Law firm Pinsent Masons partners with Glasgow School of Art to back aspiring students

Legal heavyweight Pinsent Masons is partnering with Glasgow School of Art to support a bursary scheme for aspiring students.

The award winners will receive a £1,000 cash prize and their work will feature in an exhibition over a 12-month period in public reception areas and meeting rooms at the law firm’s Bothwell Street office in Glasgow. The three-year partnership also includes funding two annual bursary places on the Glasgow School of Art’s (GSA) portfolio preparation programme.

The first winner of the inaugural Pinsent Masons fine art photography prize is Harrison Dilks, whose work is now on display in the legal firm’s office alongside the contributions of 21 other GSA fine art photography students. Through documentary, narrative and experimental photography, Dilks’ work is said to pose questions around photography’s nature of representation, and utilises print and installation formats to explore photography’s physical nature.

Pinsent Masons’ head of facilities UK and Ireland, Luke Richards, said: “As part of our responsible business philosophy we work with local communities in each of the 27 global locations in which we operate, and as a firm we have a long-standing tradition of supporting the arts and artists.”

The first winner of the inaugural Pinsent Masons fine art photography prize is Harrison Dilks.

Partner and head of Glasgow office, Barry McCaig, added: “Glasgow School of Art is internationally celebrated for its contribution across the artistic spectrum, but is also very much part of the fabric and soul of Glasgow. It seemed the obvious choice to develop this partnership with GSA and the exhibition is a welcome new dimension to our Glasgow office and proving popular with staff and visitors alike.”