Thursday, 29 April 2021

City seeks budding artists as prestigious award returns

The City is seeking budding artists to take part in its annual Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists, marking eighteen years of this prestigious award for young creatives.
 
With Perth-born artist and internationally-acclaimed Shaun Tan as its patron, the award encourages imagination and creativity in young people – qualities upon which the Academy Award winner places much importance.
 
Shaun has always been a strong advocate for encouraging imagination and creativity in young people and, only last year, won the honourable Kate Greenaway Medal, a British literary award that recognises distinguished illustration in children’s books.
 
Shaun won this award for his illustrations in his 2018 release Tales from the Inner City. In accepting his award he spoke of how important young people’s views are and how in their “imagination the future is already taking shape”.
 
Now in its eighteenth year, the premise behind the Shaun Tan Award remains the same – to give young people a place to submit and potentially showcase their work, something that was very important for Shaun as a young up-and-coming artist.
 
Subiaco Mayor Penny Taylor said that the City was lucky to host and support such a prestigious award and everyone was thrilled to welcome it back after it was postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“Freedom of creative exploration through art lets the imagination run wild. The whole community benefits from these awards as the insights of our young people are something we can all learn from and enjoy,” she said.

“I’m consistently impressed by the entries of students from across the state each year and I can’t wait to see the submissions this year. I encourage students from all over WA to enter – we love seeing what you have to offer.”

Entries for the 2021 award open on Friday 30 April and West Australian school students in years one to twelve are invited to submit an original, two-dimensional visual art creation. Entries will be judged on technique, originality of concept and choice of materials by a panel of local artists, illustrators and educators.
 
The City is expecting to receive more than 1200 entries, with finalists recognised at a presentation ceremony later this year where prizes will be awarded on behalf of the City and award sponsors.
 
Entries close 5.30pm Monday 24 May. For more, visit www.subiaco.wa.gov.au/ShaunTanAward.

About the award
  • The 2021 award is supported by Janet Holmes a Court AC, Kool Kreative, Dymocks Subiaco, Subiaco Bookshop and Heroes Framing and Memorabilia.
  • Entries are judged in five age categories from lower primary to upper secondary.
  • The top ten entries from each category will have their artwork professionally framed and exhibited at Subiaco Library as part of the Shaun Tan Award exhibition.
  • Finalists from regional areas receive financial travel assistance to attend the ceremony.

About Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan is a Perth-born acclaimed artist, writer and Academy Award winner, who has published several unusual and thought-provoking books, including The Rabbits, The Red Tree, Tales from Outer Suburbia, Rules of Summer and the acclaimed wordless novel The Arrival. In 2011, Shaun Tan won the Academy Award for The Lost Thing in the Best Animated Short Film category.
extraMile by Dapth