The North East Emerging Artist Award
See the North East Emerging Artist Award at Seaton Delaval Hall from Wednesday 15 May until Sunday 23 June. Enjoy the final artworks from last year’s three winners, Rachel Blackwell's Flight of the Pipistrelles, Jacob Goff's Many Hands and Wambui Hardcastle's Time Flies in the Blink of an Eye plus the proposals from this year’s shortlisted artists.
About the North East Emerging Artist Award
The North East Emerging Artist Award was established in 2021 and developed by independent curator, Matthew Jarratt and Seaton Delaval Hall’s General Manager, Emma Thomas. It is open to artists from all artforms including music, sound, theatre, film, fashion, literature and design as well as fine art and is for artists in or from the North East who are in the final year of their undergraduate degree, studying for a masters’ degree, who have graduated in the last three years or equivalent. The award’s aim is to showcase site-specific contemporary art in a historic context and to encourage emerging artists to develop proposals at the hall.
A history of artistic patronage
Throughout its history Seaton Delaval Hall and its inhabitants have been synonymous with artistic support, from commissioning painter Arthur Pond to produce views of the Hall, the backing of erotic novelist, John Clelland, and the patronage of William Bell who produced family portraits and tutored Rhoda Delaval through to the 21st Lord Hastings’ support of The Royal Ballet. The North East Emerging Artist Award continues this rich tradition.
Meet the winners: 2022-23, exhibition summer 2024
Find out more about year two's winners and discover more about their ideas which will be realised in an exhibition in May-June 2024
Rachel Blackwell: Flight of the Pipistrelles
Sculptor Rachel’s work will feature cast pewter bats suspended by a steel ring, representing the bats that have made the hall their home since the fire of 1822. You can see Rachel's work in the Entrance Hall.
Shortlisted artists 2023-24
The shortlisted artists are Jordan Edge, Iris Ollier, Phoebe Scott, Bethany Stead, Suze Terwisscha van Scheltinga, Chris Thompson, Debbie Todd and Lucy Waters. Bethany, Iris, Lucy and Phoebe are all graduates of Newcastle University’s Fine Art department. Chris is from Middlesbrough and studied in London, Debbie is from Stanley in County Durham and studied in Middlesbrough. Suze is from Utrecht in the Netherlands and came to study on Newcastle’s Folk & Traditional Music degree.
You can view their proposals and be curator for the day by voting for your favourite shortlisted proposal when they are exhibited from Wednesday 15 May - Sunday 23 June in The Stables.
Meet the winners: 2021-22, exhibited summer 2023
Meet the inaugural winners of the North East Emerging Artist Award and find out about their winning pieces.
Chantal Herbert and Dami Fawehinmi: New Borders
Newcastle-based audio producer Chantal and photographer Dami's work New Borders amplified the voices of the Global Majority living in the North East. The project was a direct response to the 1770 painting 'John Delaval (1756-1775) as a Boy and an Unidentified Attendant'. The painting depicts a young John Delaval with an unknown Black page boy on display in the West Wing. There is no evidence of the background or history of this page, and New Borders reimagined the artwork with a contemporary context by giving the usually unheard voice an identity using photography and audio in an exhibition in the Stables.