The Isle of Man Arts Council recently announced the recipients of their first annual student bursaries for 2019/2020. Awarded to students moving into or currently in further or higher education, the three bursaries are each worth £10,000 over the duration of a course.
The Jonathan Gollow Bursary for Performing Arts has been awarded to Saroja Lily Ratnavel, who will be attending The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) to study for an MFA in Professional Acting.
Saroja Lily said:
‘I’m so grateful to the Isle of Man Arts Council for all of their support. Getting into LAMDA has been an absolute dream come true as it was my number one school. I’ve always wanted to be an actor so this is a really exciting step for me. I’m really excited to get started this term and get stuck into it.’
The Norman Sayle Bursary for Visual Art and Literature has been awarded to Kipenzi Thomas who will be attending Manchester Metropolitan University to study for a BA (Hons) degree in Fashion and Technology (Menswear).
Kipenzi said:
‘This has been such a great opportunity. I couldn’t have imagined being able to have this much support from a local organisation to help me progress and fulfil my dreams. Before this, I wanted to do Law and I thought to myself, if there was a possibility that I could go into the arts and go full force with my dreams then I’d take it. It means so much that I get this opportunity.’
The Isle of Man Arts Council Bursary has been awarded to Callum Rowe who is studying for a BMus (Hons) degree in Popular Music at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Callum said:
‘I’ve been studying at the Royal Northern College of Music for a year now already and without the Isle of Man Arts Council’s support I wouldn’t be able to continue between living costs, house fees and the fees of the school as well so it means a lot that I can go and do what I love for a University course.’
Marlene Maska MLC, Chairman of the Isle of Man Arts Council, said:
‘We are delighted to make these awards to three extremely talented students and we hope the bursaries will provide a springboard to them furthering their careers in the arts. We received many applications for the new bursaries - all were of an extremely high standard which reflects the depth of talent on the Isle of Man in the Arts, as well as being testament to the high standards of teaching students receive here. We wish Saroja Lily, Kipenzi and Callum the very best of luck with their future studies.’
The Bursaries are named in memory of former Isle of Man Arts Council members, music promoter Jonathan Gollow and artist Norman Sayle, and will be awarded annually.
For further information on Isle of Man Arts Council funding and supported events.
