Art awards for Mangotsfield School

MANGOTSFIELD School’s art department took home three awards from a national competition.

A total of 26 Year 9 students submitted work for this year’s Art Bytes, an art and educational technology programme for primary, secondary and special schools.

The works – self-portraits created in lessons as part of the year 9 curriculum inspired by portraits that pupils studied in art history – were put before an expert panel and an online public vote, with three from each school selected to appear in a virtual gallery and the young artists invited to a formal regional awards ceremony at Bristol’s Royal West of England Academy of Art (RWA) on June 7. 

Year 9 student Casey Blacklock won the South West regional secondary school artist award for her work ‘Casey-ometti’, a mixed media drawing and painting self-portrait in the style of Giacometti’s portrait, Annette. 

Teacher Dawn Beedle won the regional secondary school teacher award for work promoting art both at school and in the community, while the school itself won the competition’s community engagement award, recognising “positive engagement” from all students from the school.