Aidan Stanley Wins 2008 Nel Oudemans Memorial Scholarship

November 18th, 2008

The New Brunswick Foundation for the Arts announced today that Mr. Aidan Stanley is the recipient of the 2008 Nel Oudemans Memorial Scholarship.

Awarded annually, the Nel Oudemans Memorial Scholarship is designed to promote studies in fine arts. The $500 scholarship was established in 2002 by the New Brunswick Foundation for the Arts and the Oudemans Family.

The endowment fund for the scholarship is administered by the New Brunswick Foundation for the Arts. Every year the name of the winning student along with an artist statement is written in calligraphy in the hand-carved wooden Nel Oudemans Fund Book created by Michiel Oudemans.

In awarding the scholarship to Mr. Stanley, the Foundation for the Arts has acknowledged his artistic merit and promise of future achievement.

Previous recipients of the Nel Oudemans Memorial Scholarships were Allison Murphy (Fredericton), Lawrence Power (Dieppe), Jolène Dubé (Dalhousie), Amanda Harmon (New Maryland) and Paula Stockdale (Sussex).

Aidan Stanley hails from Seeleys Cove, NB. Aidan is enrolled in a fourth year at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, in Fredericton where he is pursuing a diploma of Advanced Studies - Visual Arts. Aidan obtained his first diploma from the College in 2003, and spent the next five years developing as an artist. During this period of time, he came to realize he did not fully understand the basics of business as he should have, and therefore, he embarked on a three semester program where he would learned arts entrepreneurship strategies and became knowledgeable in all business aspects to lead a successful career as a jeweller and a metal artist.

Aidan is currently working to establish his business in New Brunswick, hopefully near the water and the trees as soon as spring of 2009. He is also looking to hire a metal smith in the first two years of operation and one more in the following year. Aidan is slated in for the Atlantic Craft Trade show in February and for summer shows thereafter.

In 2003, Aidan was awarded the prestigious national Bombay Sapphire Award for outstanding design and the Bejewel Award for excellence in design.

Photo: Aidan Stanley, Jack Oudemans et Michael-Maynard