The kids are alright

YOUNG artists are making waves in the region and having their talents recognised.

At the presentations for the 2021 Raw Arts Awards on Thursday at the Capital, people aged 10 to 25 were celebrated for a wide variety artforms.

The awards received 95 entries, with winners and high commended entries given in four categories, visual arts, literature, digital media and performing arts.

Mayor Cr Jennifer Alden named the winners and said it was a great opportunity for young people to showcase their work.

“I would like to congratulate all of the artists who took part in this year’s awards. We are so fortunate to have such talented young people living in our community,” she said.

“We had a strong response for the awards and interestingly the literature category saw an increase in entries compared to previous years with submissions in fiction, short stories, poetry and even a screenplay.”

Highly commended entries included Maddie Kay in digital media for her piece I’m in love with fictional characters, Uzzielle Santos in literary for Freiheit, Tara Muscatello in performing arts for music and Cody Dewit-Hayes in visual arts for Breach Loaded Acid Trip.

The winners were Leroy Miller in digital media for Holding On, Jobe Thompson in literary for Come Spring, Jade Cuskelly in performing arts for music and drama, and Lilly Skipper in visual arts for thereofore I am.

The winners received a $1000 cash prize and the highly commended artists received $250.

Winner for performing arts Jade Cuskelly wowed the audience during the presentation with her rendition of As If We Never Said Goodbye from Andrew Lloyd-Webbers musical Sunset Boulevard.

“I really like the piece, I like how I can play with the dynamics in it, I’m quite a loud singer so it was good to try practice singing a lot softer for certain parts,” she said.

The Bendigo Senior Secondary College student is thrilled to be a part of Arena Theatre Company’s Robot Song, as the understudy for main character Juniper May.

“Robot Song is a musical about a girl with autism, and it’s really good to explore that kind of character because I myself am autistic and I just like the opportunities that kind of show gives people,” she said.

She said she loves how she can escape to a different world on stage.

“I myself am quite shy and I struggle a lot with socialising, and I feel like I can just explore a completely different character and be something bigger, which I really enjoy,” she said.