A WEYMOUTH College student has won a prize for his prestigious artwork which helped raise awareness of the plight of a nation devastated by an earthquake.

Craig Wilson, who studies Fine Arts at the college, won the Dorset Art Prize 2015 for his portrait of a Nepalese woman.
With overall prize money worth £8,000, the Dorset Art Prize is one of the most valuable of its kind outside London.

Craig won £3,000 towards his HND course. He said: “It’s a marvelous feeling to have been judged the winner, especially when you looik at the real quality of all the work by other artists who entered. I feel very humbled.”

Craig, from Hamworthy, has had his winning portrait exhibited in Poole where it helped to raise money for the people of Nepal following a major earthquake earlier this year.

The competition is run by the Dorset Community Foundation Trust and Bournemouth and Poole College and aims to showcase the talent of artists in the county.

Diane Grannell, Bournemouth and Poole College's new principal who presented the awards, said: “The standard of work on display here is stunning. The Dorset Art Prize was set up for this purpose to uncover and give an incentive for artists of Dorset to show their talent."

The judging panel consisted of internationally remowned artist Stuart Semple, photographer Tony Worobiec and Michael Spender, Arts and Museum Manager for the Borough of Poole.

Stuart said: “Again the prize has been a huge success and the quality of the work was outstanding. Last year I said I would like to see more diversity in terms of painting, drawing and other media and the response to that challenge has been amazing. We hope the prize, which is funded for at least another ten years, will become rooted in the community.”

Other winners include Katie Horton, who won the 14 to 15 age category, Tobias Moors, who won the 16 to 18 age category and Georgina Sturge, who won the 19 and above category.