BRYCE LOUW WINS EMMA SMITH

DUT awards the 80th Emma Smith Scholarship recipient

The 80th Emma Smith Scholarship Award Ceremony was held at the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT) Art Gallery at Steve Biko Campus in December 2010. Nine talented and ambitious students from the Faculty of Arts and Design were nominated for the award.

Bryce Louw, a B-Tech Fine Arts student walked away with the R60,000 scholarship for hisB-tech project which was inspired by a comic. As part of the scholarship, he will jet off to New York to complete an internship with Dark Horse Comics. “I can’t stop smiling. I feel very humbled to win this award,” said Louw. “I was just waiting there for the winner to be announced and I did not expect my name to be called out”.

Faculty of Arts and Design Deputy Dean, Professor Graham Stuart said he was humbled by the incredible talent of all candidates and congratulated Louw on his win. According to university records, more than 50 students have received the scholarship since the scholarship was founded in April 1920 by Honourable CG Smith, in memory of his mother.

Originally the objective of the Emma Smith Art Scholarship was to provide a sum of money annually to enable duly elected scholars to proceed overseas for Art study. This restriction no longer applies; the scholarship has been extended to include a variety of purposes or projects proposed by the applying candidates, such as community based workshops, further study in South Africa or the African continent and/ or solo exhibitions.

The scholarship is extended to benefit a candidate who intends to become a visual artist, designer or art teacher, who has produced a body of work that displays competence professionalism (presentation and concept) and during the interview, shows confidence, maturity and broader understanding of his/ her work and its relevance to his/her field of study.

The amount available for the scholarship is determined annually at the beginning of the academic programmes of each year by the executive Management of the Durban University of Technology. There is no age restriction attached to this award. However, each candidate must be completing a diploma or bachelor’s degree of Technology.

Each department within the faculty was tasked to select a maximum of two post-graduate candidates to exhibit their portfolios at the DUT Art Gallery. The work was reviewed by a panel of judges and the scholarship recipients were selected based on skill and talent amongst other criteria.

The rest of the nominees were Bongumenzi Ngobese (Fine Arts); Sarah Cummins (Graphic Design); Bryce Louw (Graphic Design); Lisa Herselman (Fine Arts); Nicky Day (Interior Design); Kyle McFaden (Interior Design); Tarryn Coleman (Jewellery Design); Siphiwe Beauty Buthelezi (Fashion Design), and Sheena Unwin (Fashion Design).