Great Southern artists on show as Blank Walls exhibition opens at the Vancouver Arts Centre in Albany

Young artists and photographers from the Great Southern will have their works on show from next week as the Blank Walls Youth Art Exhibition opens on Monday at the Vancouver Arts Centre in Albany. The exhibition’s finale coincides with Youth Week and will feature works based around the themes of “hope” and “connection”. It will include artists as young as 12 with submissions bracketed into five age ranges. Organised by headspace Albany, the exhibition is also a competition, and visitors will have the chance to vote for the community choice award. Winning artworks will earn cash prizes of up to $400 and will see their pictures, photographs and collages displayed in the newly refurbished Albany headspace centre. Headspace senior administrator and community engagement officer Jasmine Heslop said the 23 entrants included artists from Albany, Mt Barker, Denmark and Frankland River. “It’s an amazing opportunity for the artists to have their work professionally exhibited,” she said. The exhibition and competition have been supported by Youth Focus, an organisation which champions the mental health needs of young people in WA, and the City of Albany arts and culture team. Other prizes will be awarded by a judging panel of four with each piece rated according to its creativity, originality, technique and suitability for display at headspace Albany. The artists’ names will not be on display when judging takes place but will be visible to the public. The art will be on the walls at the Vancouver Arts Centre until April 17 with Youth Week running from April 10-17.