Member Article

Cheeseburn Sculpture announces shortlist for its third Young Sculptor of the Year competition

Cheeseburn and The Gillian Dickinson Trust support a third artist in a £6,500 commission

Cheeseburn Sculpture based in Northumberland, today announces its 11 shortlisted artists and sculptors who will compete to be named the third Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year which comes with £6,500 to create a brand new sculptural work for the growing visual arts destination.

The partnership between Cheeseburn and the Gillian Dickinson Trust, initiated by the founder of Cheeseburn Sculpture Joanna Riddell in 2015, named its second North East Young Sculptor of the Year last summer with Newcastle University MA student Peter Hamner chosen as the overall winner from 10 talented young artists. Peter will unveil his winning installation entitled ‘Plato’s Lair’ at Cheeseburn this May.

In the meantime, Cheeseburn are now looking for the artist who will be named the 2019 Sculptor of the Year.

Thirty artists, aged 18 - 25 years old applied from across the region, and the shortlist of 11 sees a number of the region’s universities represented. Matthew Jarratt, Curator and Artist Mentor at Cheeseburn said,

“We have shortlisted 11 young artists from a strong application of 30 and we will now provide support and mentoring for them over the next three months. Which will help them to develop ideas for installations at Cheeseburn. It is the first time these artists have had a budget to work with and an outdoor site to consider and we’re happy to be able to support young artists to develop their creative skills to meet the challenges of making sculpture in the environment.”

The successful artists on the shortlist will each receive £300 to develop a proposal for a sculpture or installation to be sited at Cheeseburn in 2019, the shortlisted artists comprise six female artists and five male artists who have all studied and/or are practicing in the region. They are:

Jed Buttress (Newcastle University), Clare Townley (Newcastle University graduate, now at New Bridge Studios), Alexander Nicholas (Northumbria University graduate, now at Baltic 39), Jenny Alderson (Goldsmiths graduate, now at New Bridge Studios), Thomas Tyler (Teesside University graduate, now at New Bridge Studios), Charlotte Palin (Teesside University), Emily Chapman (Teesside University), Sienna Shaw (Sunderland University graduate), Jonny Michie (Sunderland University), Jenny McNamara (Newcastle University) and Theo Scott (Northumbria University, now at Baltic 39)

Visitors to Cheeseburn this May will be able to see the proposed installations and sculptures and vote for their favourite. A public vote will also take place on the Cheeseburn Facebook page, in addition to input from a selection panel, before the winner is announced on 1st July 2018.

Cheeseburn Sculpture will open for its first weekend of 2018 on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th May, quickly followed by its second open weekend over the May Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday 26th – Monday 28th May.

Joanna Riddell, founder of Cheeseburn Sculpture says:

“We are delighted to be able to continue to showcase the work of emerging young artists within the grounds at Cheesburn. Thanks to the generous support of the Gillian Dickinson Trust we are able to offer this special opportunity to young artists in the North East each year, it is a chance to celebrate the talent that is being nurtured in our northern universities.”

Joanna continues,

“This is just a part of the work we do in offering opportunities to support and nurture young talent in our region. We are also part of Sunderland’s Graduate into Enterprise Scheme, and have two student placements this spring, during which the students will help manage the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor programme, learning more about running a cultural venue and programming. Additionally, we have again received Bartlett Funding, which enables university students to pursue and develop skills in careers relevant to their field of study. This means two Newcastle University students will work with Cheeseburn in exhibition planning and cultural development over the next two years.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nicky Mckeen .