This month will see a huge installation of poppies displayed in St. Paul’s Cathedral as part of this year’s Remembrance, highlighting the plight of child soldiers worldwide. The work has been created in Shetland by Ted Harrison of Baltasound, Unst, and made possible by a Visual Artist Award from Shetland Arts.
Ted is one of four artists this year who have been successful in the latest round of the Visual Artist Awards Scheme. The funding scheme is co-ordinated by Shetland Arts in partnership with Creative Scotland - the development body for arts and cultural industries in Scotland – and the Economic Development Unit of Shetland Islands Council.
The scheme is now in its third consecutive year and has awarded a total of £15,000 to 19 visual artists in Shetland. The Awards scheme aims to support the creative, professional and economic development of established visual artists in Shetland, encouraging quality work by artists working in all forms of visual arts practice and at all stages of their career.
Successful applicants have been practitioners in a variety of art forms including painting, drawing, new media, printmaking, fine art textiles, photography and mixed media, reflecting a wide breadth of practice within the visual arts. They include printmaker Andrew Morrison, watercolourist Joyce Wark, filmmaker Karen Emslie and photographer Anita Orheim.
The latest round of awards attracted applications of extremely high quality and diversity from artists practicing throughout the Isles.
Hilary Seatter was awarded money to develop a project commemorating Shetland’s forgotten Road Stones, using a giant pin-hole camera to catalogue these unobvious distance markers that dot the landscape.
James Bruce Thomason has received funding towards developmental practice, research and materials for a body of work for an upcoming exhibition, and Daniel Killeen was awarded funds to support research for a body of sculptural work that explores the landscape of Shetland.
The Awards are made by a selection panel consisting of Clair Aldington M.A., Arts Development Officer (Visual Arts), Shetland Arts, Jane Matthews M.A., Assistant Arts Development Officer, Shetland Arts and a previous recipient of a Visual Artist Award in Shetland.
Clair Aldington said, ‘Shetland Arts is proud to support the huge amount of talent amongst visual artists in Shetland through this Award scheme and to be able to encourage the development of new work by local artists.’
For more information contact:
Clair Aldington, Visual Arts Development Officer, Shetland Arts
[email protected] 01595 745759
