We are delighted to announce the Winners of the 2024 Tabernacle Art Competition. The theme for the competition was “On a Windy Day”. Christopher Mike generously agreed to be this year’s Judge. Christopher is a painter who operates from studios in London and Wales. He paints urban and industrial landscapes to show how beauty can be found in what may otherwise appear to be brutal environments. Other times he concentrates on the untamed and beautiful Welsh coastline.

About the competition, Christopher says “It was a real privilege to have been asked to judge the 2024 Tabernacle Art Competition. Any opportunity to submit artwork for display in a public place is something to be cherished.

Whilst similar opportunities exist elsewhere in Britain, none are as accessible and inclusive as this. Long may it continue.”

First Prize in the Adult category goes to Robert Price with his photograph on aluminium titled “On a Still Night (Melin Llynon, Anglesey)”.

Robert is a self taught photographer from Machynlleth. Robert enjoys all kinds of photography but his passion is capturing the night sky. In 2023 he was shortlisted for the Astronomy Photographer of the year.

Explaining his work Robert says “Llynon Mill is somewhere I have wanted to photograph for a while. I took 760 photos at regular intervals to capture the movement in the stars, when these photos are overlayed on top of each other they create lines that plot the path of the stars through the night sky as the Earth spins. The circles show four and a half hours worth of movement. The mill and foreground are lit by a nearly full Moon”.

Second Prize, donated by The Friends of The Tabernacle, is shared this year by Gareth Brindle Jones with his oil on canvas titled “Rachel”, and Annie Giles Hobbs with her work in oils titled “On a Windy Day”.

Gareth is from Anglesey, he is predominantly a painter, working in oils and acrylics and nearly always using brushes. He studied Art at Coleg Menai, Bangor in the late 90’s. Gareth has an interest in portraying motion through brush strokes, and uses mark making which produces work that is recognisable, abstract, and with intent.

Annie Giles Hobbs is a well known Welsh artist. She is a member of Butetown Artists and works from her studio in Bute Street Cardiff she is a co-ordinator of the Cardiff Print Workshop She taught at the School of Fine Art UWIC and subsequently Cardiff Metropolitan University Annie now concentrates on her practice developing her own very distinctive, personal style.

Third Prize, donated by Wendy Fuller, goes to Alison Ross with her mixed media work titled “Shoo! (Windy Wash Day)”.

Alison is a self taught mixed media artist from Criccieth. She paints, creates textile work and sculpts in Paper Mache and Paperclay. Her work is usually about simple everyday things. They are about relationships, connections to each other and animals, they are about love. They often have a humorous element. Alison’s greatest hope is that they make people smile.

Anne Mychalkiw, Stewart Jones, Laura Novo De Azevedo, W N Evans, Alison Shotbolt, Neil Anderson, Gethin Jones, Natalie Chapman, Fiona Hayward, David Billingsley, Brenda Jones, and Paul Taylor were Highly Commended.

In the Ages 11 and under category, the winner is Chloe Marsh, age 10 from Luton, with her mixed media work titled “A Windy Spring Morning in Toddington”.

Jamie Smart (age 8), Zoe Leng (age 9), Sirena Sutton (age 9), Grace Hussein (age 9), and Rory Groves (age 9) were Highly Commended.

The winner in the Ages 12 to 17 category is Gwenllian Breese, age 15, with her acrylic collage titled “Mrs Jones yn Mynd i’r Capel” (Mrs Jones Going to Chapel).

Gwenllian is a pupil at Ysgol Bro Hyddgen in Machynlleth.

Alexandra Georgieva (age 14), Evie Chapman (age 17), Rosa McBride (age 13), Tala Luna Sutton (age 12), and Ana Hussein (age 13) were Highly Commended.

The selection of the winners was no easy task with nearly 200 works being submitted. The winning works, alongside the highly commended works and a selection of other submitted works, will be exhibited in the Owen Owen and Bridge Galleries at MOMA Machynlleth from 22nd June to the 4th September. All the exhibited works are for sale.

We encourage visitors to come and vote their favourite works. The adult and under 18 works with the most votes will win the Ailsa Owen Memorial Prize, a prize given by David Owen in memory of his late wife who judged the first competition nearly thirty years ago. Voting is open until 23rd August with the winners being announced at midday on Saturday 24th August, along with the theme for the 2025 Tabernacle Art Competition.