University Staff Scoop Paddon Prizes

The Paddon Award is a cross-arts competition open to current or former students and staff, of the University. It was established in memory of two alumni of the University of Exeter who contributed greatly to fostering collaboration between alumni and students for the benefit of the University. Both were very interested in the arts so an annual prize was set up to encourage participation in some aspect of the arts.

The theme of this year’s competition was; A Sense of Place: taking inspiration from our surroundings - people and places, past, present and future.

This theme inspired 35 staff and students to enter artworks into the competition, from paintings to poems, from films to a hand-felted rug and from songs to stories. The standard of entries was incredibly high. But in the end, it was some of the staff entries that shone through for the judges

The first prize, of £250, went to Tom Stevenson, PA to the Chief Operating Officer, for his painting of the River Exe in high flood running alongside Bonhay Road in St David’s, Exeter in February this year. This was a jewel of a work, which perfectly captured the flow of the menacing brown water, about to burst the river banks.

The second prize went to Rory Cunningham, Community Liaison Officer, for his breathtakingly intricate pictures produced as a tribute to members of University staff who work with the land, in exposure to the elements. One of the works included a beautifully detailed pencil drawing of the hands of Grounds person Laura Griffiths, with each line of the drawing formed from the words ‘all that is solid melts into air’, which was also the title of the pentaptych.

Third prize went to the creative writing piece ‘Hatherly’, written by Learning and Development Adviser, Clive Betts.  This poignant piece recounted the story of how one particular building helped him to recover a deeper sense of who he is and what is important to him, in a single moment last Summer.

The Arts & Culture team looks forward to continuing high quality of entries from staff, students and alumni for next year’s Paddon Award. Keep a look out on the Arts & Culture website later in the year for more details of how to enter the competition.