Visual Art graduate Emily Unsworth from Waterford was recently shortlisted for this year’s prestigious RDS Visual Art Award.
The RDS Visual Art Awards are the most important platform for visual art graduates in Ireland. It provides a curated exhibition opportunity and a significant prize fund of over €30,000, as well as vital exposure for emerging visual artists as they move into early professional practice.
The 2022 RDS Visual Art Awards exhibition is taking place in the RDS Concert Hall from 21 – 29 October.
Dr Susan Connolly, programme leader on the Visual Art course at SETU Waterford said: “The whole team at SETU are so delighted that Emily has been shortlisted for this year’s RDS Visual Art Award. It is such an important and significant award for emerging artists on the island of Ireland and it is great to see Emily’s work selected to be part of the final exhibition. We wish Emily the best of luck for the event and the upcoming prize giving.”
The Visual Art programme at SETU Waterford offers students the opportunity to work broadly and experimental across a wide range of fine art media and practices, these include drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, performance, video and digital media. On this studio-based programme, emphasis is placed on developing both the student’s visual awareness and artistic analysis through theoretical and historical contexts in contemporary art in order to shape and develop each student’s individual art practices. For more information on the art degree at SETU Waterford, visit [url=http://www.setu.ie/SE203]http://www.setu.ie/SE203[/url].
Speaking about what students gain from studying art, Dr Connolly said, “Art as a subject taught at third level encourages self-expression and creativity while building confidence and creative skills as well as a sense of individual identity for our students.
“Most importantly, studying visual art at SETU Waterford helps to develop our students’ critical thinking and the ability to interpret the world around us through determination and resilience while opening up new possibilities to think beyond what we already know through art’s unique visual language.”
Szymon Minias, a visual art graduate from the SETU Wexford campus was also short-listed for an award.