YORKSHIRE POST Newspaper Article: (25/04/2011)

LINK TO ARTICLE

Award to showcase the best of modern art

Published on Monday 25 April 2011 00:00

A COLLECTIVE of Leeds-based artists has set up a new award to celebrate contemporary art.

The Woolgather Art Prize is an experimental showcase of contemporary artists based in West Yorkshire and has just announced a 22-strong shortlist.

Their work will be presented in Dyson Chambers, Leeds, from May 6. The winners will be decided by the viewing public who are being invited to to vote for their favourite when they visit the exhibition.

First prize is £500, with £250 going to the runner-up and £150 for third. The winners will be announced on May 20.

Organiser John Slemensek said: “As recent graduates in the city of Leeds, we, as artists, are experiencing a situation of, no money, no tangible grasp of a creative job, not enough critical discourse for our work and no easy way of reaching a public audience.

“Through a belief that our city can, and hopefully wants to offer more, the Woolgather Art Prize was set up.

“In Leeds there are not hundreds of creative jobs waiting for you.

“We set up the art prize to make an opprtunity for ourselves and other people who are trying to sell and produce art. We want to set up an artist community and a relationship with the public.”

More than 100 artists entered the competition with the shortlist drawn from Leeds students, local artists and directors.

One of those on the shortlist, Liz West, a self-employed Huddersfield-based artist and former Leeds College of Art student, said: “I liked the ethos of it and thought it was a great way of promoting artists in the West Yorkshire region.”

Profiles for all those on the shortlist are on the Woolgather Art prize website.

"At Play 3" Exhibition at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell

Exhibitions at South Hill Park
16 April - 19 June

Opening reception & live performances: Fri 15 April, 6.30-8.45pm - all welcome
Alice Flight: No Work No Play, throughout the reception
Tom Marshman: Knitting without Tears, 8.30pm

At Play 3 (Bracknell Gallery, Mirror Gallery & Atrium)
At Play returns to explore more ideas about play. It re-creates in both adults and children a sense of what it is like to be a child at play. It encourages the viewer to gaze, to remember, to touch, to explore, to trust, to think, to laugh, to peer, to concentrate, to join in, to bend down, to take a chance… and to play. At Play 3 explores ideas about making sense of the world and escaping from it, considering both the pleasurable and the more sinister aspects of play. With Rachael Allen, Carol Coates, Claire Deniau, Nisha Duggal, Alice Flight, Jane Glennie, Frances Greenough, Tom Hackett, Jenny Kiehn, Este Macleod, Tom Marshman, Beverley Matchette-Downes, Penny Matheson, Bithja Moor, Mary Oliver, Steve Perfect , Neil Raitt, Gary Scholes, Cally Trench, Liz West and Mandy Wilkinson.

South Hill Park Arts Centre, Ringmead, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 7PA.
Directions: http://www.southhillpark.org.uk/aboutUsTravel.jsp

Mansion Spaces & Community Gallery:
Monday to Saturday: 9am-11pm.
Sunday & Bank Holiday: 11am-10.30pm.

Bracknell Gallery:
Wednesday: 7- 9.30pm.
Thursday to Saturday: 1-9.30pm.
Sunday: 1-5pm.

Free admission

http://www.southhillpark.org.uk

Woolgather Art Prize 2011 Shortlist - Liz West - Video

Woolgather Art Prize shortlist announced.

Liz West has been shortlisted for the Woolgather Art Prize 2011. The Woolgather Art Prize is an experimental showcase of contemporary artists based in West Yorkshire. Aiming to provide an accessible platform for artworks and hoping to celebrate the unresolved, the transitional, possibly the ridiculous. Ultimately championing the ‘what if’?’

22 shortlisted artists’ work will be presented in Dyson Chambers, Leeds from 6th May 2011. Throughout the exhibition the viewing public is invited to vote for their favourite, leading to prizes of £500, £250 and £150 being awarded to the chosen artists. The money is a gesture to assist towards the ongoing endeavors of a creative lifestyle.

All shortlisted artists have contributed to a collective development in the form of a publication for the show, as a means of creating a more involving illustration of the event. The website holds profiles for each of the shortlisted artists, aiming to create an active dialogue between the artists and audiences through videos and comments.

The project is self-funded by artists and assisted by the generosity of others. In keeping with this spirit all the exhibited works will be given away to the public, whether to be cherished in the home, or just collect dust in the attic.


Event Opening May 6th, 18.00 - 22.00
Dyson Chambers, Leeds

Open Everyday May 7th - May 20th, 12.00 - 18.00

Awards Night May 20th, 18.00 - 22.00