HOLD IT! The Art of the Modern Medal: British Art Medal Society Student Medal Project

8 March to 19 April 2014

HOLD IT! The Art of the Modern Medal: British Art Medal Society Student Medal Project

The Student Medal Project, now in its 21st year, is a success story for bringing the art of the modern medal into the art college curriculum, whether in sculpture, metal work or jewellery. It is an introduction to the age-old art of bronze casting, where students themselves each create a small but powerful work of two-sided relief sculpture, which can be held in the hand.

This exhibition takes us from the political to the personal, the abstract to the mainstream, as the students - and some professional makers - express their creativity and craftsmanship in the surprising medium of the modern art medal.

The British Art Medal Society, which is behind this Project, is based at the British Museum. It also commissions medals every year for sale to its members, arranges lectures and conferences. At the British Museum can be found the country's wide-ranging collection of modern art medals, including student medals it has purchased. Each year colleges around the UK are invited to participate, plus an academy from abroad, this year, the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. The culmination of the Project is the annual exhibition, which in 2014 will be held at New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham, Surrey. The winners were selected from 115 medals by students in the UK, and 13 from the University in Sofia, and 6 from the High School. They are:

- The Worshipful Company of Founders Grand First Prize: Carrie Dickens, home/here, Royal College of Art
- The Grand Second Prize, presented by Thomas Fattorini Ltd: Anna Everett, Bring 'Em Back, Stafford College
- The Worshipful Company of Cutlers for a 'cutting edge' medal: Nicola Kerslake, You Will be my Death, Falmouth University
- The Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers, Dustin Jessen, My Sister and her Daughter (meine schwester & ihre tochter), Royal College of Art
- The 'Herbie Prize' for a medal that deals with a current topic/social/political: Halina Dominska, What are you thinking when you look at me?, Birmingham City University, School of Jewellery
- Pangolin Editions: Natasha Brayton, Time Medal, Loughborough University, 3D Design and New Practice
- Morton & Eden Ltd: David Beattie, Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hounds, West Wales School of the Arts.
- Prize presented by Niagara Falls Castings Ltd: Holly Higgins, we beat on...', Edinburgh College of Art, Jewellery & Silversmithing.
- Honourable Mention Prize, the Bigbury Mint (an individual cast tin piece): Megan Sarah Davies, Home is Where the Heart is, West Wales School of the Arts
- The 'Best Guest Prize' to the invited foreign academy/university
- Lunts Casting Ltd: Nikoleta Ivanova, Door, National Academy of Art, Sofia, Bulgaria.