East Sussex College launches art competition for social distancing young people

The college, which has campuses in Eastbourne, Hastings, and Lewes, has teamed up with famous artist Stephen Wiltshire MBE – who recreates iconic cityscapes entirely from memory.

Inspired by Stephen, the competition is called ‘My Town, and is encouraging students to recreate an iconic landmark or building from their home town by recalling all the details from memory.

Young artists and illustrators from schools and college across East Sussex and the South east can enter the competition which was launched on Friday (April 3) 2020.

Eastbourne schools donate hundreds of goggles, gloves, and PPE to the DGH

Stephen said, “I wanted to do something a little different to celebrate my birthday this year and teaming up with the college to launch this unique competition seemed like the perfect thing.

“This is a great way for young people to develop their creativity over the next few weeks and for them to hopefully produce a piece of art that they can be proud of.”

There are three age categories in which to enter, 11-13, 14-16, and 17-19, and young people have until Friday, June 19 2020, to submit their masterpieces.

The artwork will be judged by a panel of creative experts from the college, as well as Stephen, to decide a winner and runner up in each age group.

The winning prizes will give six lucky students the opportunity to travel to London to meet Stephen at his gallery, enjoy some lunch and receive a signed copy of his book, See The Bigger Picture.

The three winners from each category will receive a £100 gift voucher and the three runners up from each category will receive a £50 voucher.

Nigel Allyson Ryan, creative partnerships coordinator at East Sussex College, said, “We’re delighted to be able to launch this exciting and unique competition to young people in the south east.

“It is something that we have been working on with Stephen for a little while, and we feel it has come at just the right time to help young people maintain their creative flow and provide a welcome distraction to the things that are going on in the world right now.

“Being creative, drawing, and painting are great ways to boost well-being and the beauty of this competition is that we can all observe government guidance to stay at home, gain inspiration online, and then draw from memory.”

Drawings should be produced in pen, pencil, or ink. The medium should be paper, a sheet no bigger than A2 (420mm x 594mm, 16.53 x 23.39inches).

Entries should be submitted by email to: [email protected] by 5pm on Friday June 19 2020.

The entries will be judged during the week commencing June 22 and the winners and runners up will be contacted and announced on the college website and social media on June 29 2020.

For full details on how to enter visit https://www.escg.ac.uk/whats-on/stephen-wiltshire-competition