Yesterday,  Tuesday 12th December,  highly acclaimed visual artist Rachel Jones attended The BRIT School, Croydon for a Q&A with students, having designed the BRIT award for 2024.

Rachel gave a talk and a Q&A to 50 Visual Arts & Design students who are studying in their final year at The BRIT School. The talk focussed on Rachel’s career journey and her training in Glasgow and the RA, to become the artist she is today, working across different mediums including opera, poetry and prose as well as painting. 

At the end of the talk, Rachel was presented for the first time with the finished BRIT trophy that she has designed.

Recently described by Time Out as ‘the most interesting abstract painter working today’, Rachel is the designer of the 2024 BRIT award - which will be presented to winners at The BRIT Awards with Mastercard on the evening of Saturday 2nd March - and in doing so, joins an illustrious list of British artists and creative powerhouses  who for over ten years have been giving the BRIT awards status a different look and makeover; from Dame Vivienne Westood, Tracey Emin, Pam Hogg to Sir Phillip Treacy, Damien Hirst and Anish Kapoor. 

Having completed her BA in Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in 2013 and an MA in Fine Art at the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2019, Rachel was included in Mixing It Up: Painting Today at the Hayward Gallery, London (2021), followed by solo exhibitions at the Chisenhale Gallery, London (2022) and the Long Museum, Shanghai (2023). Alongside her performance practice, which most recently took form as an operatic based work titled 'Hey, Maudie', Rachel has garnered an impressive reputation for her expressive, abstract and brightly coloured paintings. Rachel’s work is housed in prominent institutional collections including those of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; the Long Museum, Shanghai; The Arts Council England; and the Tate, where her piece 'lick your teeth, they so clutch' (2021) is currently on display as part of the Tate Britain's rehang. 

The BRIT School opened in 1991 and is a one-of-a-kind state-funded school, offering free education to 14-19 year olds pursuing a career in the creative arts. In that time, over 13,000 students have been educated there. A beneficiary of The BRIT Awards - with over £14m donated via The BRIT Trust to date - The BRIT School has for many years placed students and graduates front and centre of The BRITs; onstage, from dancers featuring in performances from Dua Lipa, Little Mix, Stormzy, to backstage technicians, production and crew. Over the years alumni from the School have been honoured with a total of 12 BRIT Awards, and for 2023, graduate Cat Burns was shortlisted for the BRIT Rising Star award as well as being nominated for Song of the Year with Mastercard and Pop/R&B Act.

Speaking on the importance of The BRIT Awards in raising money for The BRIT School via The BRIT Trust, Tony Wadsworth CBE, Chair of The BRIT Trust, commented:

“Money raised from the annual BRIT Awards enables the BRIT Trust to continue supporting the many charities and causes that we work with. Having Rachel [Jones] visit the BRIT School today reinforces our mission to improve lives through the power of music and creative arts.  Sharing her unique journey, she proved an inspiration to BRIT School students.” 

The BRIT School is currently welcoming applications by the following dates to study at Key Stage 4 or Post 16 in 2024.

Post 16: Apply by **22nd January 2024** for Creative Arts courses in Film & Media Production, Interactive Digital Design, Visual Arts & Design/Fashion Styling & Textiles and our pioneering Applied Theatre.

Key Stage 4: Apply for all courses by 8 January 2024.

https://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk/apply