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BAMS Student Medal Project 2020 prizes and awards
The 28th British Art Medal Society Student Medal Project announced its winners on 10th April 2021, after a hard year of lockdowns and difficulties at the art colleges all over the UK. Nevertheless, 14 UK colleges, plus 1 from Bulgaria, participated, creating one of the most accomplished results the judges have seen. An additional category called Design/Prototype was created for this year when foundries were closed, and this resulted in a First Prize winner from Cardiff Metropolitan, whose design was called ‘Black Hair Matters’: Bethan Grace Mason took up one suggested theme of Black Art Matters and researched an age-old/modern art form that exists among women, which speaks of identity and cultural belonging. In the category of cast bronze medals – from a total of 74 – Kiki Birtles of Falmouth University won the Grand First Prize with her medal called ‘Inherited’, a narrative on two sides that examines the feelings of a younger generation that has inherited a threatened planet, but has hopes of great achievements.
The Student Medal Project is supported by the Goldsmiths’ Centre, the Worshipful Company of Founders – which gives the Grand First Prize of £1000 – and the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers; Thomas Fattorini Ltd gives the Grand Second Prize of £500; The Worshipful Company of Cutlers, Pangolin Editions, G W Lunt and others provide provide further prizes for Design/Prototypes and cast medals. Several exhibitions are planned for 2021, if permitted.
Director, Marcy Leavitt Bourne
2021 Marsh Award and BAMS President Medal
The 2021 Marsh Award for the Encouragement of Medallic Art is to be awarded to Dauvit Alexander, Birmingham School of Jewellery. The BAMS President Medal is to be awarded to Iranian artist, Parviz Tanavoli. Both have been supporters of the Student Medal Project.
Dauvit Alexander
Soon after taking up his teaching post at Birmingham School of Jewellery, Dauvit set about organising a medal symposium as an introduction to medals and the BAMS Student Medal Project at the School. He gave his own time to set up an evening medal club to get the students thinking about medals as an art form and turning their ideas to reality. The resulting SMP submissions were very impressive. In 2017 he organised another medal symposium with an excellent exhibition of student medals, and hosted the SMP prize-giving that year. His enthusiasm for the scheme, and holding medal-related events, brought the project to life and gave students the chance to meet established medal-makers and collectors of the art form. BAMS is pleased to recognise Dauvit’s passion for bringing the art of medal-making to new generations.
Parviz Tanavoli
A towering figure in Middle Eastern art and an inspiration to young artists. Iranian born artist Parviz Tanavoli was commissioned to make a medal for BAMS resulting in Hands and Grille in 2006. He taught sculpture / art / metalwork at the University in Tehran, and subsequently taught young artists in his own studio. His students have taken part in the Student Medal Project on three occasions, creating a very active interest in medal-making in Iran.
New design for the BAMS President’s Medal
BAMS is delighted to announce that a new design by Dauvit Alexander is to become the society’s highest award. The President’s Medal is given to individuals and organisations who are considered to have made a significant contribution to the understanding, appreciation and encouragement of the art of the medal. The new design will be presented to recipients from 2022. Many congratulations to Dauvit!
Dauvit Alexander, photo taken by Simon Murphy, 2015.
Ron Dutton Award – invitation to apply
The BAMS Ron Dutton Award — invitation to apply
This award is given annually by the British Art Medal Society. It has been made by possible by a generous gift to BAMS from the sculptor and medallist Ron Dutton, which the society received in 2020.
The award is given to one or more UK-based artists who either are set to graduate from art college during the calendar year of the announcement of the award or have graduated within 12 months of the announcement. It is intended to help artists to continue to make medals after graduation.
Activities that the award is intended to assist include (but are not limited to): equipping a medal-making studio with the necessary tools travelling in order to research medals contacting organisations and individuals to encourage them to commission medals
travelling to and spending time with an experienced medallist (the society can help with placements),
Proposals are now invited from eligible artists, that is, UK-based artists who graduated in 2020 or are set to graduate in 2021. Applications ranging from €200 to €1,000 will be considered.
Proposals should include:
l. The name and full contact details of the applicant.
2. A curriculum vitae and brief statement on plans for the future.
3. Images of recent work (6 maximum).
- A brief explanation Of how the applicant intends to spend the award (200 words maximum). This should explain how the funding would allow them to continue to make medals.
- The sum applied for and a breakdown of how it is to be spent.
Applications should be sent to Janet Larkin, BAMS secretary, at jlarkin@britishmuseum.org and should be received by 19 February 2021. No email should exceed 2MB in total size or it may be blocked.
The society may subsequently request further information.
The society will decide whether to fund each application in whole or in part or not to provide funding. The society’s decision is final.
Applicants will be informed of the society’s decision by 31 March 2021. Successful applicants will receive their funding shortly afterwards.
Successful applicants will be expected to produce a brief report on how the funds have been spent and the outcomes made possible by the funding by 30 September 2021.
BAMS reserves the right to refrain from making an award in any particular year.
January 2021
Competition for a new BAMS President medal
Update, February 2021 – the competition is now closed –
COMPETITION FOR A NEW BRITISH ART MEDAL SOCIETY (BAMS) MEDAL
BAMS hereby announces a competition for a new BAMS President’s Medal.
The BAMS President’s Medal is the society’s premier award and is presented to individuals and organisations who are considered to have made a significant contribution to the understanding, appreciation and encouragement of the art of the medal. It is usually awarded annually.
The new medal will replace a medal by Danuta Solowiej, which has been presented annually since 2009. For that medal competition, see The Medal, 51 (2007), pp. 57-64.
The medal should celebrate the unique qualities of medals and the aims of BAMS (to encourage, develop and support the practice and study of medallic art in the UK and elsewhere).
The competition is open only to artists who are BAMS members. The prize for the winner is £2,000. There is only one prize.
Artists entering the competition are asked to make drawings (or, if preferred, models) of their proposed medal. Drawings (or photographs of models) should be sent by wetransfer (www.wentransfer.com) to BAMS secretary Janet Larkin (jlarkin@britishmuseum.org). The deadline for receiving these entries is 6 January 2021.
The medal will:
- Be two-sided.
- Have a maximum size of 100 millimetres in diameter or in width and height and a maximum depth of 15 millimetres.
- Include the words BRITISH ART MEDAL SOCIETY in its design. Other text can be added at the artist’s discretion. However, no year should be included, as the medal will remain in use for some time.
The winning entry will be chosen by BAMS Council, excluding any Council members who have entered the competition.
The winner will be notified by 15 February 2021. The winner will then be expected to produce a model for Council to see and discuss before beginning production.
The winning artist will be responsible for producing 10 medals along with their presentation cases; also a printed card to be included in each case giving information on the medal, the wording to be as agreed with BAMS in advance.
The production costs of the medals and cases will be covered by BAMS, up to a maximum of £300 per medal, for which receipts will be required. BAMS will also cover postage costs.
The first medal and case will be required by 1st November 2021, with the remainder following on an annual basis. The first award using the new medal will be in 2022, the society’s 40th anniversary year.
BAMS will retain copyright on the medal, but the artist will have the right to reproduce images of the medal where appropriate, eg in catalogues of their work and on their professional website.
2020 BAMS President Medal and Marsh Award
The 2020 BAMS President’s Medal is to be awarded to the American Numismatic Society for its longstanding promotion of the history of the medal and contemporary medallic art.
The Society has been the foremost supporter of the study of medals in America since its formation in 1858. Its activities embrace many aspects of numismatics but one of its outstanding promotions has been the presentation of the J Sanford Saltus Award for distinguished achievement in the field of the art of the medal, created in 1913. This was initially awarded to American based artists but, in 1983, was extended to include artists from other countries. Since then it has honoured some of the most outstanding practitioners of the art of the medal in many countries, thus increasing the attention and prestige of this art form. Alongside its extensive educational and profile-raising activities, ranging from regular seminars, lectures and podcasts alongside publications and exhibitions, the society makes regular purchases of BAMS medals to enhance its collections and recently purchased the significant archives of the Medallic Art Company to preserve them for posterity.
The 2020 Marsh Award for the Encouragement of Medallic Art is to be awarded to Lisa McGovern of City of Glasgow College, an enthusiastic supporter of the BAMS Student Medal Project.
Lisa McGovern is Curriculum Head for Craft Design at City of Glasgow College. She teaches students who are involved with different aspects of making, such as sculpture and jewellery. In recent years Lisa has been very involved with the Student Medal Project, using it as part of the teaching curriculum at Glasgow College. In 2019 she set the theme of ‘plastics in the environment’ and the resulting student medals were very imaginative, with one awarded a prize. Lisa organised and ran a medal symposium in 2019 which brought in students and others from outside the college, and speakers such as Kate Ive, Mark Jones, Roddy Mathieson, Ulrika Kjeldsen and Marcy Leavitt Bourne. BAMS and The Marsh Christian Trust are delighted to acknowledge the work Lisa does to encourage medallic art and bring it to new audiences.
BAMS Student Medal Project 2019 prizes and awards
Fourteen colleges in the UK and two from Japan created a total of 130 medals this year, a record.
The judges met on 2nd March: Rick Scorza (President of BAMS), Gregory Fattorini, Danuta Solowiej, Emma Broughton and Marcy Leavitt Bourne, with input from Janet Larkin, who was ill.
We have awarded ten prizes, one visit to an artist’s studio for a learning session, and 6 ‘Merits’
The Grand First Prize, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Founders: Richard Barnes, City & Guilds of London Art School, with his medal As the World Falls Away (pictured).
The Grand Second Prize, sponsored by Thomas Fattorini Ltd: Gabriele Slekyte, Rochester University College of Art.
Prize presented by Pangolin Editions: Rebecca Pilot, Birmingham City University, School of Jewellery.
Prize presented by the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers: Amy Eves, Central Saint Martins.
Prize presented by the Worshipful Company of Cutlers: Katie Stuart, Rochester University College of Art.
The Herbie, for a political medal: Hamed Arab Choobar, Birmingham City University, School of Jewellery.
Prize for lettering, presented by the Eric Gill Society: Sue Aperghis, City & Guilds of London Art School.
The Michael Roberts Memorial Prize: Katie Hemming, City of Glasgow College of Art.
Honourable Mention presented by the Bigbury Mint: Maike P. Venzlaff Ruiz, Edinburgh College of Art.
The ‘Best Guest’ Prize, presented by Lunts Castings: Yang Liujing, Tokyo University of Art.
The award given by Kate Harrison to enable a student maker to visit a professional studio for a learning session: Holly Worland Young, Falmouth University, School of Art.
Merit Awards, which are in recognition of good work: Aaron Jay Davies, Cardiff Metropolitan University; Georgia Fraser, City & Guilds of London Art College; Georgia Phillips, Edinburgh College of Art; Sofi E. Aptor, City of Glasgow Art College; Yume Tanaka, Rochester University College of Art; Wakana Ikeda, Nagoya University of Art.
The Prize-Giving will be on Thursday 4th April at the Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT from 6 pm to 8 pm*
We hope that many of the prize-winners can be there, and also those who have sponsored the prizes.
Please RSVP to marcyleavittbourne@gmail.com
BAMS New Medallist Scheme 2019
Applications for the BAMS New Medallist Scheme 2019 are now open. Artists that have left art college within the past 3 and a half years of the commencement of their participation in the scheme, and have shown a keen interest in medal-making are eligible to apply.
The award includes a £3,500 grant; a place in a medal-making course abroad; mentoring sessions with an experienced medallist; a week’s work experience in the engraving department at the Royal Mint; time with the medallic collections at the V&A and British Museum; and more.
For full information about the award and how to apply, see this link.
BAMS New Medallist Scheme 2018
The BAMS New Medallist Scheme 2018 is now open for applications. Please visit the New Medallist Scheme page on the website for further information.
image: Diagonal by Claire Poulter, BAMS New Medallist 2013/14
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