City of Ryde's second annual Youth Creative Competition has once again uncovered some incredibly talented young artists and writers.
This year's competition, for artists and writers aged 12 to 24 who live, work, or study in the Council area, provides an opportunity for talented young creatives to achieve important recognition and exposure.
Winners for 2024 were announced on 20 November 2024 at Lachlan's Line Auditorium, where the exceptional entries enchanted the judges.
City of Ryde Mayor Trenton Brown praised this year's theme, 'Health and Wellbeing,' for inspiring entrants.
"We challenged our young creatives to interpret the theme through their chosen medium and express it in their distinct way," Mayor Brown said.
"With a brilliant use of skills and imagination they have created some deeply meaningful and captivating work in a competition that showcases the truly remarkable depth of talent in our fast-growing youth community."
A strong field of entries was received across both art and writing categories.
In the art category, entrants submitted images of paintings, drawings, photographs, digital artworks, collages or short film.
Writers submitted short stories, fan fiction, poems, reviews, or other prose pieces up to a maximum of 1,000 words.
The winners were:
Art Category
12 - 15 years
Winner - Cathy Chen - P(m)e(n)tal illness
Runner Up - Zoha Ali – Escapism
Highly Commended - Veronica Nguyen - Can't Remember
16 - 19 years
Winner - Flora Gao – Refractions
Runner Up - Jessica Liu - Sweet Illusion
Highly Commended - Gabriel Gao - Everything Everyhair All At Once
20 - 24 years
Winner - Stephanie Henderson - I can't wait not to go home
Writing Category
12 - 15 years
Winner – Sophia Shi - Under those couch cushions
Runner Up - Grace Anderson - She Was Enough
Highly Commended - Lucas Faro-Beer - THE VISION OF CAMUS
16 - 19 years
Winner - Amelia Mayne - The Anatomy of Colour
Runner Up - Rozana Eshghighadiri - 2 eggs with yolks intact
Highly Commended - Tahlia Hall - Passing Storms
20 - 24 years
Winner - Thuhashini Celia Thirimanna - Melanin and Mental Illness
Runner Up - Audrey Elia Fallone - Bug Bites
