Richmond Scholarship winner living out her dream studying art history
A former fashion magazine professional is achieving one of her lifetime ambitions by studying a Master’s degree at Richmond. Maud Vos, 25, from the Netherlands and studying MA Art History & Visual Culture at Richmond, is not only living out her dream through her studies but she is also the winner of the inaugural 2019/20 Sean Steadman Scholarship.
In order to win the Scholarship, Maud completed a submission on ‘How the degree programme you are applying for will help you reach your career objectives’. Sean Steadman was a student at Richmond, graduating in 2014 with a BA in Art & Design and a year later with a postgraduate qualification in Art History & Visual Culture. He said, “I started an art foundation to donate and support the creativity of young artists and since the disappearance of art programmes and funding, I want to do what I can.”
In her submission, Maud explained what MA Art History and Visual Culture would mean for her, in order to reach her career objective as an aspiring curator.
Maud’s background is in the fashion industry, having first done a BA in Media and Communications in Amsterdam, where she also completed an Honours Minor in Fashion Publishing. After completing an internship at Elle Magazine, she went on to work for the same company as a Commercial Magazine Producer on titles like Harpers Bazaar and Elle magazine. Whilst it was a fascinating career, Maud always felt drawn to art history and felt like now was the time to make a career change to pursue her dreams in the Art industry.
As Maud explains, “This led me back to my initial passion for curating. A passion which I have been fortunate enough to develop even before entering the fashion industry. As an aspiring curator, I can use my creativity to hopefully spark that of others, by translating current events into a (physically) visual story. The greatest achievement there for me is to reach the audience.”
So Maud handed in her notice, applied to Richmond to study and found herself in London this Fall. Although only a few weeks into the Art History & Visual Culture Master’s programme, Maud is really enjoying it, “As art is a lifelong passion of mine, I’m absolutely loving studying it at Richmond and being in London, surrounded by so many historical sights and original works of art, is a fantastic experience. I came to London last year to work at London Fashion Week and loved its vibrancy and fast pace, now I’m getting to experience it as a student which is amazing.”
