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OCA student shortlisted for 3rd International Emerging Artist Award

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OCA MA Fine Art student shortlisted for 3rd International Emerging Artist Award thumb

OCA MA Fine Art student shortlisted for 3rd International Emerging Artist Award

Jennifer Boldt, a postgraduate student of the Open College of the Arts (OCA) from Chicago, Illinois, has been shortlisted in the 3rd International Emerging Artist Award.
The award, based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was established in 2012 and aims to promote and increase the visibility of both international and Emirati emerging artists on the global art scene. OCA offers creative arts degrees through online and distance learning and has 2,500 students around the world.
Jennifer’s shortlisted work is Coded 2013 Woven deflected double weave with pearl cotton and inlaid fibre optics. It reflects her interest in applying traditional processes from the textile arts to new or atypical materials such as spun cellulose, copper wire and silk thread to create decorative 2-D and 3-D pieces.  By mixing techniques that are thousands of years old with modern materials, Jennifer’s work is inspired by current scientific discoveries and reflects on the differences between artistic and technological creativity.

Coded 2013 Woven deflected weave with pearl cotton and inlaid fibre optics, OCA postgraduate student Jennifer Boldt’s shortlisted work for the 3rd International Emerging Artist Award
Coded 2013 Woven deflected weave with pearl cotton and inlaid fibre optics, OCA postgraduate student Jennifer Boldt’s shortlisted work for the 3rd International Emerging Artist Award

The prize

The winner of the International Emerging Artist Award will be invited to Dubai for the opening of the Emerging Artist Exhibition in May this year. The artist’s work will be broadcast on Ikono TV, which has an audience of over 35 million viewers in 30 countries.  The winner will also receive two years’ representation by the Gallery Sabrina Amrani  in Spain’s capital city Madrid, including a solo show.  All shortlisted candidates have their work displayed in an online gallery on the IEAA website.
OCA Curriculum Director Jane Horton said: ‘Our congratulations to Jennifer Boldt on being shortlisted for the 3rd International Emerging Artist Award.  Her success illustrates the impact of online learning on university-level creative arts study.  Over the last three years, OCA postgraduate students from North America, the Middle East, the Far East and Europe have formed a supportive learning community entirely online.  Jennifer and her fellow shortlisted entrants for the Emerging Artist Award are now creating a new online community of creative practitioners.’

Shortlisted entries and judging criteria

The International Emerging Artist Award invites submissions from artists aged 18 years and above. Entrants have to submit an exhibition project that has not been exhibited before. Its subject should express a contemporary issue or an original concept, executed using innovative production techniques. Entries may be submitted in a single medium of mixed media chosen from painting, illustration and drawing, photography, digital art, video art, and installation, 3-D work and sculpture.
64 entries have been shortlisted for the 2014 International Artist Award from artists working in 28 countries. 13 entrants have been shortlisted for the Emirati award. The judging criteria for the shortlisted entries are originality – creativity and execution; the extent to which the entry provides a view of a contemporary global or universal topic; whether the work offers a personal point of view; and coherence between the concept and the work.
ENDS
For further information contact: Elizabeth Underwood, PR and Communications (elizabethunderwood@oca-uk.com, telephone (+44) 0759 0848783).
Notes to Editors

  1. Jennifer Boldt has studied at the River East Art Centre, Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Chicago Weaving School and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. She develops ideas through photography and painting, and is inspired by medieval tapestries and female artists like Hisako Sekijima, Naomi Koboyashi and Sheila Hicks.
  2. The Open College of the Arts www.oca-uk.com (OCA) MA, Fine Art was launched in 2011 and is the first MA, Fine Art in Europe to be offered by open learning.  The course is validated by the University for the Creative Arts http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/ (UCA) in the UK. 
  3. OCA is an education charity dedicated to making creative arts education at higher level accessible to all adults, regardless of age, educational background and academic qualifications.  OCA was founded by Michael (later Lord) Young in 1987 and now has over 3,000 students studying subjects including photography, fine art, painting, textiles, creative writing, visual communications and music.  All OCA higher-level qualifications are validated by the University for the Creative Arts.  Prospective students can find out more by visiting www.oca-uk.com or phoning freephone 0800 731 2116.

Posted by author: Elizabeth Underwood

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