LONDON.- Art UK and The Paul Mellon Centre announced the winners of the inaugural Write on Art prize – an award that was launched at the end of 2017 to encourage a greater interest in art and art history at schools in the face of a disturbing decline in the teaching of the subjects.

Almost 200 students in Years 10 to 13 submitted essays on ‘A work from the Art UK website that fascinates you…’ which were pored over by a jury that included Dr Gabriele Finaldi (Director of the National Gallery), Jackie Wullschlager (Chief Art Critic, The Financial Times), Turner Prize-winner Jeremy Deller, cultural historian and broadcaster Dr Janina Ramirez and Dr David Dibosa, Course Leader for MA Curating and Collections at Chelsea College of Arts.

First place in the Years 12/13 category was taken by Catherine Jamieson from Esher College who wrote on Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian (National Gallery, London) – essay attached.

First place in the Years 10/11 category was won by Abhimanyu Gowda from King Edward VI School, Warwickshire who wrote about British Empire Panel (11) India by Frank Brangwyn (Brangwyn Hall, Swansea) – essay attached.

Director of the National Gallery, Gabriele Finaldi, said: “I was delighted to be one of the judges of the inaugural Write on Art prize and impressed by the exceptionally high standard of the essays produced by the shortlisted candidates. It is so encouraging to see such talented young writers in their last few years of school. I wish Art UK and the Paul Mellon Centre great success with the prize in future years and hope it will enthuse more young people to look at, think about and write about art.”

At the awards ceremony – which was attended by students, parents and even some grandparents (image attached) – it was said many times that the award had encouraged students to think seriously about changing A Level choices to include Art History, and some students mentioned thinking about studying the subject at university.

Write on Art will return in November 2018.