Royal Commonwealth Society (Bath and District Branch) Young Artists' Prize and Exhibition 2022
Exhibition continues: 44AD artspace Basement Gallery
22nd - 30th March 2022 (12 - 6pm / Sun 12 - 4pm)
4th - 10th April (10am - 5pm / Sun 1 - 4pm)
Royal Commonwealth Society (Bath and District Branch) Artists' Prize and Exhibition 2022
A selection of the adults artwork from the exhibition is also on display at the Royal United Hospital in Bath until 31st May 2022, with prizewinner’s artworks to go on display at The Bath and West Showground in June for the Jubilee celebrations.
RCS Bath award talented local artists at 44AD artspace
Following a service of commemoration for Commonwealth Day at Bath Abbey The Royal Commonwealth Society, Bath and District Branch held a prize giving ceremony at 44AD artspace. Hope and Humanity in the Commonwealth was the theme for this year's artists prize and exhibition. The prizes were presented by Her Worship the Mayor June Player in the presence of Deputy Lieutenant Mohammed Saddiq and Deputy Lieutenant Edward Bayntun-Coward.
The judges for the RCS Bath Artist’s Prize and exhibition were Rev. Stephen Girling from Bath Abbey and Hetty Dupays from Art at the Heart of the RUH.
Hetty said ‘It was a pleasure and honour to be a judge for the RCS Bath Artists’ Prize. The exhibition as a whole is a wonderful showcase of talented local artists and their varied interpretations on the theme for this exhibition; ‘Hope and Humanity’.
The judges for the RCS Bath Young Artists’ prize were Marc Parrett and Dr Janet Rose, Principal of Norland College.
Entries for the competition came from all over the BA area with categories for adults and students. The adult submissions were of a very high standard and the contribution of the students aged from 4 to 18 were a wonderful selection of imaginative and thoughtful ideas. Showing in the lower gallery was the prize winning white feathered wings made by Trinity Church Primary School as a collaborative piece of work.
‘What a wonderful piece of work,’ remarked Dr. Janet Rose. ‘It truly reflected the theme of the competition and I loved they way it was created collaboratively by the school. It is a beautiful piece. I also had fun posing as an Angel! The pupils should feel very proud.’
The school will be gifted a selection of books for their school library.
alongside Mohammed Saddiq DL and Edward Bayntun-Coward DL.
Delighted to receive their awards from the Mayor of Bath, the prize winners were as follows:
Rod Craig - 1st Prize
June Bianchi - 2nd Prize
Paul Thomas - 3rd Prize
Rita Lazaro - Visitors Choice Prize
Whole school collaborative art - Trinity Church Primary School - 1st Prize (under 11 years)
Isabell from Bishop Henderson Primary School - 2nd Prize (under 11 years)
Serena from The Royal High School - 1st Prize (11 - 15 years)
Minnie from The Royal High School - 2nd Prize (11 - 15 years)
Grae from St Gregory’s Catholic College - 1st Prize (16 - 18 years)
Bella from The Royal High School - 2nd Prize (16 - 18 years)
The excellent array of prizes were donated by sponsors The Charter Trustees of the City of Bath, The Royal Society of St. George, The Britain-Australia Society West Country Branch, TSL Accounting, Norland College, and Bath Spa University.
A special prize was presented to St Gregory’s by 44AD artspace for their work which will be exhibited later in the year.
Dr. Janet Rose said ‘This artist was a well deserved winner. Their talent shone through. I loved the message it was giving about young people changing the world and being ‘humanity’s hope’.
1st prize winner (16-18 years)
1st prize winner (11-15 years)
RCS Bath would also like to thank the judging panel who selected the winning artworks.
Meet our Judges
Let us introduce you to our wonderful panel of judges.
Young Artists' 'Prize category judges:
Marc Parrett
Dr Janet Rose
Artists' Prize (over 18 yrs) category judges:
Hetty Dupays
Revd Stephen Girling
Marc Parrett is a puppet man…. mostly. He makes puppets and directs puppets; he makes theatre shows, animated installations, performance art, films, and street theatre also. He was a studio artist at 44AD artspace from 2013 to 2017 where he exhibited his Arts Council funded animated installation ‘Welcome to Octoville’ twice. He currently lives in Leeds and is the artistic director of Grandly Strange Puppet Theatre.
Dr Janet Rose is currently Principal of Norland College, a specialist education and training HEI for early years practitioners. She is a former Reader in Education (Associate Professor) and has led various undergraduate and post-graduate degree programmes at several universities, as well as various research projects. She has undertaken numerous keynotes at both national and international conferences, most recently at Harvard University and in Australia. Her work focuses on behaviour and wellbeing and trauma informed practice, but includes work on leadership within educational institutions. Janet has also undertaken training for a number of Local Authorities and professional organisations and is the author of numerous academic and professional publications. Her most recent include co-authoring a book on Emotion Coaching and one on Health and Well-being in Early Childhood. She is the co-founder of Emotion Coaching UK and a Fellow of the HEA. She is also an Associate and Trustee of several organisations.
Hetty Dupays completed her Masters in Fine Art (Painting) at Bath Spa University in 2004 and since then her energy, enthusiasm and skills have been largely directed towards the development and growth of Art at the Heart of the RUH (AATH) and advocating the benefits of participation in the arts, heritage and design in a hospital environment. Her particular passion is art and design in the built and natural environment.
River is the Venue (RIV) has been an AATH highlight; a partnership project with 44AD artspace and research academics at the University of Bath where community engagement and collaborative activities through the arts and science offered a gateway to immerse these disciplines as one.
Revd Stephen Girling joined Bath Abbey in 2015 as Missioner. He is responsible for the outward facing work of the Abbey in the city and for communicating the Abbey’s Christian foundation to visitors. He is also the Area Dean of Bath, with oversight responsibilities for the Anglican churches in the city. After five years as a defence scientist, Stephen was ordained in 1991 and has served in suburban and rural parishes. He has a Masters in Theology, Imagination and Culture and is currently writing a book on portraiture, to help readers engage with the subject of a portrait using a method of meditation commonly used to engages with subjects of religious icons.
About The Royal Commonwealth Society, Bath and District Branch
The Royal Commonwealth Society is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to uphold the values of the Commonwealth Charter, promoting conflict resolution, peacemaking, democracy and inclusion to improve the lives of citizens across the member states of the Commonwealth.
The Royal Commonwealth Society (Bath and District Branch) is an educational charity, working in Bath and the surrounding area to sponsor educational travel and associated projects - with the aim of promoting international understanding through the vehicle of the modern Commonwealth.
