Students, staff, children and visitors to the University of Essex have been creating incredible art works reflecting on the life of the University to help it celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The ‘I AM ESSEX’ exhibition in the iconic Hexagon building on the University’s Colchester Campus brings together around 175 art works selected from more than 350 entries across four categories.

The award winners for each category were:

• • Children/Young Adult (18 and under) category – Four-year-old Tom Bailey for ‘My day out[‘, a collage of polaroid photographs.
• • Current Student - Charlotte Frost for ‘Intermittent Intervention’, a black and white photograph.
• • Current Staff - Edmundo Hernandez-Martinez for ‘Untitled’, colour pens on calendar A5 sheet.
• • Visitor - Charlotte Bernays for ‘Whirrs and Whirls’, mixed media installation.

Arts Education Outreach Officer Kate Beckwith said: “This is an exhibition by the people, for the people and open to everyone. More than 250 people came to the opening night of I AM ESSEX and there was a wonderful atmosphere with everyone enjoying the chance to see so many amazing works inspired by the University.

“We were also really pleased to welcome school children from across the area to the exhibition over the past week and it was brilliant to see their responses and hear their views on the work on show.

“The art work captures our University’s architecture, social life, work life and surroundings. There is a real mix of work from expressive collages by young children and quickly sketched pictures to works that have emerged from years and years of experience of our campus. Visitors will find sculptures, photography, print, canvases alongside passionate statements and questions written on the walls of the gallery.

“I think all the works come together to create a really celebratory exhibition. We hope lots more people will come to enjoy the exhibition, see how others see Essex and share their own experiences”.

The exhibition has been supported by the Essex Fund, which is funded by donations from alumni.

Arts Education Outreach Assistant Gisselle Giron, who is also a MA Art History student, supported Kate to ensure the exhibition was a success and a positive experience.

Volunteers from the vTeam in the Students’ Union, organised by I C Arts project leader Jennifer Nlewedum, ICArts Leader also gave up their time to help with preparations for the show.

The judging panel included MA Curatorial Studies student Jana Hess, professional artist and art tutor Amy Nettleton and East Bergholt High School student Casper Hamilton, who was one of the winners at last year's Open Exhibition.

Visiting the exhibition

The exhibition is open until Saturday 11 April. Opening times are 11am to 5pm Tuesday to Friday and 12noon to 4pm on Saturdays.

For more information go to our Essex Daily blog.