On Friday 19th June, the Art School community came together to celebrate our BA Fine Art, Carving and Conservation graduates at their end of year Ceremony and Prize-Giving.
The Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees, Laurence Benson, opened the event and introduced the Art School Principal Dr Lois Rowe, who congratulated our graduating students and welcomed our guests.
Laurence Benson, The Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees
Dr Lois Rowe, Art School Principal
This year, we were delighted to award an Honorary Fellowship to Sir Frank Bowling OBE RA, in recognition of his significant contributions to painting. In 2005, Bowling was elected as a Royal Academician and received a knighthood in 2020. He was awarded the Wolfgang Hahn Prize in 2022, and has work represented in over fifty public collections worldwide. Resent solo presentations include the touring exhibition Mappa Mundi (2017-2019), a major retrospective at Tate Britain (2019) and Frank Bowling’s Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2022-3) which travelled to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Today, Bowling’s mastery of the painted medium and exploration of light, colour and geometry incorporate the use of ammonia and multi-layered washes. Bowling works ever day in his South London Studio, driven by his fascination with the vast and radiant possibilities of paint.
The Fellowship was accepted by Professor Ben Bowling FBA, on behalf of his father.
Professor Ben Bowling FBA
We were also delighted to award an Art School Fellowship to Tim Crawley, a student at the Art School from 1979-82, who studied stone carving, woodcarving and conservation, laying the foundation for a successful career in carving.
Beginning as a self-employed carver, he shared a workshop with carvers from the Art School in a King’s Cross railway arch, and in 1989, moved to Cambridge where he worked for ten years as a Head Carver at Rattee and Kett. He then worked for twelve years as Head Carver and Director of Fairhaven Stone, and from 2012 to 2020, was Head of the Carving Department at the Art School. He is freelance once more working from his Cambridge studio. Tim has worked on many iconic heritage buildings including: Westminster Abbey, St George’s Bloomsbury, Ely Cathedral, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, Kenilworth Castle and Westminster Palace to name a few.
The Heads of Department, Tom Young (Head of Carving), Dr Marina Sokhan (Head of Conservation) and Dr Marita Fraser (Head of Fine Art) presented the certificates and prizes to the graduating students, and each thanked their teams for their hard work. Please see a full list of the prizes at the end of the article.
Tom Young, Head of Carving, presenting certificates to our Carving graduates
Dr Marina Sokhan, Head of Conservation, presenting certificates to our Conservation graduates
Dr Marita Fraser, Head of Fine Art, presenting certificates to our Fine Art graduates
The Ceremony ended with addresses from graduands from each course on behalf of their classmates. Each speaker thanked their fellow students, the staff and the team at Art School. This year’s graduands addresses were delivered by Alec Stevens (on behalf of Carving graduands), Charlotte Greenbank (on behalf of Conservation graduands) and Rebecca Armstrong (on behalf of Fine Art graduands).
Alec Stevens, BA (Hons) Carving: Woodcarving and Gilding
Charlotte Greenbank, BA (Hons) Conservation: Books & Paper
Rebecca Armstrong, BA (Hons) Fine Art
We wish our graduating students the very best of luck and we look forward to hearing about their future projects and endeavours.
2026 GRADUATE PRIZES AND AWARDS
ART SCHOOL PRIZES
City & Guilds of London Art School Board of Trustees Prize – Roisin Bunting, BA (Hons) Fine Art
PRINTMAKING PRIZES
CGLAS Printmaking Prize for Technical Excellence – Kat Parish, BA (Hons) Fine Art
CONSERVATION PRIZES
City & Guilds of London Art School Research Project Prize: Books & Paper – Jean Brooks, BA (Hons) Conservation: Books and Paper
City & Guilds of London Art School Research Project Prize: Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfaces – Liddie Saris, BA (Hons) Conservation: Stone, Wood and Decorative Surfaces
CGLAS Ballardie Practical Conservation Project Prize: Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfaces – Julia Sanchez, BA (Hons) Conservation: Stone, Wood and Decorative Surfaces
City & Guilds of London Art School Practical Conservation Project Prize: Books and Paper – Charlotte Greenbank and Kinvara Tims, BA (Hons) Conservation: Books and Paper
CARVING PRIZES
The Brian Till Art Histories Thesis Prize Carving – Joss Trevena, BA (Hons) Carving: Woodcarving & Gilding
De Laszlo Stone Carving Prize for Outstanding Work – Joseph Klose, BA (Hons) Carving: Architectural Stone
De Laszlo Woodcarving Prize for Outstanding Work – Fay Rushton-Ryan, BA (Hons) Carving: Woodcarving & Gilding
The Joiners & Ceilers’ Prize – Alec Stevens, BA (Hons) Carving: Woodcarving and Gilding
The Neil Shannon Memorial Award – Hope Chapman, BA (Hons) Carving: Architectural Stone
The Masons’ Company for Outstanding Work by a Graduating Student – Hope Chapman, BA (Hons) Carving: Architectural Stone
The Masons’ Company Prize for Studentship and Commitment – Bridget Micklem, BA (Hons) Carving: Architectural Stone
Lettering Arts Trust Prize – Joseph Klose, BA (Hons) Carving: Architectural Stone
FINE ART PRIZES
The Chadwyck-Healey Prize for Painting – Catherine Bull, BA (Hons) Fine Art
The Brian Till Art Histories Thesis Prize: Fine Art – Jack Savage, BA (Hons) Fine Art