Four drawings by a member of Lancaster University’s Fine Arts teaching staff have been acquired by the British Museum for their permanent Drawings and Prints Collection.

The small charcoal drawings from ‘The Woods’ series are examples of Fine Art Lecturer in Painting Pip Dickens’ sustained interest in trees which has run alongside her distinctive painting practice over 30 years.

The British Museum is a leader in research and publication of drawings and has one of the world’s most extensive collections of graphic work. Their holdings in drawings range from the earliest drawn works to contemporary drawings. They actively search out and collect the very best new work for the collection.

“The drawings will be accessible next year as they are currently being re-mounted by the conservation team,” said Pip.

“They have been acquired by the British Museum’s permanent collection - a legacy that will be held in perpetuity.”

Pip’s success is one of three major achievements by the University’s Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts teaching staff this term.

Senior Lecturer in Drawing Gerry Davies has just collected a prize for drawing in the ‘Wales Contemporary’, an international open competition for 2D artwork in any artwork (excluding photography).

Developed by the Waterfront Gallery in association with the Welsh Government, Wales Contemporary seeks to celebrate all aspects of the country by inviting artists to submit work that is inspired by its ancient history, its art history, its heritage, its landscape and its contemporary culture.

This year the competition attracted 500 artworks from across the globe and 75 works were selected for the inaugural exhibition at the Waterfront Gallery in Milford Haven, South Wales and the Mall Galleries, London.

All exhibitors were invited to an awards ceremony where six prizes, selected by artist Janette Kerr, painter Ken Maycock, artist Catrin Webster and Stan MacIlvenny OBE, were presented.

Gerry received the The Valero Petroleum prize of £2,500 for his two drawings from ‘Flood Story’, a series which depicts scuba divers exploring a chaotic world of 21^st century detritus in an undersea world caused by rising sea levels.

Dr Helen Gorrill, a Fine Art Lecturer in Painting, has work going to the Miami International Art Fair in December.

Director of the University’s Lancaster institute for the Contemporary Arts, Professor Judith Mottram, said: “The Fine Art staff at Lancaster have an exceptional range of practical and intellectual skills which they apply to their own practice and to cutting edge research addressing how our field operates and engages with questions that reach out into many aspects of social, cultural and political life.

“This experience and knowledge then provides the context for their teaching and supervision across our undergraduate and research degrees in the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts.”