• About
    Astrid Wigand, Untitled (Blue)

    About

    New for 2023, we are delighted to introduce the RSA Blackadder Houston Student Travel Awards (£3,000).

     

    These two annual awards of £3,000 are designed to fund a period of international travel for graduating and postgraduate painting students from Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) to research and develop a new body of work.

     

    Administered by the RSA, these funds are part of the Blackadder Houston Bequest.

     
  • Eligibility
    Clare Cooper, Joe and James

    Eligibility

    • Entrants must be painters.
    • Entrants must either be final year undergraduates, graduating in summer 2024, or currently studying at postgraduate level at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA). 

     

    How to apply

    Application deadline has passed for 2024. Please check back in Spring 2025 for the next round of applications. 

     

    We are pleased to announce this year's winners are Clare Cooper and Astrid Wigand. Clare will travel to Forence to research self-portraiture, narrative painting and improve her observational technique. Astrid will visit to Iceland to investigate the unique volcanic geology and basalt formations, rising perpendicular to the sea, as well as the stark variety of the island’s coastline. 
  • Previous winners
    Megan Owen

    Previous winners

    • Clare Cooper and Astrid Wigand, 2024
    • Megan Owen, 2023
  • The Blackadder Houston Bequest
    Elizabeth Blackadder RSA, Fred Sleeping on the New Duvet. Courtesy of the Blackadder Houston Trust.

    The Blackadder Houston Bequest

    The Royal Scottish Academy has received a significant bequest from the estate of Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA RA (1931-2021). With a value of over £7million, the RSA Blackadder Houston Bequest will initiate a wide series of opportunities including new prizes, bursaries and travel awards for graduates and mid-career artists.

     

    Based on Elizabeth Blackadder's wishes, the bequest will be invested to support a range of new initiatives that will be launched in 2023. Each year, over 60 artists will directly benefit from funding from the bequest.

     

    Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA RA (1931-2021)

    Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA is widely recognised as one of Scotland’s most significant contemporary artists. Born in Falkirk, she studied at Edinburgh College of Art under the tutelage of Sir Robin Philipson PPRSA and William Gillies RSA and lectured at the college from 1962 until her retirement in 1986. Elected as a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1972 and the Royal Academy in 1976, she was the first woman to become a member of both institutions. In 2001 Blackadder was appointed Her Majesty’s Painter and Limner in Scotland. Blackadder’s sensitivity to her surroundings inspired still lifes and landscapes, largely executed in oil and watercolour, but she was also well-known for her work in a variety of printmaking techniques.

    John Houston RSA OBE (1930-2008)

    John Houston OBE RSA was born in Buckhaven, Fife. After a brief professional football career, Houston attended Edinburgh College of Art where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Blackadder. Joining the staff at the college in 1955, Houston was a dedicated teacher and became Deputy Head of the School of Painting and Drawing, holding the position until his retirement in 1989. He was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1972, and appointed OBE in 1990. Although Houston and Blackadder travelled extensively, Houston is best known for his landscapes inspired by the east coast of Scotland, especially the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth.