The academic year has ended on a high for Loughborough University School of the Arts with a number of students receiving awards at prestigious industry graduate events.

Ruth Rennison and Lilly Tenant (Textiles) both scooped awards at the New Designers Exhibition 2013.

New Designers is an important graduate design exhibition.  The show features the work of newly graduated designers from the UK’s leading universities.  As part of the exhibition sponsors and partners demonstrate their support for emerging UK talent by presenting a number of awards and honours

Ruth Rennison was presented with the Lucienne Day Award by the Textiles Society.  The Society promotes the study of textiles disciplines and celebrates the culture and history of textiles, both traditional and contemporary. The prize award of £1000 is presented for innovation in textile design in honour of the British designer who pioneered the use of bright, optimistic, abstract patterns in the era following World War II.

Lilly Tennant was awarded the New Designers Worshipful Company of Weavers Associate prize.  The Weavers Company is a textile related charitable and sociable organisation supporting textile education.  Their award, which includes a prize of £1,000, was presented to Lilly for outstanding design in woven fabric.  It follows their £1,000 scholarship award to Lilly awarded in December 2012.

The New Designer Exhibition also proved exciting for another Textiles graduate, Paul Roberts.  His entire display was purchased by leading women’s clothing and home furnishings company, Anthropologie within 25 minutes of the show opening! Paul’s success was cemented by his selection for Texprint 2013 - a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to nurturing the best British-trained graduates in textile design. Each year it selects and mentors 24 new designers, guiding them into creative careers in fashion and interiors through the sponsorship of leading names in the industry such as Marks & Spencer, Pantone and The Woolmark. 

Free Range is an annual showcase of British based art and design graduates.  Ten Emerging Artists were chosen from the 3000 students exhibiting work at the show, including Loughborough’s Ian Tricker (Fine Art).  As a winner Ian will receive a £100 bursary provided by Class Art, automatic entry into the Signature Art Prize and on-going mentoring and support from Degree Art who specialise in identifying and mentoring talented graduates. 

Ian’s success at Free Range follows an exciting final year at Loughborough where he won a commission from Charnwood Borough Council to produce sculptures for Queen’s Park and was presented with the Edward Sharp Award from the University which will see him produce artwork for the University campus. 

Handmade in Britain 13 is a contemporary crafts and design fair.  Amelia Gibbs (Textiles) is one of just five graduates lucky enough to be selected to exhibit in the show to be held in November. 

Finally, Graphic Communication and Illustration students exhibited at D&AD New Blood where Sasha Langford won her British Film Industry Young Film Maker of the Year Prize in a competitive category, establishing Loughborough as an important centre for documentary-based animated short films.  Several students were offered employment at the event, which also serves as an excellent network event for placement and internship opportunities, many offered by former Loughborough students.

School of the Arts Head of Department, Andrew Selby: “We are delighted with the success of our graduates.  At Loughborough University we aim to nurture and inspire artists of the future and these awards are recognition of the talent of our students and the quality of the courses that we offer.  We congratulate our graduates and wish them every success with their future careers.”

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