We know this city has some great talent and when it comes to art there’s no shortage of wonderful works being produced – but now it’s time for the new young guns to take centre stage.
This July, young hopefuls from Peterborough and the surrounding areas submitted their artwork to the Young Gifted and Talented Open – a biennial competition and exhibition open to artists in the PE postcode region between the ages of 14 and 22 years. This competition offered cash prizes for the winners but also the chance for these emerging artists to have their work expertly curated and exhibited in a professional art space – a prize which, for some, is much more valuable.
Each artist was permitted to submit up to three works, all of which must have been completed in the last two years. All forms of visual art were eligible for entry; from painting, drawing and photography to sculpture,installation and performance art.
More than 120 entries were submitted to the competition which were then whittled down into 66 exhibits from which just three winners were to be chosen.
Split into three age categories, the winners of this year’s competition and cash prizes of £150 are:
GCSE Award (14 – 16) – Erin Sharpe with ‘Landscapes 1V’ (Oil on Charcoal on Canvas) pictured below.
Highly Commended: Hayley Sanger and Emma Woodcock

A Level Award (16 – 18) – Hannah Cork with ‘The Female Gaze’ (Oil on Oil Paper) pictured below.
Highly Commended: Melissa Lopez, Hannah Cronau and Annabel Davis

Higher Education Award (18 – 22) – Ruth Jones ‘Village Life in Tikabharib’ (Photographic C-type print) pictured below.
Highly Commended: Lorna Quinn

This year’s judges were popular Peterborough artist Tony Nero and nationally renowned visual arts curator Katherine Wood. Both judges say they were particularly impressed by the confidence and ambition revealed in all the submitted art works.
Tony says the exhibition is “an excellent platform for any young artist in the city, and a great opportunity to gain some exhibiting experience. There’s a lot of talent in Peterborough and we need to encourage and nurture our creative young people as much as possible.”
The exhibition continues to be open to the public until September 23 at Peterborough City Gallery on Priestgate and is FREE to enter.
Comments