University of Northampton School Arts competition 2015: winners announced!

Winners of this year’s Northamptonshire School Arts competition were announced last week, with an event held at the Avenue Gallery. Over 100 people, including young artists, their teachers, parents and University academics, attended the prizegiving and enjoyed refreshments while perusing the artworks.

Organised by the University’s Fine Arts department, the annual School Arts competition aims to find the region’s brightest young artistic talent. The competition was open to sixth form pupils, and this year there was just under £4,000 of prize money up for grabs.

This year, 233 pieces of work were entered into the competition, by 114 individual students from 12 schools – Lodge Park Academy, Sawtry Village Academy, Denbigh School, Northampton College at Daventry, Kimbolton School, Wellingborough School, Northampton School for Boys, Caroline Chisholm School, Sponne School, Bishop Stopford School, Northampton School for Girls and Ousedale School.

The first prize winners included: Amy Ottley from Caroline Chisholm School for ‘Myriad’, Maddie Freeman-Hall from Wellingborough School for ‘Nanny’s Hall’, Saskia Wong from Northampton School for Boys for ‘Mother Reflected’ and Matthew Greenland of Kimbolton School for ‘Nocturnal Humans’. Matthew also won the School of The Arts Award for Most Outstanding Submission.

Event organiser Dr Ralph Darbyshire, Subject Leader for Fine Art at the University of Northampton, commented: “This annual competition is intended to reinforce the School of The Arts at The University of Northampton as being a natural haven, or bolt-hole for creative energy in and around Northamptonshire. Schools are our essential partners and collaborators and we want to illustrate our support and commitment to those pupils and teachers who find ways to demonstrate their artistic passions in circumstances that can at times be anything but ideal or conducive.”

Selected artists will have their work displayed in the exhibition at Avenue Campus until 17 December.