Ceramic artist Derek Wilson awarded £15,000 bursary
19th July, 2024
Thanks to the generosity of arts lover Rosy James, Belfast based ceramicist Derek Wilson is the latest artist to receive a £15,000 grant awarded in her name, to further his professional practice. The Rosemary James Memorial Trust Award is an annual craft bursary administered by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland on behalf of the Rosemary James Trust and aims to assist craft makers to develop their professional careers by developing a new body of work which otherwise might be unattainable.
Dr Suzanne Lyle, Head of Visual Arts, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented:
"Congratulations to Derek on this award. I wish him every success as he embarks upon this new chapter in his creative journey, designing, creating and producing new works using the Rosemary James Memorial Trust Award - a bursary which demonstrates the true power of philanthropic giving.”
Derek Wilson is a ceramist with a growing international reputation. His practice focuses on using the potter’s wheel as a tool to produce abstract sculptural forms. The Rosy James award will support him in his career development, buying him time out to design, experiment and create a new body of work.
Kim Mawhinney, Senior Curator of Art at National Museum’s Northern Ireland, was involved in the selection panel. Speaking about Derek’s award she said:
“Derek Wilson was the outstanding candidate from this year’s proposals and the selection panel were unanimous in voting to present him with the Rosie James Award. Derek has reached a significant point in his career where he needs to take time to evolve and research a new body of work. As one of the few internationally exhibiting Northern Irish ceramic artists the Rosy James Award will support Derek to continue to develop and increase the success he has accomplished in recent years.”
Reflecting on the award, Derek said:
“It is an honour to be this year’s recipient for the Rosy James award. This award will allow me to re–evaluate, explore and develop the core ideas behind my creative practice, in order to create a new body of research materials during a series of residencies and short courses. Thus, generating new methods and ways of developing initial ideas, allowing me to push my creative practice into new and exciting realms. The award has come a critical time within my career and I am grateful to the Rosemary James Trust for this opportunity.”
About Derek Wilson
Having graduated with an MA in Fine & Applied Arts from the Belfast School of Art in 2007, he previously trained as a production potter with the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland and worked in numerous potteries throughout Ireland, before setting up his own studio at Portview Trade Centre in Belfast, where he is now based. For more information on Derek and his work go to: derekwilsonceramics.com.
About Rosy James
Rosy James bequeathed £500,000 to support craft in Northern Ireland following her death in 2010. Born in Belfast in the mid-1940s, Rosy attended the Ulster College of Art (1966-1971), now known as the Ulster University Belfast School of Art, where she studied Textile design. Following her studies in Belfast, she took up a teaching post in Birmingham, later settling in Cambridge where she continued as a teacher of Art and Design until 2007. She maintained her close connection with Northern Ireland throughout her life, with regular visit to her father, Dr James Ford Gillies OBE, former principal of the Belfast College of Technology and an important figure in the establishment of Ulster University. Rosy maintained a lifelong commitment to the arts as well as to her birthplace of Northern Ireland.