The Scottish Glass Society is a membership organisation which promotes the appreciation, understanding and development of contemporary Scottish Glass.
SGS Awards - Supporting our Members' Development
The SGS Travel Award
The Scottish Glass Society offers an annual travel award of £250 to members who wish to travel abroad in pursuit of their studies in glass art. To be eligible, members must be students or have been working in the field of glass art for less than five years and also have been a member of the Scottish Glass Society for at least one year. To be considered for the award, proposals should be sent to the SGS secretary or emailed by the 1st March each year.
There are no application forms, however it would be advisable to include in the application documents: what work is proposed, where it will be done, and how it would benefit the applicant, as well as costings and what other sources of funding have been approached. The award is not given to projects that have already commenced. Proposals will be assessed by the SGS committee. The applicant may be asked for further clarification/documentation. The Society is not committed to giving a travel award every year. Not more than one travel award per year will be given.
The Hamilton Taylor Award
The Scottish Glass Society in collaboration with Hamilton Taylor Studio offers an annual award of £250 to members who wish to attend a UK Glass masterclass or other short glass course in pursuit of their studies in glass art. Hamilton Taylor Studio is based in the southside of Glasgow and run by Gillian Hamilton and Sean Taylor. They work mainly to commission using kilnforming & flameworking techniques to create their range of decorative and functional glassware. The studio runs beginners classes in kilnforming, beadmaking and flameworking and has an online shop supplying flameworking glass & tools.
To be eligible for this award, applicants must have been a member of the Scottish Glass Society for a minimum of one year. To be considered for the award a proposal should be sent or emailed by the 1st March of each year.
There are no application forms, however it would be advisable to include in the application documents: which masterclass is proposed, where it will be held, and how it would benefit the applicant, costings and what other sources of funding have been approached. Proposals will be assessed by the SGS committee. The applicant may be asked for further clarification/documentation. The Society is not committed to giving the Hamilton Taylor Masterclass award every year. No more than one Hamilton Taylor award per year will be given.
General Award Conditions
- The successful applicant for each award becomes one of the SGS committee’s student representatives or committee member, from the date of the award, for one year.
- Each successful applicant will write a report on their trip / course and their work during the period, for publication on the SGS website and / or the newsletter.
- The successful applicants will report on the results of the travel / study or course, respectively, at the SGS Annual General Meeting after the trip. This takes place at the beginning of September (dates to be confirmed).
- The award holder is to indicate the support of the SGS in all reports and correspondence covering the work for which the travel grant or Hamilton Taylor Award was gained.
All award proposals must be emailed by 5pm March 1st to secretary@scottishglasssociety.com Or postmarked by March 1st and posted to: Scottish Glass Society, PO Box 24023, Edinburgh, EH7 9BY
Rachel Elliott
Travel Award Winner 2011
June Morrison; Travel Award Winner 2010
"In the Summer of 2010, having completed half of my MFA in glass at Edinburgh College of Art, I was presented with the opportunity to attend a master class at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, USA on a half scholarship. I needed funding to assist with the cost of travel so was delighted when my application for the SGS Travel Award was successful.
The class, Silhouettes in Black, White and Clear was run by Mel George and Deborah Horrell. Having long admired the work of Horrell, I wanted to engage with her on both a technical and conceptual level. The class centred on exploring pate de verre, fusing and kiln casting.
We were restricted to working with a colourless palette and although initially challenging this was ultimately quite freeing. I took the idea further by also restricting myself to working with only the most basic geometric forms. I wanted to explore what happened to a composition when you simplified both colour and form.
I gained a great deal from this experience." June Morrison
