Catherine Bellamy, an MSc Heritage Visualisation graduate from The School of Innovation and Technology, has been presented with the 2024 Foulis Medal today, Tuesday 19th November 2024.
The medal, which is awarded to the top student on a taught Masters programme at The Glasgow School of Art, was presented at Winter Graduation in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Top students in the four Schools: Mackintosh School of Architecture, School of Design, School of Fine Art, School of Innovation and Technology, were meanwhile awarded Chair’s Medals: Uma Bernard (MDes Design Innovation and Citizenship), Suying Cao (MArch Architectural Studies), Eden Uta (MDes Interior Design), Sana Obaid (Master of Fine Art).
“Today we mark an important moment for our postgraduate students as they move forward into the next stage of their creative development.”
“These exceptional students leave us to seek new opportunities for their creative careers as artists, designers, architects and innovators, taking the skills they have learned during their time here at The Glasgow School of Art” says Professor Penny Macbeth, Director of The Glasgow School of Art.
“Art schools are crucial centres of creativity and innovation, where the pressing issues of our era can be interrogated and explored. Graduates from the GSA create groundbreaking work in their time here, challenging perspectives and engaging with important themes. They make an invaluable contribution not only to Glasgow’s own creative economy, but to the city’s international reputation for culture and innovation. As they leave today, to join our global Creative Network of graduates who are applying ingenuity and imagination across many different disciplines and sectors, we wish them every success in their future endeavours.”
Catherine Bellamy’s research project focuses on using digital technologies to create dynamic and engaging educational tools for conserving historical sites, particularly in relation to preserving traditional craft skills and knowledge – especially Scottish vernacular buildings – within modern contexts.
Utilising on-site photogrammetry capture tools, Catherine Bellamy has created a complete digital replica of The Old Dubheads Smithy, a historic blacksmith and cartwright’s workshop in Strathearn. Data from this virtual model was then used to produce a set of vernacular tool cards; 3D printed and handleable objects that carry links to their interactive digital counterparts, revealing informative annotations, guidelines and narratives about the site. These linked tools provide an immersive, memorable educational experience focusing on historic construction techniques and the importance of proper repair and conservation practices.
Bellamy’s work provides the foundation for developing educational resources to enhance region specific conservation knowledge and practices in Scotland. Ultimately, her goal is to inspire and expand the skilled labor force dedicated to preserving these important cultural sites, harnessing innovative new modes of digital technology to ensure the continuation of traditional skills for future generations.
“Catherine’s work blends creativity, innovation and technology to challenge the idea of history and heritage as things that belong to the past. Her project demonstrates how we make the achievements of the past available to the present, and to future generations.” says Professor Gordon Hush, Head of The School of Innovation & Technology.
“This work will help schoolchildren, citizens and communities better able to understand where they live, how they live and how their surroundings came into being – how our history shaped us and how we will shape the landscape and societies to come. To know the place you come from is to know better who you are. This is technology in the service of the individual imagination and of that diversity of folk we call a community. A worthy prize winner!”
View full details of Catherine Bellamy’s project HERE on the GSA Postgraduate Degree Show 2024.
For further information please contact press@gsa.ac.uk
Notes for Editors
The Foulis Medal is named in honour of Robert Foulis the printer who together with his brother Andrew established the Academy which has been described as ‘the single most influential factor in the development of eighteenth-century Scottish Art’. The GSA’s lineage can be traced back to the Foulis Academy.
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, digital, fine art and innovation in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
