Celebrating a legacy of art and design in Dundee

Published On Fri 13 Apr 2018 by Grant Hill

An exhibition marking the 15^th anniversary of a fund set up to support some of Scotland’s best young artists and designers will open at the University of Dundee this weekend.

Since 2003, a trust fund set up by William Sangster Phillips, son of the well-known Dundee artist Charles Gustav Louis Phillips, has provided more than 40 postgraduate bursaries for the University’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.

A Legacy of Art and Design in Dundee - The William S. Phillips’ Fund Bursaries opens in the Lamb Gallery, Tower Building, on Saturday 14 April and will run until June.

Bursary recipients have gone on to exhibit internationally, embark on life-changing design projects and work on blockbuster films. The exhibition will show a collection of their work alongside pieces by the benefactor’s father.

Curator Josephine Jules Andrews, a tutor in the University’s School of Humanities and a relative of the Phillips family, said, “It has been my great pleasure and privilege to bring together this wonderful collection of examples of work to commemorate 15 years of the awards.

“It includes exhibits by the very first recipients of the bursaries alongside pieces by this year’s students and is testament to the exceptional teaching at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. By including some of C.G.L. Phillips’ pieces alongside work by the artists and designers of today and tomorrow, this exhibition is a reminder of the long and vibrant history of art in Dundee, and its exciting future.”

The fund allowed Lauren Curran to obtain an MSc in Forensic Art from Duncan of Jordanstone. Since graduating in 2009, she has worked in the film industry designing, modelling and creating characters, props, sets and anatomically correct models for large-scale productions including the Star Wars film franchise and the recently released Wes Anderson movie Isle of Dogs.

Lauren said, “I am delighted to be involved in this wonderful exhibition. It was an honour to receive the William S Phillips’ Fund Award which enabled me to study for my Masters. It’s something I will never forget.”

William ‘Willie’ Sangster Phillips was born in Dundee in 1901 and died in 2001 just before his 100th birthday. The family lived in Union Street, where his father taught art classes from his studio, and art remained close to his heart throughout his life.

Willie worked for the famous linen manufacturers Baxter Brothers (owned by the brother of the University’s co-founder, Mary-Ann Baxter), then for a Dundee stationer and paper merchant, until his retirement.

In addition to setting up the trust fund, Willie donated a large number of his father’s works to the Dundee Heritage Trust, and a selection are included in A Legacy of Art and Design in Dundee.

The exhibition, supported by the William S. Phillips’ Fund, runs at the Lamb Gallery from 14 April until 23 June and is open from 9.30am-7pm on weekdays and 1-5pm each Saturday. Admission is free.

Visitors will have the chance to meet some of the artists and designers featuring in A Legacy of Art and Design in Dundee at the Baxter Suite, Tower Building, on 3pm on Saturday 19 May. This ancillary event takes place as part of the nationwide Festival of Museums. More information is available at https://festivalofmuseums.com/events/a-legacy-of-art-and-design-in-dundee-2018.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk