery and soundscapes.

Visitors to the 2019 Edinburgh Festivals will get the opportunity to experience the immersive Fingal’s Cave (using a VR headset), complete with the BBC’s specially commissioned soundscape by composer Aaron May in the BBC’s Virtual Reality Experience at Summerhall (19 – 24 August).

“Through time Fingal’s cave has influenced writers, composers and artists,”says Dr Stuart Jeffrey, Reader in International Heritage Visualisation at the GSA who is co-directing the project with Derek Alexander of NTS. “The virtual cave lives at the intersection of art and technology offering people the chance experience an immersive response to the cave and to get a taste of the wonder, power and even terror, that has inspired so many artists.”

“The virtual model allows you to experience the full wonder of the cave, getting right to the back at water level, something you can’t do very often unless on a really calm day,”’ adds Derek Alexander, Head of Archaeology at The National Trust for Scotland. 

Earlier this year BBC Radio 3 unveiled its commission from composer Aaron May who responded to the virtual rather than the real-life experience of the cave in his composition. It was broadcast as part of the Between the Ears documentary strand.

“How a creative person responds to a location, tell us something about the very essence of that place. So it’s been fascinating to hear how Aaron has responded to visiting a virtual reality version of Fingal’s Cave,” says Jack Kibble-White, Digital Development Executive at BBC Scotland. “His striking composition makes us consider the extent to which cutting-edge technology can now capture not just the physical qualities of a location, but also those intangible things too, such as a sense of majesty, awe and emotion,” 

This version of The Glasgow School of Art – National Trust for Scotland virtual reality simulation, running on an HTC Vive, will be presented as part of BBC Arts and BBC Radio 3’s presence at Summerhall at Edinburgh Festivals in August 2019To book a place on the BBC Virtual Reality experience visit:https://festival19.summerhall.co.uk/event/bbc-virtual-reality-experience/

Ends

For further information, images and interviews on the Virtual Cave contact:
Lesley Booth: 0779 941 4474 / press@gsa.ac.uk

For further information on the ongoing archaeological work on Staffa contact:
Jim Whyteside on 07889 456779 / jwhyteside@nts.org.uk


For information on the BBC’s Virtual Reality showcase contact: jack.kibble-white@bbc.co.uk

News Release: Sustainability and climate change addressed in GSA Graduate Degree Show 2019

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  •  Sustainability and climate change are key challenges facing the world and Masters students at The Glasgow School of Art have tackled them head on.




Eight possible approaches in help people reduce their use of non-recyclable plastics 
devised by International Management and Design Innovation Nadysa Nawardin

International Management and Design Innovation Nadysa Nawardin has looked at how to get people to ditch the plastic, particularly one use, unrecyclable plastics. The Indonesian student is particularly aware of the issue of discarded plastics as she lives close to the sea.

“As a human-centred design discipline, design innovation’s focus is on people - what they do, how they do things, why and when they seek to engage with the world around them through private or public sector services,” explains Nadysa

“Trying to force people to change habits can often produce a backlashso it is important to create a “supportive environment” - one where people can be encouraged to cut back on plastics.”

Identifying one the most obvious places where we acquire plastics, Nadysa looked at what might be done in supermarkets to help change buying behaviour, and proposed a number of possible approaches.

“The Supermarket offers a supportive environment and it is one where include knowledge and information regarding plastic waste can be shared, and using that knowledge giving people option to choose,” she adds

Among the approaches tested were using images of people disapproving of plastic in the supermarket; improving the recycling information by including the amount of plastic in your shopping on till receipts; a plastic container donation scheme and a packaging deposit scheme. The approach most likely to be a success is to Separate out produce in recyclable and non-recyclable containers in the supermarket so people can choose.

“People really seem to like this idea,”says Nadysa. “It’s because they want a more direct solution and it particularly helps for people who are not aware of the alternatives that already exist out there

        

Images: from Serious Games Master’s student, Ibari Abani’s Climate change project

Meanwhile, Serious Games Master’s student, Ibari Abani has used transmedia story-telling to look at climate activism.

“Climate activism is going mainstream and more and more institutions are making official declarations of climate emergency,” explains Ibari. “The focus of my project was to design and implement a transmedia game to try and drive policy change within The Glasgow School of Art”

“Higher Education institutions have a responsibility to prepare students for a future now undoubtedly affected by climate change. As such, their policies should reflect sustainable practices.”

“Before this project, I was a person who thought they knew about the issue of climate change. I heard about the seas rising, had felt the summers get hotter each year, and had taken the plastic straw ban very seriously. I thought I knew enough. I wasn't even scratching the surface.”

The game that Ibari has designed asks player to imagine that in 2010, students at The Glasgow School of Art attempted to set up a ‘people’s assembly’ where they could discuss the topic of climate change. Having uncovered a poster from 2010 about one of the ‘assembly’ meetings, this leads players on a journey through the experience from the perspective of two students who were a part of the assembly.

Through a collection of voice notes, tweets, and posters left by students players get a tangible sense of destruction climate change has brought about.
  

Flexible designs by Fashion and Textiles Design student, Anya Aldred


Fashion Design student, Anya Aldred, has addressed sustainability throughout her design studies both as an undergraduate (at Kingston University) and postgraduate at The Glasgow School of Art.

Her Masters of Fashion & Textile Design collection is inspired by celebrated former socialite Edith Bouvier Beale whose change in fortune led her to repurpose her old garments through knotting and wearing them in unconventional ways. The collection features four looks of multifunctional garments which can be worn in a plethora of different ways.

“Sustainability is very important to me,”says Anya. “My undergraduate Degree Show was all about celebrating mending and protecting clothing, and I have taken this a step further in my Master’s collection."

“Both of my collections are about the issue we face at the moment in the fashion industry of people buying clothing and quickly and easily throwing it away to landfill.By creating garments which can be worn in many ways and by any gender I hope to encourage people to keep and wear them longer.”

The garments in Anya’s collection, which have been knitted on the GSA’s historic Industrial double bed (Dubied) machines, are fashioned from 100% Scottish pure wool made by Todd and Duncan, which is produced at Loch Leven and dyed using environmentally friendly dying process.

See these projects and more in Graduate Degree Show at The Glasgow School of Art from 23 – 29 August 2019. Architecture in the Bourdon Building (Garnethill), Design in the Reid Building (Garnethill) Fine Art in the Tontine Building (Merchant City) Innovation and Simulation & Visualisation in McLellan Galleries (Garnethill).  Open daily: Mon - Thurs 10am – 8pm Sat - Sun 10am – 6pm. Entry free

Ends

For further information, images and interviews contact:
Lesley Booth, 
07799414474 
press@gsa.ac.uk
@GSofAMedia

News Release: Game changing initiative to help trainee cancer surgeons unveiled

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GSA Medical Visualisation and Human Anatony student unveils project to increase affordable training opportunities for kidney cancer surgeons

     



IMAGES: Model of a kidney with tumour made using 3D printing technology
 and hydrogels capable of simulating human tissue 
and honing skills in partial nephrectomy using robotic surgery.



“Overall I thought this model provided an excellent opportunity to practice a 
complex surgical technique in a non-virtual reality environment and 
would be very keen to incorporate it into surgical training.”
Mr Grenville Oades
Consultant Urological Surgeon, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

Future kidney cancer surgeons could benefit from increased training opportunities as a result of an innovative research project undertaken by Lisa Ferrie, a Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy Master’s student in the School of Visualisation and Simulation at The Glasgow School of Art.

“There is an increasing incidence of kidney cancer within the UK and where possible surgeons will use a procedure known as a partial nephrectomy to treat it,”says Lisa.The procedure removes only the part of the kidney affected by the tumour, which is done to preserve as much kidney function as possible while still removing the cancer. This procedure is very technically challenging and can only be performed by a few very skilled surgeons.”

Lisa has developed an approach that could help trainee surgeons access a low-cost means of learning and continually developing the skills required to perform a robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. This could ultimately generate a bigger pool of capable surgeons and thus widen access to the best available care for patients.

Starting with a CT scan from a patient who had kidney cancer, Lisa used 3D-printing technology to develop and evaluate an anatomically accurate, low-cost surgical training model of a kidney with a tumour. Anatomically accurate 3D moulds are printed which are then filled with hydrogels capable of simulating human tissue. Surgeons and trainees can then use the model to hone their skills in robotic surgery

“I had always intended to apply the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired from the Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy programme of study to the field of clinical medicine,”explains Lisa.“I have a background in medical sciences and have developed a passion for improving medical education, clinical practice and patient care through the application of technology.”

“The decision to focus on kidney cancer and the development of a surgical training model for robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy was due to both my academic interest in the kidney and because the disease has personally affected my family.”

Lisa worked closely with leading expert Mr Grenville Oades (Consultant Urological Surgeon) and Miss Flora Rodger (Urology Specialist Registrar) at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital as well as Álvaro Sánchez-Rubio (Biomedical Engineering PhD Candidate based in the Centre for the Celullar Microenvironment (CeMi)).

“Complex operations such as Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy (RALPN) are difficult to learn,”says Mr Grenville Oades, Consultant Urological Surgeon and West of Scotland Cancer Network Lead for urological cancers based at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.Traditional models of surgical training by apprenticeship are being challenged due to time constraints, pressures to deliver consultant lead services and the ever-increasing complexity of modern medicine.”

One of the key recommendations of the current national pilot for improving surgical training is that “simulation should be embedded and enhanced within the surgical curricula and there should be sufficient resource to ensure availability for all trainees”. Currently this type of training in robotic surgery is provided by virtual reality simulators as well as cadaveric and animal models. These are expensive, time consuming and not widely available.

“What is proposed by Lisa is a simple, low cost model of RALPN that could easily be incorporated into surgical training,”adds Mr Oades.“The model looked and felt real. It provided an excellent way to practise secondary renorrhaphy, and I was impressed how the passing of sutures through the simulated renal capsule and closing of the defect mimicked an actual operation. The silicone moulded artery also behaved in a realistic fashion when clamped.”

“Overall I thought this model provided an excellent opportunity to practice a complex surgical technique in a non-virtual reality environment and would be very keen to incorporate it into surgical training.”

“As a junior surgical trainee there are limited opportunities to gain exposure to sub-specialist skills such as robotic surgery,”says Flora Rodger, Urology Specialist Registrar.“This realistic model provides a safe environment to develop skills in robotic surgery that would otherwise be reserved for later stages of training. It also allows you to get a feel for the instruments and tissue handling in a way that online modules struggle to recreate. As robotic surgery becomes more widely used in urology this type of model will be invaluable.”

I would love to take this research forward and develop and improve the model. I think effective, low-cost surgical training models could widen access to surgical training opportunities that mayotherwise be inaccessible due to the related high costs.”says Lisa. “Ultimately through the development and increase in surgical skills there will be consequential improvement in patient care.”

Lisa Ferrie’s work will be on show at GSA Graduate Degree Show in McLellan Galleries from 23 – 29 August. Open daily: Mon - Thurs 10am – 8pm Sat - Sun 10am – 6pm. Entry free

Ends

For further information, high resolution images and interviews contact
Lesley Booth, 
07799414474
press@gsa.ac.uk
@GSofAMedia

Notes for Editors

·      Lisa Ferrie’s project -Development and validation of a 3D-printed renal malignancy model with a perfused arterial network for surgical training of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy was made possible with the help and support of from Mr Grenville Oades (Consultant Urological Surgeon, QEUH) Miss Flora Rodger (Urology Specialist Registrar, QEUH), Álvaro Sánchez-Rubio (Biomedical Engineering PhD Candidate based in the Centre for the Celullar Microenvironment (CeMi) at Glasgow University), Dr Matthieu Poyade (The Glasgow School of Art, School of Simulation and Visualisation), Professor Manuel Salmeron-Sanchez (School of Biomedical Engineering, Glasgow University), and Dr Paul Rea (College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Glasgow University) 

·      The MSc in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy is delivered jointly by The Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow.

·      Creativity has always been central to The Glasgow School of Art. From ground-breaking designs to support Glasgow’s industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries, through innovations such as the first ultrasound machine for pregnancy to cutting-edge VR and AR, the school is in the forefront of innovation, and a key contributor to Glasgow’s position as a global creative city.





The Sunday Post (18 and 25 August): funding the Mackintosh Building restoration

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Sunday Post - 25 August 2019

Tomorrow, the Sunday Post is planning to run another article on The Glasgow School of Art, this time relating to funding received from the UK and Scottish Governments following the Mackintosh Building fire in 2014 

The funding story was covered by the Sunday Times in December 2018 and relates to:
  • £5m donated by the UK government
  • £5m committed by the Scottish Government
  • £5m from the UK Government, for a Graduate and Research Centre . When the former Stow College building became available permission was requested to use this grant to acquire it with Stow replacing the JD Kelly, Richmond and Tontine Buildings.  


  • In December we were clear we had received the £5m from the UK Government for Stow  (July 2016) and £5m funding from the Scottish Government (February 2018).  The £5m from the UK Government in respect of the Mackintosh Building was to be drawn down as required via the Scottish Funding Council, probably during the period June 2018 – May 2019 as the restoration work was completed. Since the 2018 fire we have not done this and the funds remain with the Scottish Government.    


  • The journalist has also suggested that politicians were not satisfied with the answers given by the GSA to the Culture Committee and that they felt that the restoration of the Mackintosh Building was not the School’s priority.   The GSA engaged fully with the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committeeand provided detailed submissions and supporting information. This clearly demonstrated our approach and commitment to the Mackintosh Building restoration.  


  • This latest story follows on from one last week on the funding of the Mackintosh Building restoration and the Mackintosh Campus Appeal where comprehensive factual information was provided to the Sunday Post, but disregarded.  Had it been printed it would have reassured people that generous donations were used for work on the east wing of the Mackintosh Building helping to restore the whole building to its original glory.


To clarify, the factual information provided 

last week to the Sunday Post was:  

  • The Mackintosh Building was fully insured.  The insurance settlement covered reinstatement of the damaged west wing of the Building, business interruption, loss of contents 

  • An appeal was set up in the immediate aftermath of the 2014 fire to “enabling The Glasgow School of Art to recover from the consequences of the fire”.  

  • In consultation with Historic Environment Scotland the GSA decided to refurbish of the entire building returning it to the 1910 configuration as well as installing necessary 21st century technology. Work in the East Wing was funded by the GSA and generous external support.

  • In 2016 The Mackintosh Campus Appeal was launched to support the holistic approach to the Mackintosh Building restoration and the recovery from the consequences of the fire which had become clearer

  • We were asked specifically about the Ash to Art project which was a generous initiative led by J Walter Thomson to support the Mackintosh Campus Appeal.  The Sunday Post was provided with the page from Christie’s catalogue which clearly sets out the aim of the auction, “to enable The Glasgow School of Art to restore and upgrade The Mackintosh Building as a home for all first year students whilst also creating state-of-the-art studio space for the School of Fine Art and workshop for the GSA in the converted Stow Building.” 

All the information regarding the restoration and the Appeal has been in the public domain and on the GSA website since 2014, and was regularly updated until June 2018.

News Release: Fashion meets Fine Art at Graduate Degree Show

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  • A Lebanese Fashion Design student at The Glasgow School of Art, Nour Daher, has used her Master’s collection to investigate her cultural background and raise awareness of Saloua Raouda Choucair, who is said to have been the first abstract artist in Lebanon.




    Images:Saloua Choucair: self-portrait; Saloua Choucair Fractional Module, 1947-51 (Oil in Canvas); design by Nour Daher inspired by the work of Saloua Choucair



    “Saloua Choucair, who died in 2017 aged 100, was an artist with an extensive body of work that was only discovered in the last decade or two in Lebanon but was still pretty much unrecognised globally until Tate Gallery staged a major retrospective of her work in 2013, which was the first time her work was ever taken this far outside Lebanon,”says Nour who like Saloua Choucair comes from Beirut.

    “She was a remarkable woman who lived through very challenging times, including civil war, being a female artist in a male dominated art scene and fulfilling her obligations as a mother and a wife. Yet, she was still able to produce work which is really impressive, radical and very expressive of who she is as a person with multiple interests and fascinations,”

    Through her former university department at the Lebanese American University, Nour was able to make contact with Saloua’s daughter, Hala who is also an acclaimed artist, and to visit Saloua’s studio earlier this year.

    It was a huge privilege to be able to visit Saloua’s home and studio and see not only paintings, but sculpture, furniture, jewellery, graphic material and even clothing that she had designed,” says Nour

    “The inspirations for her work ranged from mathematics to poetry, the Islamic art that she experienced in Cairo and the abstract art that she encountered in Paris. Her use of structure, colour and form that developed from these several influences are very inspirational to me as a designer”

    To develop her own visual language for her collection of “contemporary” designs, Nour started by taking photographs of Saloua’s work, particularly looking at the play of light and shadow which is a prominent component in Nour’s work. By layering fabrics her designs reflect not only way that the artist layered paint on her canvasses, but also the multitude of interests She and the artist share.

    The four looks which Nour is showing at Graduate Degree Show use sheer fabrics to show through the different shades of colour used while the organic and geometric shapes informed an interesting approach toward the silhouettes in her collection.

    “I hope that through seeing my collection at Graduate Degree Show more people will be inspired to discover the work of Saloua Choucair and explore my own aesthetic and visual language” 

    Collections by Nour Daher and the other designers on the Master of Fashion + Textiles Design programme are on show in the Reid Building at Graduate Degree Show from until 29 August 2019. Open daily: Mon - Thurs 10am – 8pm Sat - Sun 10am – 6pm. Entry free

    Ends

    For further information, high resolution images and interviews contact
    Lesley Booth, 07799414474 /lesley@newcenturypr.com

STATEMENT FROM THE GSA ON THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART STUDENT ASSOCIATION (THE ART SCHOOL)

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Following recent media stories regarding The Glasgow School of Art Student Association GSASA Ltd; Company number SC440108) and The Glasgow School of Art Students Association (GSASA; Company Number CS001172/charitable incorporated organisation Charity number SC044061), also known as The Art School, The Glasgow School of Art reiterates that GSASA is an entirely separate charitable and legal entity from The Glasgow School of Art.

Any questions regarding the GSASA and decisions taken by its Directors can only be answered by the GSASA Ltd, and these should be directed to them

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NEWS RELEASE: MEARU to partner with arbnco and Leeds and York City Councils on Innovate UK funded social housing initiative

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The Mackintosh Environmental Research Unit (MEARU) at The Glasgow School of Art is to partner with Glasgow-based building performance technology company, arbnco, on a major social housing initiative it was announced today, 12 September 2019.

The initiative which is supported by funding from Innovate UK will explore how arbnco’s technology could be utilised to improve the health and wellbeing of tenants in social housing.

The project is being led by Leeds City Council and the City of York Council, and is part of the GovTech Catalyst programme, which enables public sector bodies to harness new and emerging technologies.

The academic lead on the project will be Professor Tim Sharpe, an international expert on indoor air quality and Director of the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit at The Glasgow School of Art. The research will study the varying property archetypes and examine construction methods to develop a ‘risk factor index’ that identifies the most appropriate parameters to measure health and wellbeing in properties. The team of academics will focus on the key indicators of common issues within housing such as black mould, fuel poverty as well as any issues that will affect specific groups such as the elderly or those with long-term conditions.  

Professor Sharpe commented: 

“Finding ways to reduce energy consumption and improve indoor air quality has never been more critical. This is a great opportunity to use our research expertise to help Government and Industry partners explore how innovative technologies can be developed to better understand living conditions in homes, and have positive impacts on energy consumption and health.”

Simon West, co-founder and director at arbnco, said: 

“We’re really excited to be part of this pioneering R&D project with Leeds and York city councils. Where councils have adopted indoor environment technology in their housing stock previously, the motivation for doing so has often centred purely around property management. This project has the health and wellbeing of tenants firmly at the heart of it.

“Air quality is rapidly becoming one of the biggest societal concerns of our time. The impact of projects like this one could be critical in helping to reduce the harmful effects that can be generated from the indoor environment, and could help to alleviate strain on our health and social care systems.”

Full text of announcement release below:

Ends

For further information on The Glasgow School of Art contact:
Lesley Booth
07799414474
07799414474

 

NEWS RELEASE


Scottish tech company to deliver research project into health and wellbeing impact of social housing

Glasgow-based building performance technology company, arbnco, has been awarded funding by Innovate UK to explore how its technology could be utilised to improve the health and wellbeing of tenants in social housing. 

The project is being led by Leeds City Council and the City of York Council, and is part of the GovTech Catalyst programme, which enables public sector bodies to harness new and emerging technologies. The academic partner in the project is The Mackintosh Environmental Research Unit at The Glasgow School of Art.

It will explore how technology could be used to understand indoor environmental conditions within council housing stock, and the effect it can have on tenant health and wellbeing. The aim is to help tenants make positive lifestyle and environmental changes where necessary, and equip the council with real-time information to aid property management and provide better quality accommodation.    

arbnco is one of five organisations to lead a feasibility study into how technology can be used to improve the health and wellbeing of tenants, through promoting better indoor air quality within council housing stock. If successful, phase two will further develop and test the product before bringing to market.

The project will see arbnco explore how the sensor technology it currently provides to the commercial and public sector real estate market could be adapted for use in domestic properties. That technology analyses the air quality of indoor environments and provides real-time data on parameters such as temperature, humidity, CO2levels, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds – the invisible gases that often emit an odour. The platform can send alerts directly to occupants or building managers, such as councils, when these parameters exceed normal limits.  

Numerous studies have linked poor air quality to an array of damaging health effects, and the World Health Organisation estimates that breathing in polluted air results in approximately 7 million deaths per year. 

Indoor environment technology could help the councils to detect issues such as damp before they start to negatively impact tenant health, reduce costs on repairs and maintenance, and highlight whether certain types of build quality are more susceptible to environmental problems. It can also help to inform whether they need to reconfigure properties, such as through the provision of communal drying spaces.  

arbnco is working on the research study in partnership with academics from Glasgow School of Art, and National Energy Action, a charity committed to eradicating fuel poverty. Social researchers from NEA will engage with council tenants to examine tenant preferences, needs and whether they would be comfortable with in-home sensor technology, and the parameters to be measured. 

NEA will also help to build up a picture of energy vulnerability status across council properties. Statistics from the 2016 English Housing Survey, show that 15.6% (63,858) of social housing tenants across the Yorkshire and the Humber region were living in fuel poverty; making up almost a quarter (23.7%) of all fuel-poor households in the region. Together with the councils, the project hopes to be able to utilise data gathered from sensor technology to better support tenants, and understand what interventions might be necessary to manage indoor environment and energy use more effectively. 

The academic lead on the project will be Professor Tim Sharpe, an international expert on indoor air quality and Director of the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit at The Glasgow School of Art. The research will study the varying property archetypes and examine construction methods to develop a ‘risk factor index’ that identifies the most appropriate parameters to measure health and wellbeing in properties. The team of academics will focus on the key indicators of common issues within housing such as black mould, fuel poverty as well as any issues that will affect specific groups such as the elderly or those with long-term conditions.  

Professor Sharpe commented: 

“Finding ways to reduce energy consumption and improve indoor air quality has never been more critical. This is a great opportunity to use our research expertise to help Government and Industry partners explore how innovative technologies can be developed to better understand living conditions in homes, and have positive impacts on energy consumption and health.”

Simon West, co-founder and director at arbnco, said: 

“We’re really excited to be part of this pioneering R&D project with Leeds and York city councils. Where councils have adopted indoor environment technology in their housing stock previously, the motivation for doing so has often centred purely around property management. This project has the health and wellbeing of tenants firmly at the heart of it.

“Air quality is rapidly becoming one of the biggest societal concerns of our time. The impact of projects like this one could be critical in helping to reduce the harmful effects that can be generated from the indoor environment, and could help to alleviate strain on our health and social care systems.”

<ENDS>


Media contacts:James Hennigan/Hannah Dawson at Galibier PR, james.hennigan@galibierpr.co.ukhannah.dawson@galibierpr.co.uk/ +44 161 302 0670

About arbnco: 
Founded in 2015, arbnco is one of the leading software providers to the UK commercial and public sector property market, enabling quicker and better decisions to be made regarding energy performance. Its software solutions are used to improve energy efficiency, manage building compliance, monitor the indoor environment, and forecast the impact of climate change on buildings. In 2018, arbnco was named in Virgin’s top ten Scottish StartUp firms.

About The Glasgow School of Art MEARU

The Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU) was established in 1986 within the Mackintosh School of Architecture. MEARU undertakes strategic and applied research into a wide range of aspects of sustainable environmental design, responding to a growing commitment to user-centred, low energy, eco-sensitive architecture in the context of increasing global concerns.
Recent work has led to the significant expansion of MEARU, widening its portfolio of expertise to include: health and wellbeing in buildings; indoor air quality; energy efficient refurbishment; and building performance evaluation.
Over the last 12 years MEARU has undertaken major projects including looking at laundry habits and lack of ventilation in modern, air-tight homes. MEARU and is currently working on `a number of oeijects including an AHRC-funded project looking at combatting Anti-Microbial Resistance, and partnering with John Gilbert Architects on a Scottish version of the low energy Passivhaus.

For more information on MEARU visit http://www.gsa.ac.uk/research/research-centres/mearu/


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: the GSA asks for retraction and correction of inaccurate and misleading headline in today's Times (Scotland)

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The Glasgow School of Art has asked for a retraction and correction of the inaccurate and misleading headline in today's Times (Scotland).

Any suggestion that The Glasgow School of Art has in any way or at any time “denied access” to the Mackintosh Building for the SFRS  is absolutely untrue.

Throughout the investigation the GSA has done everything that the SFRS has asked in order for them to conduct their investigation. We are as keen as everyone to know what happened to our building when it was under the day to day control of Kier Construction Scotland, who are currently being left unchallenged.

For information:
  • The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has asked for access to a further area of the building as part of their ongoing investigation
  • In order to facilitate access to that area a significant amount of material will need to be cleared
  • The work to ensure this further access will begin imminently
  • The GSA will make sure that the access can be obtained as soon as possible, but it is very complex work and will take some time. It anticipated that SFRS will get the access requested before Christmas
  • The SFRS have stated publicly that their investigation is entering its final phase
Ends

For further information contact;
Lesley Booth, 
07799414474 
press@gsa.ac.uk
@GSofAMedia



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