The Northern School of Art awards Foundation Diploma student Theo Sunter this year’s long-running Joe Cole Award for his work Party in Greenwood, a unique hand painted oil on glass, watercolour and pencil animation, which is a culmination of over 248 original paintings inspired by displays of togetherness in communities despite divides and differences. 

The Joe Cole Award has been presented to a final year student annually in memory of a highly respected former colleague of The Northern School of Art Lecturer Joe Cole, since 1984. Joe joined the school after serving in the RAF, known to be a gifted artist and inspirational teacher, Joe’s influence continues to be felt across our community. The award is judged by a former employee Ken Young who taught alongside Joe Cole between 1966 and 1984, making him uniquely placed to recognise the qualities this award seeks to celebrate. 

Reacting to winning the award Theo, who joined the Foundation Diploma after completing a UAL diploma in Fine Art last year, said “I am really chuffed and grateful to be picked for the award it’s a very exciting award to win!”  

As the winner of the award, Theo will receive a cheque from Principal Dr Martin Raby for his work, which has been acquired by the school to be displayed on campus along with the previous winners from over the decades. 

Prize Judge Ken commented, “The prime motivation for the Joe Cole Award is drawing and I feel Theo’s work would certainly please Joe Cole, whose prime motivation was drawing skills, and Theo’s are quite remarkable using a variety of media. I was very pleased to see his work, the prize is for Theo’s animation, but what you don’t see is the two supporting sketchbooks that show the incredible amount of work that has gone into producing the piece, the quality of the work has remained constantly high. Sometimes it’s really hard to pick but this year when I saw Theo’s work, I thought he was the obvious candidate.” 

Theo’s work Party in Greenwood aims to shine a light on people coming together across social divides, Theo explains, “My project was about divide in the UK and the riots in Middlesbrough in 2024. I thought all the news and media was really negative, so I wanted my piece to highlight times when people all came together and were happy regardless of their difference. For this I looked at the Greenwood forest as described in Simon Schama’s Landscape and Memory where there were all these weird eccentric characters in the woods, and the hierarchy of gender and class are reversed in pursuit of freedom. The figures were referenced from Acid House rave videos in the late 80’s because I loved the idea of this scene and all these young people dancing and partying together at a time of tension in post miner strike Britain.”  

The piece is a real example of true dedication to craft, made up of over 200 paintings and over 100 hours work, Theo explains, “I did 248 paintings to complete the piece, half were freehand oil on glass and the other rotoscoped graphite on paper then inked with watercolour, the glass painting was quite difficult to get through at first because it was taking me over an hour per painting, but by the end of the project I had got it down to 15-30 minutes per painting. It was a really rewarding project because it taught me about painting in a much more painterly way and all the problem solving that came with learning paint animation.” Theo also collaborated with fellow student Seb Hewison on an original sound piece that runs over the animation.

The animation was created for Theo’s final major project accompanied by a large-scale painting, he explains ” I did two final pieces, my big painting took up all my college hours and then all my animation painting was done at home over the six weeks, we also had two weeks off for easter so I had a little bit more time.”  

Principal Dr Martin Raby commented, “The Joe Cole Award is one of the most significant honours presented by the school, recognising exceptional creative talent across our end-of-year exhibitions. Theo’s project is a fantastic example of what can be achieved through artistic skill, curiosity and an exceptional work ethic. What makes the work truly stand out is its thoughtful and optimistic message about people coming together in times of division. The Joe Cole Award celebrates exceptional artistic achievement, and Theo is a thoroughly deserving recipient.”

In September Seb will head to London to study at Chelsea College of Art, prize judge Ken Young said, “Chelsea are going to get a very good student, and he will enjoy the influence of London, I’m sure he will be bowled over by what finds.” 

Foundation Diploma Lecturer Lynne Caverhill said, “Theo worked relentlessly on this animated piece, creating hundreds of individual paintings, each forming a frame in this stop-motion work. The final result is incredible. His ability to maintain both the quality and liveliness of his mark-making, while capturing a strong sense of energy and joy, demonstrates a high level of skill. He is a hardworking student who has taken every opportunity for development, and we look forward to seeing where the future takes him.”