Creative artist secures prestigious scholarship to support his work

21st November 2017

A postgraduate artist from Northumbria University, Newcastle has been awarded a special scholarship from Sarabande: The Alexander McQueen Foundation.

Artist Samuel Barry is currently studying on Northumbria University’s unique BxNU programme; which offers a Masters of Fine Art programme, in partnership with BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

The Sarabande scholarship was established by fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen, to support and inspire future generations of creatives, and is open to talented students who wish to study creative arts but are prevented by financial need.

The scholarship covers tuition fees and provides support towards living expenses, for the duration of their studies.

This is the second year in a row that a Northumbria BxNU MFA student has been supported by Sarabande, with recent graduate Kitty McMurray being the first recipient.

Contemporary artist Samuel was inspired to create art when he began travelling at the age of 16, moving from town to town and job to job, documenting the entire process through photography and writing.

His current work involves materials including bitumen, concrete and grease, and aims to ask fundamental questions about the visual arts at the present time, taking influence from, amongst others, the filmmakers Andrei Tarkovsky, Wim Winders and the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.

Samuel said: “I am hugely excited for this opportunity given to me by the Sarabande Foundation. Thanks to their huge input and understanding of my fine art, I am able to continue a sustainable practise whilst embarking on my MFA at Northumbria University.

“I am greatly honoured to be joining the Sarabande Foundation’s family and hugely excited to continue making art and developing myself into an established artist.”

The next recipient of the Sarabande scholarship at Northumbria will be announced in September 2018.

The BxNU Master of Fine Art is a unique postgraduate course delivered by Northumbria in partnership with BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. The two-year course is based within the BxNU Institute of Contemporary Art at Baltic 39, Newcastle, where students work and study alongside internationally active artists, academics and curators.