Winners of the Manchester Open Award 2022 Announced

Last night (Thursday 3 March) the five winners of the Manchester Open Awards 2022 were announced at an awards ceremony at HOME.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, there were an amazing 2,271 artwork entries to the Manchester Open Awards 2022. There are 474 artworks presented in HOME’s gallery from 446 artists across all ten boroughs of Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Salford and Manchester.

Castlefield Gallery worked closely with HOME on the selection for this year’s award winners, choosing from a shortlist of 20 artists.

Over £10,000 of prize funding will be distributed between the winning artists, with artist development packages managed by Castlefield Gallery and HOME.

One artist will receive a solo exhibition at HOME in their Granada Foundation Galleries. The final award, The People’s Choice Award has been voted by the public and will receive £250 Cass art voucher and a bespoke development opportunity to be agreed with artist.

The awards and winners are as follows:

• Granada Foundation Gallery Award – Gwen Evans, Portrait of a Woman, Oil, acrylic and airbrush on board (Gallery No.435)
• Castlefield Gallery: Artist Professional Development Award 1 – Gherdai Hassell, Solar, Mixed media collage archival print (Gallery no.409)
• Castlefield Gallery: Artist Professional Development Award 2 – Annabelle Richmond-Wright, Alexa, deconstructed computer chair, hand-stitched foam, latex and found object high heels. (Gallery No. 469)
• Castlefield Gallery: Artist Professional Development Award – 50+ – Nan Collantine, Oceans Apart no.22 (I think it’s going to rain today), Oil paint and oil bar on canvas (Gallery No.62)
• The People’s Choice Award – Winner Luke Armstrong, Paper Samurai, paper sculpture (Gallery No. 458)

Runners up for The People’s Choice Award are: 2^nd place – Michelle Topping, Evade, graphite and colouring pencil on paper, 3^rd place – Carlos Feng, Isolation, acrylic on canvas, 4^th place – Jen Orpin, Stand Your Ground, oil painting on canvas and 5^th place – Arnold Pollock, Kam, film.

Helen Wewiora, Director and Artistic Director, Castlefield Gallery, says:

“It’s an honour to have been asked to be part of the Manchester Open judging panel again. Submissions for the 2022 exhibition evidence the wealth of artistic and creative talent in the city and city region. The finalists shortlisted for the Manchester Open Awards this year further demonstrate a high level of creative skills and artistic promise”.

The Manchester Open continues to Sunday 27 March 2022. Full details of the exhibition and tickets can be found online at homemcr.org