MALVERN College is launching new art scholarships in memory of a former pupil and gifted artist who tragically died from epilepsy in 2012.
Richard Nieper died at the age of 42 from the condition and his family are providing two awards each year to enable talented teenage artists or designers to study at the college’s sixth form.
The new awards are being offered in the run-up to National Epilepsy Week, which starts on May 22, to help raise awareness of the condition which kills scores of apparently healthy young people each year.
They are aimed at young people with a passion for art but without the family income to attend a top independent school.
The college is still taking applications for this year’s awards.
For the Nieper family, many of them Malvernians past and present, the scholarships provide the chance to commemorate a much-loved son and brother and focus attention on his extraordinary talents and personal qualities.
“Richard was a superb artist, a creative thinker and incredibly talented from early childhood,” said his sister Juliet Stocks.
“After he died we found some exquisite leaf rubbings, prints and watermarks he’d made in string when he was only seven.
“He suffered from asthma so art was always his great love.
“He was very bright and also an excellent self-taught musician.
“By the time he got to the sixth form at Malvern, the Art School and Woodworking department were his second home.
“By the age of 17 he’d amassed an extraordinary portfolio.
“He did his degree at Central St Martin’s and eventually became a gifted furniture designer, able to work in wood, leather, metal and a range of fabrics.
“He illustrated every page of a 1000-page animation he produced about the pollution of the world, something he cared deeply about. He had a high moral and ethical sense and always went the extra mile for other people.”
Richard had his first epileptic seizure at the age of 12 and coped with the condition stoically, even though scans and tests gave no clue to its cause or type, making it hard for specialists to prescribe suitable medication.
“He would endure the fits and pick himself up again afterwards,” added Mrs Stocks.
“He invariably made light of it and told a funny story about it, rather than saying “Why me?
“During his last Christmas he was in wonderful form and hadn’t had a fit for two years.
“He lived very simply and would always make everyone’s present himself out of wood.
“Then at New Year, he went back to his flat alone and simply died there of an unexplained condition called SUDEP – sudden death from epilepsy.
“It was horrible.
“There was no warning and suddenly he wasn’t there any more.
“As a family we wanted to offer scholarships reflecting Richard’s life and his great generosity of spirit.
“Malvern College and its inspirational art teachers had been a crucial part of his development, giving him great artistic opportunities, so we really wanted to allow other gifted artists who could not otherwise have gone to Malvern, to get the same chance as Richard.”
The college’s head of art, Christine Prichard, believed the scholarships would provide a huge boost to Malvern’s art school.
“We’re thrilled that the Nieper family has generously established these wonderful new scholarships in memory of Richard,” she said.
”I know they will enhance our already strong reputation in Art and Design and attract many more talented, budding artists to Malvern.”
Email [email protected] or call 01684 581515 for further information about the scholarships.
