Thursday night (15th October) there was a turnout of around 70 people for the announcement of the winners of the Why Not Art Prize. There was three age group categories with cash prizes of $1000, a lottery prize for all entries, and two Middleback Arts Centre vouchers.
The Why Not Art Prize attracted 154 entries from young regional South Australians. The entries were judged on a matrix based on the following criteria that was stated on the entry form.
Artistic Concept – The artist's idea, plan or intention expressed in the work and how this is explored/conveyed by the artistic choice of materials, context, style, medium and process.
Creativity – The use of imagination and original ideas by the artist to create the artwork.
Execution – The skill, ability and craft in the making of the work.
Arts and Cultural Facilitator and also judge for the prize Deb Hughes was amazed by the enthusiasm and interest from the youth
"It was an amazing response in terms of entries and far exceeded our expectations. It was also a fascinating insight into the thoughts and imaginations of our young people and wonderful to see the progression of their interests across the year levels. Some beautiful work with so much energy and fantastic use of colour." Deb said
View the exhibition at the Whyalla Art Gallery on Darling Terrace, open Tuesday to Friday 11am - 3.30pm and open on Saturday mornings.
The short list for each age group and the winners in each category are below:
7 -12
Tadhg Kelly – an amazing and creative use of stream of consciousness and humour.
Ashley Wade – skillful execution of a delightful idea to apply anime portraiture
Cohen Rigg – excellent artistic choice to use this bold colour and style to execute this idea.
Holly Jaritz – topical subject with good use of multi-media to celebrate the excitement and give her artwork liveliness.
Jayden Wood – wonderful story telling and nice use of colour and multiple frame format.
Zander Hunter – good artistic choices with great execution.
Haley Taylor – great energy in the work, how to improve a blank page, it’s all there.
Ruby Chapman – charming picture with good texture and excellent use of mixed media to tell the story.
Winner of this category – Macey Rosa for her artwork Mystic
Highly Commended prize – Madison Shore-Law for her Headless Halloween Costume (Photo Below)
13 – 17
Taleah Smith – superb execution and use of colour
Elora Middleton – nice use of vibrant colour and the silhouette.
Byron Lyon – original idea with a strong personal connection, excellent restrained colour palette and naïve style that suit the work.
Nathanial Gill – great use of unexpected colour combination, lively energetic piece.
Lake – clever use of what, from a distance, looks like a nice conventional piece subverted on closer inspection.
MacKenzy Clark – thoughtful subject matter and conceptually interesting. A lot of content in a small work.
Winner of this Category – Alessiah Bilney for Ghosts of snacks past (Alessiah's Stuart High School Art Teacher Tammy Smith accepting on her belhalf)
18 – 26
Emily Goldsworthy – highly skillful and sophisticated drawing.
Ellie Cheesman – great result from a difficult medium. Lovely play of light and shade.
Winner of this Category – Frances Hill for The Lookers (Photo below)
