News / 25 Jun 2025
Ruth Selina Prize 2025 Awarded
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
The annual Ruth Selina Memorial Prize has been awarded to Leeds Arts University Foundation Diploma in Art and Design student Aida Rose. The prize includes an award of £500 and is presented to a student on the Fine Art pathway of the course.
On her work, Aida Rose said that "It explores the interplay between the absence and presence of the female form through the use of objects: a chair, a pair of conjoined gloves, a floating shirt, a collection of replaced pebbles and a small oil painting on a handkerchief that is too small to be immediately noticed. Objects which become placeholders for a human presence. The piece also plays with the notion of how the mundane can be subverted into something uneasy or confusing when taken out of its socially ascribed context - making room for a sense of ambiguity in time, place and meaning. Layers of understanding come about in the arrangement of items, with the addition of subtle movement through video and sound, and in the reading of the title 'Washing Line (Deconstructed)' which recontextualises the collective reading."
"The judges felt that Aida’s work was poetic, well-crafted and thoughtfully inspired echoing Ruth’s own interests and approach."
Adam Stone, Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Pathway Leader
"Having my work acknowledged by the Ruth Selina Award was an unexpected surprise which I am incredibly appreciative for as it will help support my degree studies in Fine Art."
Aida Rose, Foundation Diploma in Art and Design student
This year, the judges also gave honorable mentions to two other students, Grace Riley and Lewis Hipshon, who embodied Ruth's qualities within their art and wanted to recognise this.
The prize is awarded in memory of Ruth Selina who completed the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Leeds Arts University in 2018 and sadly passed away in the first year of her degree course. The Ruth Selina prize has been established by Ruth’s family to celebrate her rich creative life, in particular the period of time spent on the Foundation Diploma.
"Ruth loved her time at Leeds Arts University. Ruth was an engaging, gifted student with keen intellectual enquiry. Ruth was always present when she was with someone. She was very interested in them and was empathetic by nature. A gentle, caring soul with a keen intellect and sense of fun too."
Mike Selina, Father of Ruth Selina