Art Prize shortlist unveiled

Northumbria University has announced the 10 finalists for the inaugural Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Art Prize 2012-13.

The major new arts prize – worth an annual total of £40,000 – offers the winner a £20,000 bursary and a Fellowship at the BxNU Institute for Contemporary Art at BALTIC 39 in Newcastle. The Institute, the result of a collaborative partnership between BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Northumbria University, was recently awarded the Times Higher Education award for excellence and innovation in the arts.

The shortlisted artists are: Elysia Bird (Wimbledon College of Art); Steven Gee (University of East London); Bahia Haddam (Central St Martins); Holly Hendry (Slade School of Art); Benjamin Lee (Central St Martins); Catriona Meighan (Edinburgh College of Art); Rebecca Moss (Camberwell College of Art); Ewan Murray (Glasgow School of Art); Zara Worth (Northumbria University); and Andrea Zucchini (Goldsmiths).

The selected finalists, all in their final year of undergraduate fine art, were chosen by an expert judging panel. Their work will be part of a major exhibition in Northumbria University’s Gallery North where the winner of the Woon Tai Jee Fellowship will be announced on 11 July, 2013.

Competition judges will also decide on further prize winners as they award the Lim Ai Fang Art Prize worth £9,000 and the Cheong Kam Hee Art Prize worth £6,000. Two consolation prizes valued at £3,000 and £2,000 may also be awarded at the discretion of the judging panel.

The prize has been made possible by keen art collector and Northumbria University Law alumnus Mr Wee Teng Woon who is funding the prizes at his alma mater in memory of his family whom the prizes are named after.

The prize is offered yearly and it is a unique and fantastic opportunity for a final year student of fine art in the UK to continue their professional development, the application process for the 2013-14 prize will commence in September 2013.

The Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Art Prize finalist exhibition will run at Gallery North, Northumbria University from 12th – 25th July 2013 with the winner being announced at a VIP evening on Thursday 11 July 2013.

For more information on the Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Art Prize and to follow the progress of the short-listed artists please visit: www.northumbria.ac.uk/woonartprize