The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017 and is marking this golden milestone with an exhibition of works of art inspired by the 10 Ironbridge museums, all created by members of the local community.
The winners of the Art of the Community competition were announced at the Grand Opening on Monday 22 May attended by over 160 people including many of the school students and artists who had submitted work.
Georgina Grant, curator of the exhibition, said: “The response of artists to the competition is a testament to the continuing inspiration of the Gorge, its monuments and the dedicated work of the Trust. We are thrilled by the quality of the submissions and are delighted to be able to share them with visitors to this exhibition.”
The exhibition is made-up of more than 70 works of art in a variety of mediums including painting, print-making, photography, ceramics, glass, needlecraft and sculpture.
The works in the competition were judged in 3 categories – under 12s, 12-17 year olds and 18 and over, plus education categories for both primary and secondary schools. The winners in each category received a cash prize, with the schools receiving the funds on behalf of their winning pupils.
The winning works are:
- Under 12 category - Holly Ngo - ‘My Grandma’, pencil & paint
- 12-17 category - Elizabeth Phillips - ‘Variety’, mixed media
- 18+ category - Jan Bell - ‘Across the Gorge’, watercolour pencils & fine-line pigment ink
- Primary School category - Hollinswood Primary School - ‘View of Ironbridge’, collage
- Secondary School category - Ludlow Education Centre - ‘Museum Celebration’, collage
The Museum was delighted to be able to include all of the submitted artworks in to the exhibition as the standard was so high.
The free-to-visit Art of The Community exhibition is open Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm in the Coalbrookdale Gallery, adjacent to Enginuity until 2 January 2018.