Youth Creative Competition 2023

Some amazingly talented young artists and writers were discovered in the 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.

This year’s theme was ‘Hope for the Future’. The competition, ran from 1 July-31 October 2023, and 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