TU Dublin Fine Art Graduate Vicky Ochala Wins Prestigious RDS Taylor Art Trust Award
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TU Dublin Fine Art graduate Vicky Ochala has been announced as a joint winner of the 2025 RDS Taylor Art Trust Award, one of Ireland’s most prestigious visual art prizes, at the Royal Dublin Society’s annual Arts Awards ceremony.
The RDS Arts Awards celebrate the next generation of Irish creative talent, awarding more than €140,000 across visual art, craft and music. The awards play a vital role in supporting emerging artists as they transition from education into professional practice.
This year’s ceremony was particularly significant, marking the 165th presentation of the Taylor Art Trust Award, a prize with a legacy spanning more than a century and a half and over 590 recipients. The €10,000 award was shared between Vicky Ochala (TU Dublin) and Clara McSweeney (IADT) in recognition of the exceptional quality of their work.
The judges praised Vicky Ochala for her “strong narrative practice merging the political and the personal.” Her work explores themes of socialist ideology, individuality, and collective identity, drawing on her childhood in a Polish housing block. Through her practice, Ochala explores how personal memory intersects with wider political and social histories.
Speaking at the ceremony, RDS President John Dardis highlighted the importance of the awards, noting that they serve as long-term investments in Ireland’s cultural future and commending the artists, makers and musicians shortlisted this year for their outstanding creativity and commitment.
TU Dublin was also recognised in the RDS Craft Awards, as the RDS marked six decades of support for craft practice, with a renewed focus on sustainability. Vinh Truong, a 2020 TU Dublin Product Design graduate and ceramicist, was named Emerging Maker. Judges commended Vinh for his “remarkable ability to bridge technology and tradition,” creating minimalist, functional tableware by combining digital fabrication methods such as CAD and 3D prototyping with traditional ceramic throwing techniques.
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The achievements of Vicky Ochala and Vinh Truong reflect the strength and diversity of Art and Design education at TU Dublin and underscore the university’s commitment to nurturing ambitious, socially engaged, and forward-thinking artists and designers.
Are you interested in a career in Art or Design? Register for TU Dublin School of Art and Design Portfolio Clinic taking place on Monday, 28 January 2026, 14:00-17:00.