Young Cumbrian Artist of the Year is set to return for 2020

Artists
7th January 2020
Stephen Murphy

Returning for its sixth incarnation, the Young Cumbrian Artist of the Year is set to take over the Vallum Gallery at Cumbria University’s Institute of Arts from March 2nd until the 20th.

The exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for all young artists, from students through to graduates and beyond, to showcase their artwork to the public. The conditions for entry are minimal, you must live work or study in Cumbria and are aged between 15 and 24. The YCAOTY is a significant opportunity to take part in a professional event many young people have never experienced and it’s also an important stepping stone for recognition as an upcoming talent.

Entrants have their work shown in a highly respected county-wide event, a cash prize of £250 is also up for grabs along with a residency at the Old Fire Station in Penrith as part of the Eden Arts Artist Spare Room scheme. It’s a prestigious opportunity for anyone making their first foray into the art world and has helped previous winners who have gone on to study creative subjects at university and forge careers in the arts.

But the closing date for submissions is February the 2nd, so there’s no time to waste.

The winner of the Young Cumbrian Artist of the Year Award in 2019 was Poppy Cookson who presented a video installation entitled A Sensory Enquiry into Non-Human Categories (2019) as part of a body of work exploring the relationships between humans and non-humans. Poppy was studying for her third year in Fine Arts at the time and has since gone on to graduate.

Winning YCAOTY has been a fantastic experience for her personally and professionally: “It’s something we’re encouraged to do at university, everyone is pushed to apply for competitions. It was a great opportunity to test my work in front of a panel of judges, the public, my lecturers and other students.

But I think the most important thing was the variety of people you meet at the exhibition and the awards ceremony. You never know who you are going to bump into, it could be curators, gallery owners or buyers. It was great meeting all the judges who come from different organisations and I got a commission with the Albert Hall too, which was fantastic. It was an amazing foot in the door and I think everyone should just go for it and see where it takes you.

Shortly after winning the young artist award I also won a Hatfield Trust Travel Award, which allowed me to go to the Venice Biennale in August and I recommend everyone to take any opportunity that comes their way. ”

Cumbria is so vast that young artists can sometimes feel a bit isolated but an award like the young artist is a fantastic opportunity to meet other people with similar interests and bring the arts community together.

Eden Arts’ Director Adrian Lockhead said: “The purpose of the award is to recognise the contemporary, the aspiring and the new. It is not a ‘Best Picture’ award, it‘s more about encouraging new ways of thinking, and doing, in the arts. It’s about social impact, about artists and art having relevance beyond the gallery. We are interested in how young people react creatively to things like climate change, borders, diversity, poverty, land use and how we live.”