Rotary Clubs announce latest winners of art competition

The competition was launched by the joint Rotary Clubs of Cleadon & District and Jarrow with Harton and aims to identify and recognise artistic talent among young people in full-time education in South Tyneside.

It was launched in September 2015, in association with South Tyneside Council and local secondary schools, to find a young artist of the year in two age groups, 11–15 and 16–18.

The winner of the year’s 11-15 age group was Charlotte Whitfield and the winner of the 16–18 age group was Shana Louise Seales.

Following on from the success of this year’s competition, the award will again be run this autumn.

The latest display of prizewinners was opened by the Mayor of South Tyneside Coun Porterhouse, Terry Long, of Rotary North East, and Josef Craig, South Tyneside’s paralympic gold medallist.

All winners were given a trophy and a paint box. The two age group winners were also given a 10-hour private art course, courtesy of Hawthorn Arts.

Funding has been found to ensure that each year a professional artist will give all 25 finalists a master class on a subject of their choice not normally covered by the school curriculum.

For this year the subject selected by the secondary schools themselves is “create your own Computer Game character”.

The competition was judged by local artists Bob Olley and Graham Hodgson, and the 25 finalist’s work will be displayed in the Stairwell Gallery of the South Shields Museum and Art Gallery, until April 23.