Eight-year-old Jarrow girl crowned winner of the Sandhaven Amphitheatre mural competition
The brand new mural at the Sandhaven Amphitheatre was been unveiled.
The Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of South Tyneside have unveiled a brand new South Shields seafront mural to members of the public.
Crowds gathered at the Sandhaven Amphitheatre, on Sea Road, this afternoon (Sunday, May 31) for the unveiling event and the launch of this year’s live music season.
The mural was been chosen by Joe McElderry from a final shortlist of ten designs, which were submitted by local artists of all ages.
South Tyneside Council has previously stated that nearly 100 entries were submitted for the competition, with each of them celebrating the creativity, seaside character and strong community spirit of the borough.
A successful weekend
The winning design was submitted by eight-year-old Alica Georgiev, from Jarrow - with her artwork and the other nine finalist pieces set to be displayed in an exhibition at The Customs House.
She said: “It took two days to draw and the people in art represent how people feel happy when they come to South Shields.
“I’m really excited to see it.”
Elvira and Dimitar, Alica’s mam and dad, revealed that it has been a successful weekend for their daughter, who had also placed highly in a dance competition.
They added: “We came straight from a dance competition where she won four first places, one second and one third place.
“So we came here just to relax but we didn’t expect this at all.
“We were very surprised but it looks beautiful, we had our fingers crossed that it would be her artwork but when we saw the edges as they unveiled it, we knew it was hers.
“It looks fantastic.”
‘The level of talent was unbelievable’
Councillor Alan Rice, the Deputy Mayor of South Tyneside, praised all of the entries to the competition and welcomed the impressive turnout at the amphitheatre.
He commented: “It’s an honour to unveil the mural and this sort of thing is exactly what we need in South Tyneside and the turnout today shows that people are interested in things like this.
“All of the entries were fantastic and the level of talent was unbelievable.
“Today has been my first event as Deputy Mayor and the sun stayed out so it has been a good day.”
‘An important culture spot for our little borough’
The new mural has been made possible thanks a number of local businesses, which include TEDCO, Big Local Jarrow, Shaun Matthias Decorating Contractors, Colmans, Octopus Energy, All Scaff Services and Hays Travel, with additional support from South Tyneside College.
Ray Spencer MBE, who had taken part in the initial judging process, was on hand at the event to introduce the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress to the audience - during which he branded the amphitheatre as an “important culture spot for our little borough”.
As well as the unveiling of the mural, the event also saw live music from The Lovemakers, who kick started this year’s programme of live music along the South Shields seafront.
A series of free concerts from local artists at the Sandhaven Amphitheatre will commence from Thursday, June 4, with the full line-up available by clicking here.