BA (Hons) Fine Art student Leoni Dingwall shares this year’s prestigious New Graduate Award with fellow student Eva Grinvalde. The award is a post-education professional development opportunity to support North East-based creative graduates from Arts Council National Portfolio Organisations Middlesbrough Art Week and The Auxiliary Project Space.

The award aims to support selected graduates from North East institutions with an artist and materials fee, three months of free studio space at The Auxiliary, talks by local artists with a focus on professional development, one-to-one crits with curators from Middlesbrough Art Week, and a space to showcase their graduate work at MAW, which takes place this September. Middlesbrough Art Weekend (MAW) is a visual arts festival that takes place across the town of Middlesbrough in galleries, institutions, project spaces, museums, and public and meanwhile spaces.

Leoni Dingwall, 21 years old, from Shiremoor, Newcastle upon Tyne, said, “When I received the phone call from Sue at The Auxiliary, I couldn’t speak; it was utter shock and amazement. I immediately started crying and thanking her. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I never imagined I’d actually win, and my gratitude grows each day that passes.”

Leoni’s work “tackles themes of council estate life, family dysfunction, parental loss and childhood trauma. My concept relies heavily on my own experiences and how they are projected in my memory, having been diagnosed with CPTSD. I wanted to use the opportunity of the degree show to shine a light on these issues on a wider scale. All of this accumulates to the idea that, despite your upbringing, trauma or socio-economic status, you are not alone in your experience; it is possible to heal and move forward to great heights you never thought you’d reach.”

Reflecting on her time on the degree, Leoni commented, “Being on this course has given me a list of experiences I never could have imagined, some good and some bad, as all things are. Yet, the knowledge I have gained not only in art theory and my own technical practice, but also in the professional art world and how to emerge as a professional practitioner, are attributes that will not only guide me in my own future work but assist in building a basis for my own career in teaching and community work for individuals who have faced the same circumstances I did myself.”

She continued, “My favourite memory of being at The Northern School of Art would have to be the fun day fundraiser we held for our degree show, ‘Interlude’. I and fellow student JK dressed as clowns, and people could pay to throw wet sponges and buckets of water at us. Along with a selection of stalls selling prints, mystery packs and second-hand clothing, a load of good friends came along to support us, and the event was really successful! Definitely a core memory.”

When asked what her advice would be to future students, Leoni said, “Honestly, the best advice I could give is to always remember your ‘why’. Being an artist will always have its troubles; if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be worth it. Your ‘why’ will push you when you feel you can’t go on. It’ll help you figure out those tricky parts of your coursework when you need to remember why your work exists, why you use the paint or sculptural material you use, and why you chose a certain theorist to discuss in an essay. Every part of this course asks you ‘Why?’. Your ‘why’ can and probably will change, but you still have to remember to say it.”

“Hartlepool is a hidden gem in the North; the more you look, the more you find,” she said of our campus hometown. “Being here, you’re surrounded by beaches and nature parks such as Ward Jackson Park and Summerhill Country Park. Make use of the nature here because the closer attention you pay, the more beautiful it becomes.”