University of Greater Manchester students celebrate awards evening at Creative Arts Show launch

Students and their families celebrated at the annual Creative Arts Show Awards prizegiving ceremony at the University of Greater Manchester.

The awards, covering a wide range of arts disciplines, were hosted by Sam Johnson, Head of the University’s School of Arts and Creative Technologies and heralded the launch of a public exhibition of students’ amazing work.

She said: “It’s a huge pleasure to introduce this awards ceremony and it’s lovely to see so much fantastic work coming together.”

As well as the awards, which were presented Dr Bill Webster, the University’s Group Vice President, by visitors were treated to displays of work created by students, including textile design, fine art, photography, film and SFX makeup and models.

Students, their families and guests toured the displays which feature work from programmes including Animation and Illustration; Fashion; Film and Media Production; Fine Art; Graphic Design; Photography; Special Make-Up Effects for Film and Television; Special Effects for Film and Television; Special Effects Model Making for Film and Television; Textiles and Surface Design; Visual Effects and Animation.

Ged Young, Programme Leader BA (Hons) Fine Art, said: “This year’s Creative Show truly showcases the hard work and determination of our final year students.

“Our industry partners always support our graduates and the awards they offer give our students a real platform for the start of their creative careers.”

Louise Garman, Co-Director of neo:artists, said: “It gave me great pleasure not only to hand out prizes of two-month residencies for three Fine Art graduates and two from the Photography course, but to see the amazing end of year show. Judging by the high standard of the work, all the graduates have a bright future ahead of them.”

Julie Levy at Hive Artists, said: “We have made two awards this year to Fine Art students who we feel show great potential. Both Emma Mather and Monica Hamakami showed a level of dedication and skill in their work that caught the eye of the Hive directors amongst what was a diverse and vibrant show.

‘We are delighted to be working with Emma and Monica over the coming year.”

Hive also selected three Photography students to work with and have offered a combination of exhibition opportunities and mentoring to Jane Barker, Sindija Malakorska and Patricia Janek.

Dr Steph Dermott said: “It is always exciting to work with a new group of award-winning students to see how they will develop over the year.”

The Creative Show will be open to the public until 20 June, from 10am to 4pm daily (excluding Saturday and Sunday), but will be open during the open day on Saturday 14 June.

School of the Arts: Creative Arts Show Prize Winners 2025

ANIMATION + ILLUSTRATION
Kent's Bank Station Library Award - Eimear Fowler
JD Studios – Joe Blundell
The 10ticks Creative Award - Tovia Makoji-Stephen

ENGLISH + CREATIVE WRITING
And Other Stories: Finn Chapman
Drama Prize: Emily Francis
English Essay Prize: Kiera Egars

DIGITAL MEDIA + CONTENT CREATION
Digital Media and Content Creation Prize – Oliver Tyler

FASHION
GFW NEXT Fashion Trend [Shortlist recognition] Award: Rebecca Flanagan
Outstanding Student Progression Award: Rita Abutu
GFW trailblazer sustainability collection award and The GFW Jimmy Choo scholarship awards: Mel Sidebotham
The Fashion Collection Award: Mel Sidebotham

FILM AND MEDIA
Outstanding Major Project Film: Meeka Roche and Finn Woodthorpe
Outstanding student Award - Alex Vanzandt

FINE ART
Neo Artists Graduate Residency Award: Daisy Mai Hilton
Neo Artists Graduate Residency Award: Zaiming Wang
Neo Artists Graduate Residency Award: Anna Yvonne Varetto
Hive Artists Exhibition Development Award: Emma Mather
Hive Artists Mentorship Award - Monica Hamakami

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Prevent Breast Cancer: Jess Horrobin
HSP Leigh: Lucy Vaughan
Beyond Vision: Matthew Atherton
Bolton & Leigh Railway 200: Masha Lambova

PHOTOGRAPHY
The Rising Light Award: Ivy Sellers
Beyond the Frame Award: Grace Schofield
Neo Artists Graduate Residency: Heidi Jones & Mai Hem Davis
Hive Artists Award: Patrycja Janek
Hive Artists Award: Sindija Malakovska
Hive Artists Award: Jane Barker

TEXTILES + SURFACE DESIGN
Surface Print Fine Wallpapers - Wallcovering Award: Emily Goulding-Ellison
AVA CAD CAM - Digital Design: Emily Goulding-Ellison, Chantal Turner
Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool - Exhibition Award: Sarah Boon, Azel Davies, Isobel Nethercoat
Design Collaboration - Entrepreneurship Mentoring Award: Caitlin Smith

SPECIAL MODELMAKING EFFECTS FOR FILM AND TV
MMFX Studentship Award: Gabe Ross
MMFX Studentship Award: Rachel Reggione
National Film and Sci-Fi Museum Award: Yuliarn Vassiljev
Nuffy's Model Shop Award: Keira Gore

SPECIAL EFFECTS FOR FILM AND TV
Neill Gorton Award: Emily Watson

SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS FOR FILM AND TV
Stan Winston Award: Sydni Nolan