A resident from Newton Aycliffe has been crowned North East ‘Artist of the Year 2021’ after winning over the public and wowing a panel of expert judges across the region.
Alivia Hoy’s acrylic painting of a girl at the beach won the adult category and overall top spot, with her work praised for evoking emotion through the imaginative use of colour.
Budding young up-and-coming artists were also amongst the awards. Georgia Mogie from Stockton on Tees was crowned the secondary school age category (11-16) winner and Sofia McGregor from Hexham took home the primary school (0-11) prize.
Leading build-to-rent developer Placefirst launched the inaugural awards, inviting artists of all ages and backgrounds in the North East to submit their favourite piece of artwork, with the aim of championing local talent.
Over 200 entries were whittled down to a top 20 shortlist for the three age categories by a public vote, before an expert panel judged the remaining artworks to decide the winners. The judges were local artists Stuart Jones from Middlesbrough and Emily Ward from North Shields, as well as Dr Solomon Lennox, head of Northumbria University Arts department.
Second place in the adult category was awarded to Nicole Tyrie (21) from Washington and third place to Jeffrey Stamp (76) from Gateshead.
In addition to the accolade, winners will have their artwork on show at Placefirst’s new Hetton-le-Hole development throughout the summer and will be given a trophy and up to £100 in art vouchers.
Stuart Jones commented: “All of the artists selected showed great imagination, creativity and connected directly to a particular feeling and atmosphere for the viewer. I congratulate the artists in their ability to not only express their visual ideas in a striking way but also to use their chosen media in a way that fully explores it, clearly showing an attention to detail.”
David Mawson, Chief Executive at Placefirst, commented: “We’re proud that our North East Artist of the Year awards have championed fantastic local artists, inspiring many in what has been a difficult year. We were blown away by the volume and high standard of entries from all age groups, with paintings of animals through to sketches of picturesque skylines demonstrating the region’s artistic talents. It was a tricky task for the judges to choose their favourites.
“We’d like to congratulate all three winners for using their originality, hard work and artistic flair to win over the judges. We can’t wait to showcase the winning pieces at our Hetton-le-Hole development for all of our residents to see and hopefully other hopeful artists are inspired to follow in their footsteps.”
To view the winning artworks, head to https://placefirst.co.uk/north-east-artist-of-the-year-2021
