ONE hundred young artists whose work was destroyed or damaged by fire at Glasgow School of Art (GSA) will have a chance to finally exhibit their creations after being backed by a special bursary scheme launched in the aftermath of the disaster.

The Phoenix Bursary programme, backed by £750,000 from the Scottish Government, was established after the blaze at the Mackintosh Building on May 23 that severely damaged not only much of the west wing of the landmark building but the crucial degree show art works of fine art students.

The bursary programme has allowed for those artists, who have now graduated, to begin new work for 15 weeks with a weekly stipend of £315 and up to £1000 for materials.

A curated exhibition will be held in March next year - not as a direct replacement for their lost degree show, but to display their newly created art.

More than 40 of the former students of the GSA have chosen to remain in Glasgow to work on their bursary-funded art, with others travelling to more than 20 other institutions in the US, Norway, Canada, Iceland, Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico City, Hong Kong and ­elsewhere. One has chosen to work at the Mongolian State University in Ulan Bator.

Those graduates who chose to remain in Glasgow are based at The Whisky Bond, the Glasgow Sculpture Studio's facility in the north of the city, where they have also been receiving tutoring from successful artists such as Nathan Coley, David Sherry, Sue Tompkins and Ciara Phillips, the Glasgow-based artist in the running for this year's Turner Prize.

Tom Inns, director of GSA, said: "On the Saturday morning after the fire, we began the process of discussing how on earth we could continue to support the students whose work was lost in the fire. The really significant thing was the lost opportunity to display work, that was so much more important that the graduating certificate.

"Within about three or four days we, with the backing of the Scottish Government, had come up with the concept of the ­Phoenix Bursaries, a significant development because it allows the artists' body of work to be continued, and it allows that exhibition moment to take place."

Sam De Santis, one of the ­organisers of the bursary scheme, said: "Doors have opened internationally to receive and support the artists, which is a heart-warming testament to the affection in which the GSA is held."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop visited the artists' studios at the Whisky Bond yesterday.

Freya Stockford, a painter and sculptor, lost all of her degree show pieces in the fire, and said the bursary had given her a great opportunity to create more paintings and sculpture.

"The show will not be the same, we have all moved on with what we are doing, but it will, like a degree show, be a chance to show what we have been doing to our family and friends," she said.

Melissa Maloco, who studied Fine Art Photography, also lost her portfolio in the fire, and is now working on a series of new pictures using ashes and remnants from the fire, including charred wood from the destroyed Mackintosh Library.

She said: "Initially I wanted to get as far away from Glasgow as possible, but when I stepped back it made sense to stay here, which I knew, and do as much production as possible. I know the city and we know each other and the show should be very interesting."

Marianne Greated, one of the organisers of the programme, said: "We are very pleased that so many of the graduates have decided to stay in the city, and it is a testament to the city that they have done that.

"What we are not doing is trying to recreate the degree show - it is not that: there is no mark, they have all achieved their degrees and done their work, but it is a way of showing their practice."