Paul Passano wins top prize in Heritage Trust Painting Competition

The heavy stormy downpour of May 13 did not keep the artists away from this year’s Gibraltar Heritage Trust Annual Painting Competition. The theme of the 34th Annual Painting Competition was ‘Southern Defence Walls’ and the Adult Section was won by artist Paul Passano who received the £1,000 prize sponsored by Gibraltar Cultural Services.

The prizes were announced by Gibraltar Heritage Trust Chairman Ian Balestrino and presented by Heritage Minister John Cortes at the John Mackintosh Hall last Wednesday evening. Once again, the artworks created were of a high calibre making the judging for this years panel of judges a hard task.

The competition includes four categories of winners: Infants aged six and under, children aged between seven and 10, juniors aged 11 to 17 and adults, 18 over.

First and second prize in the Junior Section and the David Gladstone Shield was awarded to Stella Bosano.

The Children’s Section was won by Matylda Jacek, and the Infant Section by James Ferro. All the entries will remain in view until the end of next week at the JMH.

The Gibraltar Heritage Trust’s slogan for this year’s competition was ‘What a country chooses to save, is what a country chooses to say about itself’. The Trust was keen to highlight the fast-paced change to Gibraltar’s urban landscape and the threat of losing elements of local architectural heritage. By drawing attention to the walls through the medium of art it had wanted all participants, and all those who view their work, to appreciate the variety in the Rock’s landscape, to value it and be inspired by it.

Opening the proceedings on the day Trust Chairman Ian Balestrino paid tribute to all those who had supported and braved the weather for this always popular event.

“The Trust was once again very pleased with the outcome and with the community support it received in this 34th year of competition,” he said.

Presenting the awards Heritage Minister John Cortes said the competition was the perfect way of celebrating and blending art and heritage together. He thanked the Trust for organising this annual event on behalf of all artists.

On the day artists were invited to choose a view of the walls between Ragged Staff Gate and Charles V Wall including South Bastion Wall, South Port Gate and Prince Edward’s Gate. When the rains came some artists braved the elements and remained on site under their umbrellas whilst others captured their chosen spot on their cameras and mobiles and were allowed to completed their entries at home. The time frame for all participants was 9am to 5pm by which time the works had to be handed in at the Trust offices.

School entries, including artworks from Giorann Henshaw’s Art Class and were completed in the week leading up to the main event with a short history of the walls and area presented by Manolo Galliano.

This year’s judges were John-Paul Bautista, John Langdon, and Manolo Galliano.

In the Adult Section Jenna Lopez was awarded second prize. Third prize went to Francisco Aurelio Arguez Garcia.
The third prize in the Junior Section was won by Lubov Estella. In second place in the Children’s Section was Rylan Debono, with Corey Bensusan in third. The Infant Section saw Alex Beiso come in second place. Third placed was Emily Gil.

Highly commended in the Adult Section were: Sebastian Rodriguez, Thomas Maxwell, Caroline Canessa and Leslie Gaduzo. In the Juniors Sophia Povedano. In the Children’s Section highly commended were Lucia Sene, Ada Vincent and Leon Bado, and in the Infants Nour Bouhaltit, Alma Bokhari and Aurelia Nieroda.

The paintings will hang at the John Mackintosh Hall gallery until Friday 2, June. The exhibition opens daily 9am to 6pm. Entrance is Free.

EDITORS NOTE: This article has been corrected since it was first published on this website. The original version had Adam Vincent receiving a highly commended award in the Children’s Section. In fact, it was Ada Vincent who received the highly commended certificate.