The Manchester Open exhibition, in HOME’s main gallery from 24 Jan – 27 Mar 2022, is an award-winning biennial open call exhibition celebrating creative talent across Greater Manchester.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, HOME received an amazing 2,271 artwork entries. There are 474 artworks presented in HOME’s gallery from 446 artists across all ten boroughs of Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Salford and Manchester.
HOME worked closely with Castlefield Gallery on the selection for this year’s award winners, choosing from a shortlist of 20 artists. The nominated artists have been broken downinto five award categories.
Over £10,000 of prize funding will be distributed between the winning artists, with artist development packages managed by Castlefield Gallery and HOME.
One artist will receive a solo exhibition at HOME in our Granada Foundation Galleries. The final award, The People’s Choice Award has been voted by the public and will receive £250 Cass art voucher and a bespoke development opportunity to be agreed with artist.
These awards and winners are as follows:
Granada Foundation Gallery Award – Gwen Evans, Portrait of a Woman, Oil, acrylic and airbrush on board (Gallery No.435)
Castlefield Gallery: Artist Professional Development Award 1 – Gherdai Hassell, Solar, Mixed media collage archival print (Gallery no.409)
Castlefield Gallery: Artist Professional Development Award 2 – Annabelle Richmond-Wright, Alexa, deconstructed computer chair, hand-stitched foam, latex and found object high heels. (Gallery No. 469)
Castlefield Gallery: Artist Professional Development Award – 50+ – Nan Collantine, Oceans Apart no.22 (I think it’s going to rain today), Oil paint and oil bar on canvas (Gallery No.62)
The People’s Choice Award – Winner Luke Armstrong, Paper Samurai, paper sculpture (Gallery No. 458)
Runners up for The People’s Choice Award are: 2nd place – Michelle Topping, Evade, graphite and colouring pencil on paper, 3rd place – Carlos Feng, Isolation, acrylic on canvas, 4th place – Jen Orpin, Stand Your Ground, oil painting on canvas and 5th place – Arnold Pollock, Kam, film.
Helen Wewiora, Director and Artistic Director, Castlefield Gallery, says:
“It’s an honour to have been asked to be part of the Manchester Open judging panel again. Submissions for the 2022 exhibition evidence the wealth of artistic and creative talent in the city and city region. The finalists shortlisted for the Manchester Open Awards this year further demonstrate a high level of creative skills and artistic promise”.
In the first five weeks, HOME’s award-winning exhibition has generated over £23,000 in art sales with 93 artworks sold, exceeding the inaugural exhibition’s target of £22,000 in 2020.
Kate Royle, Marketing and Sales Officer – Visual Art and Theatre, says:
“It proves that there is demand to support Manchester’s diverse local artists. The Manchester Open also serves as an accessible entry point if you are starting your art collecting journey or you just want to snap up a great work of art. It’s fantastic to see so many artists supporting other artists in these purchases and art lovers supporting local artists!”
The Manchester Open has an accompanying events programme including a performance evening on Thursday 10 March 2022, 19:30.
