Bryan Harris Bursary 2025
The 2025 Bryan Harris Bursary of £500 has been awarded to Leo Walton, a student from Joseph Wright College in Derby. Leo’s final major project was inspired by contemporary art, and conveyed the effects of nuclear warfare on people and places. His piece brought together many art skills he had mastered during his course, such as Lino-printing, collage, and cartoons He used these to create a picture frame for illustrations showing how a nuclear attack impacts families and friends.
Leo is going on to study illustration at Derby University this autumn, and he aspires to become a graphic designer or illustrator. He intends to use the bursary to help him obtain an iPad Air for use in creating illustrations and designs.
Bryan Harris Bursary 2024
The winner of the 2024 Bryan Harris Bursary at Joseph Wright College is Shameela Mirza, from Derby. She was one of four talented students shortlisted for the annual £400 award. The Arts Society Derby judges Vikki Fitt (Young Arts Representative), Patrick Green and Rachel Shelley were unanimous in selecting Shameela as the recipient of the prize; her final project was inspired by a visit to Pakistan, where she was surprised by the contrast between her life in Britain and the culture and way of life in Pakistan. Shameela is going on to study illustration at Birmingham City University in September.
As well as enjoying the work of all four students, the judges were impressed by the maturity and insight that they showed in talking about the development of their art during the course, and their ambitions for the future.
Allenton Primary School Art Project
In January and February 2024 we carried out a six-week project in Allenton Community Primary School in Derby. This was led by Dave Taylor, assisted by Vikki Fitt and Laura Taylor, and involved working with a diverse group of ten Year 6 pupils, selected by their teachers as being those children who would benefit most from the experience.
The children were introduced to the theme of landscape painting, first by learning about famous artists and their different techniques, and then by learning to use watercolours and acrylics to create their own paintings in both media. The end results were shared with the whole school community in a special reward assembly, and the paintings were exhibited in the school library. The children clearly felt a great feeling of pride in their achievements.
Many thanks to Dave Taylor for all his hard work and expert input.
Grant award to Derby Open Centre
This year, the national Arts Society awarded a Community Grant of £250 to the Derby Open Centre In Normanton, Derby. The Centre exists to promote understanding and respect between different communities, and is dedicated to social inclusion and people’s development through personal experience. This is achieved by running Faith Trails to different places of worship, as well as workshops on various aspects of ethnic minority cultures. Last year over 12,000 children as well as members of the NHS, police and local government experienced these unique sessions, all with overwhelmingly positive feedback
Foston Hall Mural
Each year we can apply for a grant of £250 from the Arts Society to give to a local recipient. This year we chose The Friends of Foston Hall, who support Foston Hall Women’s Prison at Sudbury, Derbyshire. They were funding a project where a local artist from Wirksworth was working with the prisoners to produce a series of murals to enhance their visitor centre. The work, on the theme of the seasons, was completed this autumn.
Trails of Discovery
As part of its commitment to widen opportunities to enjoy the arts, the national Arts Society supports member societies to create Trails of Discovery. Each of these provides guidance around a local building or place of worship, and explains the art, architecture, local history and culture that it features. Some Trails are designed for children, or for older people with memory loss and their carers. For more information about this initiative, with examples of Trails created by member societies from all around the country, click here.
The Arts Society Derby has created a Trail for Children that guides visitors around St James Church in Shardlow using a question sheet for children to fill in from their own observations and an answer sheet for accompanying adults. Click below to download these if you would like to use them during a visit to the church to learn more about its history, its artistic and architectural features, and the history of the village.
