Youth Creative Competition 2023 winners announced

Published on 06 December 2023

Some amazingly talented young artists and writers have been discovered in City of Ryde’s inaugural Youth Creative Competition.

The winners were announced on 23 November 2023 at Lachlan’s Line Auditorium, with high quality entries in both the art and writing categories impressing and delighting judges.

City of Ryde Deputy Mayor Daniel Han said this year’s theme of ‘Hope for the Future’ brilliantly captured the imaginations of the local creatives who submitted entries.

“In my opinion, talented young people are our hope for the future, so this inaugural theme was perfectly selected,” Clr Han said in his speech.

“Our panel of art and writing competition judges - all experts with specialist knowledge - were treated to a wonderful and diverse variety of entries, which made the job of selecting the winners difficult, but enjoyable.”

The competition, which ran from 1 July-31 October 2023, offered a tremendous new opportunity for artists and writers aged 12-24 who live, work, or study in the Council area to have their talents recognised.

In the art category, entrants were asked to submit an image of a painting, drawing, photograph, sculpture, digital artwork, or collage.

Writers needed to submit a short story, fan fiction, poem, review, or any other piece of prose to a maximum of 1,000 words.

The winners were:

Art Category

12-15 Age Group:

Winner: Anika Fenech - Flowers of Change 
Runner Up: Ethan Rogers - Light Painting Silhouette

16-19 Age Group:

Winner: Charlotte Jolly - Hopeful Tails 
Runner Up: Eleanor Heng - Bubble Baby

20-24 Age Group:

Winner: Georgie Rosenberg - Just Foolish
Runner Up: Madeline Luc - In Stillness We Find Hope

Highly Commended: Leo Lampton - Animals on the Land

Writing Category

12-15 Age Group

Winner: Annabelle Whitfield - Hope for the Future  
Runner Up: Sheldon Chan - The Seed of Hope

16-19 Age Group

Winner: Amelia Mayne - Daffodils  
Runner Up: Elle Fenech - The Desire for Blossoms of Hope

20-24 Age Group

Winner: Celia Thirimanna - Antithetical Melancholia
Runner Up: Madeline Luc - Lavender Logos

Highly Commended: Sebastian Lee – Threads of Hope

Click here to see and read the winning and runner up entries in both the Art and Writing categories.