The Miriam Waterman Memorial Scholarship was established through a generous donation from the Waterman family, to commemorate Miriam Waterman who tragically died of Covid-19 in 2021.
The scholarship is awarded to a student of exceptional promise, covering 50% of their tuition fees to study BA (Hons) Contemporary Portraiture at Art Academy London, the only BA of its kind in Europe.
Applications are welcome from artists from varying visual arts fields with a desire to focus on Contemporary Portraiture.
“Miriam was a gifted artist and a wonderful human being who brought joy to everyone she met. Her children Becca, Nick and I feel that this scholarship is an appropriate way to remember her and to encourage the development of other talented portrait artists.”
– Greville Waterman
The Scholarship
There are two scholarships available both offering 50% of the annual tuition fees. In all cases an applicant must be able to pay the remainder of the tuition fees and be able to fund material and living costs throughout the programme. The value of the scholarship is deducted from the fee amount payable. Where the remainder of the tuition fee is paid termly, or by a payment plan, it will be subject to published surcharges. Fees for subsequent years are subject to annual inflationary increases (of not more than 5%), prior to the deduction of the awarded scholarship amount.
You must be able to commit to studying the BA (Hons) Fine Art Contemporary Portraiture full time (3 tutored days a week, plus at least one further day of independent study, for three years).
Please visit the BA (Hons) Contemporary Portraiture course page to find out more about the study programme and other costs associated with the programme.
Eligibility
Open to UK and international artists (you must have UK residency rights).
To be eligible for the Miriam Waterman Memorial Prize, you will need to meet the following criteria:
Selection Criteria and Deadline
You’ll need to complete the application form for BA (Hons) Contemporary Portraiture as well as the application form for The Miriam Waterman Scholarship.
We will then long-list applicants to come in for interview with members of our Academic team to assess your suitability for our BA, give you a tour of the building and ensure you’re fully informed about the programme itself.
Portfolio guidance: You’ll need to submit a digital portfolio as part of your application.
Your Digital portfolio should be supplied as a PDF, Power Point or Word document. The portfolio should contain approximately 10 – 20 ‘slides’ including extracts form your sketchbooks. Digital portfolios must contain information about media and dimensions as a minimum, you may add titles and other explanatory text if you wish.
If you’re invited for an interview, you’ll need to bring a physical portfolio with you. This doesn’t need to be completely different content to the digital one. This should be approximately 15 ‘sheets’ or pieces of work (no less than 10, no more than 20) plus your sketchbooks. Your physical portfolio does not need to be mounted or ‘presented’, but rather a collection of work. You should however consider the order in which you wish it to be viewed.
For both digital and physical portfolios you should include evidence of:
You should consider the following:
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a second interview with the selection panel, who will award the scholarships.
Selection Panel
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a second interview with the selection panel, who will award the scholarships.
The panel will consist of:
Rob Pepper, Principal, Art Academy London
Andrew James, award-winning artist and portrait painter
Sue Spaull, Director of Programmes, Art Academy London
Sadie Lee BA Contemporary Portraiture Leader
Greville Waterman, husband, Miriam Waterman
About Miriam Waterman
Miriam Waterman graduated from Art Academy London in 2020 with a Diploma in Contemporary Portraiture before her untimely death in 2021.
A figurative artist whose main interest was portraiture, Miriam worked both from life, and from the myriad photographs she took, including of people she came across in her day-to-day life. She often focused on people who went unnoticed, wanting to give them a voice and bring them to our attention. She used her skill as a portrait artist to bring the stories of her sitters to life, in particular using composition and her sensitive handling of her colour palette to good effect.
“Miriam was a dedicated and talented student. She was self-deprecating, and modest about her work, but she was also really determined to push herself and take her painting to the next level, eagerly seeking feedback and guidance to help her in her endeavour. She was a real pleasure to teach, and a warm and generous member of the Academy community. She became an accomplished painter, mounting an impressive graduate show at the end of her studies. I’m sure she would have gone from strength to strength as an artist, had her career not been cut short by her untimely death.”
– Sue Spaull, Director of Programmes , Art Academy London
Miriam’s work has been shown in group exhibitions including the Mall Galleries Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition (2013,2014), Microtopia, Kingsgate Studio Gallery (2013), Highgate, A Reflection in Print (2013), ‘Thou Art’, Hampstead (2012). In 2016, Miriam was awarded the Art Academy Drawing Prize for exceptional work.
Terms & Conditions
Eligibility: Open to UK and international artists (you must have UK residency rights). To be eligible for the Miriam Waterman Memorial Prize, you will need to meet the following criteria:
English language requirements: All entrants are required to demonstrate an appropriate level of English language competence to study with us. This can be through previous study in English (evidencing an approved English language qualification at Level 2, GCSE or equivalent). If you are unable to provide evidence of a relevant, formal English qualification, we will require specific performance in written English tests during the shortlisting stage. The appropriate level of spoken English is assessed at the interview.
Closing Date: The closing date is 5pm on 30th April 2023: you must have completed the application form and submitted a portfolio of work by this deadline. Incomplete applications may be rejected.
Allocation: The first interview will be arranged upon receipt of (eligible) completed applications for the BA (Hons) Contemporary Portraiture and Scholarship, and the second interview with the selection panel (for shortlisted applicants) will be held in May. The date will be announced soon.
All applicants must initially meet AAL’s standard admissions criteria for undergraduate programmes (as per the Admissions Policy) and provide suitable education and/or employment referees. Applicants must additionally provide evidence that they meet the criteria for the scholarship.
All reasonable attempts will be made to reach the selected recipients via the email address provided within the application. If applicant does not respond within two weeks of the offer, we reserve the right to withdraw the offer and select another recipient.
Applicant’s personal data will be used in accordance with AAL’s data protection policy. The selected recipients will be announced on Art Academy London’s website, social media, and other marketing channels.
Withdrawal of scholarship: We reserve the right to withdraw the scholarship (or offer of the scholarship) where recipients no longer meet the criteria or when recipients are found to have misled Art Academy London about any aspect of their eligibility (in such cases AAL will seek repayment of the full scholarship). On acceptance of the scholarship the recipient(s) agree to abide by the regulations and policies (as set out in the Terms & Conditions, Student and Programme Handbooks, Regulations for Awards Validated by the Open University and the Scholarship Agreement). As per the Scholarship Agreement, failure to do so at any point during the period of study may result in the withdrawal of the scholarship. In such instances, Art Academy London may seek partial or full repayment of the scholarship. Where a recipient withdraws from the programme before completing the qualification Art Academy London may seek partial or full repayment of the scholarship.
“At Art Academy London, we believe everyone should have access to high-quality art education. We are therefore eternally grateful to the Waterman family for establishing this scholarship to celebrate Miriam’s rich creative life and her time spent at the Academy, offering the gift of the BA in Portraiture to a promising contemporary artist, the art practice Miriam loved the most.”
– Rob Pepper, Principal, Art Academy London
