The winners of the prestigious Black Swan Arts Open exhibition have been revealed, with young artists dominating the prizes. Of the work by artists aged under 30 years, five won awards, and 17 yr old Violet Venable-Ziminski from Frome won three of them!

There were over one thousand entries to the competition and 193 pieces were selected making it the largest Art Open exhibition in its 30-year history. Seventy-four came from the SW region, with thirty-two from in and around Frome; and seven of the sixteen prizes and highly commended awards were won by artists from the town.

To find out more about each artist, you can view their artists statements in the online shop.Every piece is for sale at under £1000 and with so many exceptional original pieces there is a huge variety of work to buy.

This year’s winners:

• First Prize supported by Hauser & Wirth Somerset: Ellen Carter for Portrait of Mum. Highly commended: Alyson Minkley for Haptic Traces Series, Danny Markey for Red and White Footballers, Sarah Edwards for Scabious, Violet Venables-Ziminski for Self Portrait as Stanley Spencer, Gina Soden for Retrait Bleu and Frances Gynn for The Trouble with Nature – Yellowhammer in Snow.
• Harris & Harris Solicitors Prize: Steve Dutton for The Judge (Phantom Industry).
• Lynda Pelly Prize for an Artist Under 30: Grace Green for Where Water Meets Land. Highly commended: Josie Phillips for Vessel 1 and Ruby Hyde for This is No Place.
• Bruce Munro Studio 3D Prize: Robyn Neild for Resting Figure with Botanicals.
• Geraint Davies Picture Framing Prize: Violet Venables-Ziminski for Self Portrait as Stanley Spencer.
• Makers’ Yard Somerset Residency Prize: Marta Zubieta for Petit Mort and Bath Time.
• Lotte’s Bistro Prize for a Local Artist: Miranda Collis for Nest. Highly commended: Violet Venables-Ziminski for Self Portrait as Stanley Spencer.