Exhibition showcases creativity of students, staff and alumni

A showcase of shortlisted entries to the Paddon Award, a cross-arts competition for University of Exeter students, staff and alumni will be on display in the University Reception area on the Streatham Campus.

The theme of this year’s competition was 'Transformations' and entries were invited across various art forms including visual art, film, music and creative writing.  The judges for the Paddon Award were Honorary Graduate and International Curator, Thomas Trevor, folk singer and fiddle player Jackie Oates, and the Student Guild Vice President for Activities, Matt Bate.

Christy Ku, a second year English undergraduate scooped the first prize for ‘It All Passes’, a touching and sensitive poem about the ephemeral nature of life.

Second prize was awarded to Jordan Edgington, a graduate in Sports and Exercise Science, whose story ‘Ghosts’ about his first experiences as a graduate was identified with by many in the audience. 

Joint third prizes went to Bethany Ashley, a Liberal Arts undergraduate, for her beautifully designed poem ‘Kindling’, in which the second stanza was the inverse of the first, and to Clifford Roddy , Film undergraduate, whose challenging short film ‘Cosmia’ addressed the theme of someone achieving a transformation by ‘putting on a face’.

All the winning entries and those shortlisted will be on display in the showcase exhibition where visitors can judge the creative works for themselves.

Naome Glanville, Arts & Culture Co-ordinator at the University said: “The shortlisted entries were of an amazing standard and we are delighted this year to give a much larger audience the opportunity to enjoy them through this showcase exhibition.  We hope it will encourage even more staff, students and alumni to enter the competition next year.”

The annual Paddon Award was established in memory of two University of Exeter alumni to encourage participation in the arts.

The exhibition will be on display from 6 – 19 May in the University of Exeter Reception, Stocker Road, Exeter. Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 6 pm.