The RSA Student Exhibition 2008 opened on Saturday 16th February with the announcement of the prize winners by RSA President, Professor Bill Scott PRSA DA FRBS. There were a total of 26 awards, with Emma Noble, from Kyle of Lochalsh, one of four awarded the David Gordon Memorial Trust Award.

Over ￡9,000 work of cash awards, medals and residency opportunities were presented to prize winners selected from the Exhibition which contains work by 360 final year and postgraduate students from the main art and architecture schools in Scotland. Many prize winners subsequently achieve further support through RSA Scholarships and residencies, gaining recognition in their first but by no means tentative, year out of college. Previous winners at the RSA Students Exhibition have included Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Sir Robin Philipson and Dr John Bellany. The exhibition therefore continues to be a rich source of interest for collectors, gallery owners, art lovers, architects and designers eager to discover the cream of Scotland’s emerging talent. The Royal Scottish Academy is delighted to acknowledge State Street as sponsors of the RSA Student Exhibition.

David Gordon Memorial Trust Awards (for works by student born or studying in the Grampian Region) Emma Noble (Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen) – ‘Blue Corrupted’

Emma Noble was born in Kyle of Lochalsh and attended Plockton High School before going to study at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. Emma is currently working toward her degree show in June, and hopes to go on to PGDE secondary Art & Design in Glasgow next year.

“My work is an abstract reaction to location dealing with the man/machine made marks, patterns, textures and iconography of the urban environment... Photography is a catalyst for colour and surface and the constructed nature of the pieces achieved a certain depth through layering.” Emma Noble

RSA Student Exhibition 2008
16 - 27 February 2008, RSA Upper & Lower Galleries, The Mound Edinburgh. Admission ￡2 / ￡ 1, Open Mon to Sat 10 – 5, Sun 12 – 5.