GSA artists awarded bursary after losing work

Recent graduates of Glasgow School of Art have been granted a bursary to use studios in art schools across the globe.

Students who completed their final year at the School of Fine Art whose work was destroyed by the fire have been given the chance to complete their work in a number of art schools across the UK and Europe.

The Phoenix Bursary programme was made possible by the £750,000 grant from the Scottish government following the blaze earlier this year.

Around 70 per cent of the contents was salvaged from the blaze earlier this year.

But it deeply affected many of the students graduating in June, in particular those who were unable to showcase their work and launch their careers as they had hoped.

From 1st October the successful applicants have been provided with living expenses of £315 per week, up to a total of £4,725, as well as an allowance towards the cost of materials.

The students also get access to a studio location for up to 15 weeks and up to 30 hours of supervision by an academic tutor.

The school has described itself as “overwhelmed with generous offers of support from schools of art and design across the UK and in Europe.”

Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop told STV: “The fire at Glasgow School of Art saw Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s iconic building making the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

“And for those talented students whose work was destroyed, it was a truly heart-breaking moment.

“The Scottish Government was keen to assist final year students, and it is fantastic to see new works in progress in the studio spaces facilitated by the Phoenix Bursaries scheme.

“Incredibly heartening too has been the response from institutions around the globe, in opening up their doors to welcome graduates from Glasgow School of Art.”

The work produced by the artists will not be marked or graded, it is simply an opportunity for students to launch their careers.

It will be showcased in early 2015.