Murray Bridge High School girl Sienna Montgomery-Pitaway wins the $1,000 Overall Rotary Youth Art Prize for 2020. The Rotary Youth Art Prize Exhibition was extended a week till Sunday 29th November when the Prizes were presented at the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery. Due to Covid, only Rotarians from Murray Bridge and Mobilong including their families along with prize winners who had been announced a week earlier and sponsors were able to attend. Even with this relative smaller crowd there was a buzz in the room and a sense of excitement on announcement of the winners. Judge Lauren Mustillo from Arts SA made some outstanding insights into her selections prior to each award being made. She said that the Rotary Art Prize exhibition was the biggest Youth Art Prize in South Australia and spent over a day making her choices. There were 90 entrants with 149 entries from 16 schools, colleges and tertiary institutions filling the three rooms of the Gallery. Another feature was the range of media exhibited including sculpture, ceramics, metal work, digital 3D, Water Colour, Acrylic on canvas and on paper, photography, digital print, pencil, charcoal, air brush, graphite, clay, ink, lino print, barb wire, copper and wood, epoxy resin, paper origami and papier-mache. The Judge said the art from these young artists provided links to a range of personal and world issues, social change, and reflected on a changing world with a scale of options and opportunities. The presentations were made by Rotary Club of Murray Bridge President Simon Sickerdick who elaborated on Rotary’s youth programs and Rotary Club of Mobilong President Bronwyn Heard focusing on the importance of art to the community. This is now the fourth year of the Rotary Youth Art Prize at the Gallery having grown from 32 entries. The Station and the Rural City of Murray Bridge, along with the Regional Gallery and the two Rotary Clubs form a formidable partnership in bringing the exhibition together.
Gallery Director Fulvia Mantelli thanked Wendy Gaborit of Housing SA also for their contribution to sponsorship this year. The categories were Age 12-15, 16-18, 19-25, Overall Winner and People’s Choice Award with Runners up in all the categories . The Overall Winner Sienna Montgomery-Pittaway with Eye Candy mixed media on canvas received $1000 in cash with the Runner Up Kade Smith Adelaide Oval Replica, Minecraft digital videowork received $300 plus $100 Art Supplies. Other winners were Age 12-15 Valentina Plisko the faceless children in detention, brick barbed wire and fishing line $300 and Runner up Grace Lawler, Beauty of it coloured pencils on card paper $100art supplies voucher, Aged 16-18 winner Lachlan Bald, Self Portrait, digital print pen on paper $300 and Runner up Indygo Kidd Subtle, on charcoal and graphite on paper $100 Art Supplies voucher, Age 19-25 Eve Denner I Can Feel it Calling Me medium format negative print photograph and Runner Up Kristal Matthews We Are Warriors acrylic on canvas, $100 art supplies. Finally the People’s Choice Award was announced at the presentations and was won by Jazmin Bella Carr with The Wise One, acylic on Canvas received $300 and Runner Up Lily Dunbar with Dead Tired, acrylic on canvas received $100 art supplies.
Total Prize Pool to the value of $3,000 was distributed to the winners and contributes to the motivation to participate, along with the opportunity to hang the work in a professional Gallery. The total prize winners was reported on our Rotary web page via facebook and several articles in the print media MV Standard and on
murraybridgenews.substack.com Peri Strathearn’s local news page on facebook. Rotary has supported the Arts in Murray Bridge since the 1980’s, led by Andrew Hay with many Rotarian and partners contributors, and has achieved its aim of it becoming accepted by the main-steam community but still has an important role to play in its continued promotion and support. The Rural City has the infrastructure in place for this to be successful. This Youth Project adds to this on a long term basis and provides a career path for young artists and students wishing to explore the arts in their learning process. Art in a community indicates a level of maturity. It’s an amazing, and exciting form of expression.
Rotary Youth Art Prize winner 2020 Sienna Montgomery-Pittaway with President of the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge Simon Sickerdick and President of the Rotary Club of Mobilong Bronwyn Heard. Sienna goes to Murray Bridge High School. The Rotary Youth Art Prize 2020 Overall winning work Eye Candy by Sienna Montgomery-Pittaway. Mixed media on Canvas 16-18 year Category from Murray Bridge High School
Judge Lauren Mustillo from Arts SA who did such a fantastic job in commentry and making the presentations so interesting for the audience. Watched by President of the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge Simon Sickerdick, Murray Bridge Regional Gallery Director Fulvia Mantelli and President of the Rotary Club of Mobilong Bronwyn Heard.
Kade Smith Overall Runner Up Rotary Youth Art Prize with Bronwyn Heard President of the Rotary Club of Mobilong and Simon Sickerdick President of the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge with his Certificate and $300 Prize. Kade Smith Runner Up Overall Rotary Youth Art Show 2020 with Adelaide Oval Replica Minecraft digital videowork duration 3 min. This is a digital replica of Adelaide Oval made entirely within video game Minecraft.
Valentina Plisko 12-15 year Age Category Winner with Bronwyn Heard President of the Rotary Club of Mobilong and Simon Sickerdick President of the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge. Valentina Plisko 12-15 year Category Winner with The Faceless Children in Detention with brick, barb wire and fishing line. "I was greatly impacted by how faces of children on Nauru are never shown on the news, otherwise you"ll get too attached The barbed wire represents the Government detention camps, which makes them look like captured wild animals in cages. The brick represents rubble from destruction of their homes and towns because of war, and symbolises the walls of detention centres they can't escape from."
Indygo Kidd 16-18 year old Category Winner with Bronwyn Heard and Simon Sickerdick. Indygo Kidd Year 16-18 Category Runner Up with Subtle a charcoal and graphite on paper work from Eastern Fleurieu School Strathabyn campus.
Krystal Matthews 19-25 year Category Runner Up with Bronwyn Heard and Simon Sickerdick. Kristal Matthews 19-25 Category with her work We are Warriors acrylic on canvas. " The middle represents all mob, we're resilient, we're warriors! The larger circles in the middle symbolise a meeting place, mob meeting and working together. The circled dots on the left and right represent water and comming together from all over the coast. The lined dots represent travelling. The white lines that break up each section represent connection and how when everyone comes together in unity we're stronger than ever."
Lachlan Bald Winner 16-18 Category with Bronwyn Heard and Simon Sickerdick. Lachlan Bald winner 16-18 Category work Self Portrait Digital Print and pen on paper. Unity College Murray Bridge.
