Winners of the 2022 Young Creatives Awards announced
Wednesday 14 September 2022
Inner West Council has announced the winners of the 2022 Young Creatives Awards.
Inner West Council’s Young Creative Awards provides young people aged 12 – 24, who study, work or live in the Inner West Council area, the opportunity to hone their creative skills, in a competitive environment and to have their work seen and published.
The yearly competition that culminates with prizes being awarded in two formats: writing and art, across three age groups - 12 to 15, 16 to 18 and 19 to 24 years. This year, a record 240 entries were received, representing a 650% increase on entries from the inaugural 2017 program.
Our judges all agreed that the standard of entries this year was exceptional. They said, “we have been blown away by the standard and diversity of the works recognising the exceptional talent of the Inner West’s young creative community.”
Judge Vivian Pham, the 2021 Sydney Morning Heald Best Young Australian Novelist said “"What an honour to read the richness of observation and complexity of emotion in these stories. I feel so grateful to have been able to participate in the judging process!"
Judge Carmel Byrne, founding director of Scratch Art Space in Marrickville, said “It’s been a privilege to be invited to participate as a judge for the Young Creatives Awards. The fact that the Inner West Library celebrates both young writers and visual artists, makes an enormous cultural tribute to our young creatives.”
Since its inception in 2017, the Inner West’s Young Creatives Award continues to increase engagement with youth in the Inner West and create opportunities for them in the creative arts sector. Over the years it has culminated in winners being featured in an extensive digital presentation, works being presented on a dedicated online gallery, and some being offered paid employment opportunities via the Library and Council. Past winners have also been engaged as content creators in peer-to-peer programming in Inner West Libraries, proving that the positive outcomes for entrants continue far beyond the awards prizes.
To continue to support and showcase the incredible talent of Inner West youths, for the first time ever, our Young Creatives winners will be showcased in public gallery space in a special exhibition in the Chrissie Cotter Gallery and be part of a week of dedicated youth focused programming initiatives and events from 9 – 13 November 2022.
Exhibition Opening – Wednesday 9 November, 6pm
Live readings in the Chrissie Cotter Gallery of Young Writers Awards winners – Friday 11 November, 6.30 – 8pm
The Art of Storytelling with Playback Theatre - Saturday 12 November, 12-2pm
Gallery workshop: Explaining tone and texture with Carmel Byrne - Sunday 13 November 1-3pm
The complete list of winners is below:
Art Awards
12-15
Winner
Rohan Willard - Newnes Tunnels (Digital Photography)
Runner up
Alex Kim – Serenity (Acrylic painting on paper)
Librarian’s Choice
Vanessa Huan- Childlike Innocence (Pencil drawing on paper)
Oscar Hartley – Resting Troopers (Digital)
16-18
Winner
Valentina Guarna- Shared Vision (Charcoal on paper and Lenticular wooden structure)
Runner Up
Nola Read Penrose- Untitled (Fine Liner, Ink and Marker on paper)
Librarian’s Choice
Leo Whitehouse- The Phone call (Acrylic paint on canvas)
Noah Kenchington- Self Destruction of Matt Murdock (Digital)
19-24
Winner
Augustine Flett- The Internal Templar (Digital)
Runner Up
Mia Economou- Ozark Amy (Acrylic on Canvas)
Writing Awards
12-15
Winner
Victoria Pantelis – Men Don’t Cry (Short story)
Runner Up
Lewis Mountney – Kicking off My Trip to Liverpool (Short story)
16-18
Winner
Khanh Ngo- Instant Noodles and Cigarettes (Short story)
Runner Up
Natalie Chidiac- Don’t Call Me Hope (Short story)
Librarian’s Choice
Kishore D’Souza- Sanctum to the Workers (Short story)
Zoe Fitzgerald- A Burning Pear Tree (Short story)
Amy Zhong- Mother and Child (Short story)
19-24
Winner
Jaya Kortegast – I AM MY OWN VOUYEUR (Short story)
Runner Up
Joseph Hathaway-Wilson- Up the Coast (Short story)
For more details and to read and see the works go to innerwest.nsw.gov.au/YCA