Winner of Coalville art competition announced

Cerys Clarke, an artist from Hugglescote, won the competition aimed at promoting The National Forest.

She received the highest number of public votes in North West Leicestershire District Council’s (NWLDC), ‘Living in the National Forest’ competition. 

Her design, ‘The Common Buzzard’ was chosen out of 21 large leaf shaped boards which were displayed around Coalville to form a temporary art gallery for visitors. ‘The Hough Mill’ by Tomas Villarosa and ‘Midnight Silhouette’ by Abii Gamble also received highly commended awards.

In total, 240 people voted for their favourite designs and were automatically entered into a random prize draw to win a family ticket to Conkers or a trip on the canal boat at Moira Furnace. The winners are:

• Marie Clements from Castle Donington
• Sharon Harrison from Coalville
• Arif Saad from Loughborough
• Beth Harper from Coalville 

Due to the success of the project, the boards have now moved to Conkers for visitors to view over the summer and will be on display there from 12 July to 5 September. 

Another competition will be running later this year.

Copies of 10 of the boards, including the people’s choice winner and highly commended boards, have been displayed in Coalville along Oliver’s Walk.

The council’s aim behind the project was to encourage shoppers to think about what it means to live in The National Forest and remind people how important it is to support the local area.

Cerys Clarke, owner of Art by Cerys, said: “It's been really rewarding to walk into the town centre and see people enjoying not only my artwork but all the other artists’ boards too.

“The project has given me an opportunity to grow in confidence and develop my art career - I feel as though I now approach my art with a completely different attitude. 

“Conkers is a popular tourist attraction in Leicestershire and it's another opportunity for people to see the effort that has gone into the project.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone that has voted for me. The support has been amazing and I really hope that it returns next year to give  other aspiring artists the chance to get their artwork out there.”