A festival which celebrated the illustrative arts has been recognised by the cream of the creative industry across the north east at a prestigious awards ceremony in Sunderland Minster.
Hartlepool Festival of Illustration, hosted by Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD), and sponsored by Grand Central Trains, made its debut last summer in Hartlepool, and has been awarded Best Event Teesside at The Journal Culture Awards 2016.
The 10th annual Culture Awards event, which rewarded the creative talents of the north east, was attended by an audience from the cultural and creative sector. As the awards were open to large and small scale events, festivals and exhibitions within Teesside, the Festival faced tough competition, and was shortlisted alongside Stockton Calling Music Festival and Teesside University’s MIMA: Localism art project.
Hartlepool Festival of Illustration presented a month-long event for children, families and illustration fans young and old – with world-renowned artists featuring an exhibition of major illustrators’ work – including Children’s Laureate, Chris Riddell, and Ralph Steadman. It attracted 8,300 visitors and included a series of illustration workshops in schools and libraries for over 800 children, two days of guest lectures and masterclasses and a street market of illustrators’ artwork.
Over 40 exhibitors, including Tom Newell, Dan Mumford, Keith Robson, Hunt Emerson and John McCrea, showcased over 250 works of art from as far back as the 1950s, some of which were original pieces which had never been viewed by the public before.
With a thought-provoking symposium which examined illustration through the ages, a live ‘drawing wall’ for visitors to take part in, and a lively street market, the inaugural event proved to be a massive success, and the team behind the event were delighted to win the award.
Patrick Chapman, Head of Employability and External Relations at CCAD, said: “We are delighted that the 2015 Hartlepool Festival of Illustration has won the Best Event Teesside award. Organising this first festival was a risk and a challenging task but we were driven by the vision to bring a diverse, world class set of artists and their work to Hartlepool.
“We wanted to connect with a wide audience spanning the whole community and show them how illustration is a part of daily life, to demonstrate to young people the many different careers that are open to them, and for everyone to have fun! We achieved all this so it is great to get recognition for the College and our partners, especially Hartlepool Borough Council.”