Winners chosen to display work at Seaton Delaval Hall
Three artists get the nod for 2027
Three winners of the North East Emerging Artist Award have been chosen and will display their work at National Trust property Seaton Delaval Hall in 2027.
The selected artists have reached this stage through a process involving a public vote in the spring - when the shortlisted contenders’ proposals were displayed in the stables - and a panel of experts.
The winners are Newcastle University graduate Otis Grove-White, Durham-based Joseph Marsh, who has a degree in illustration from Edinburgh University, and Sunderland University postgraduate student Claire Ong.
Otis’s proposed artwork, The Rooks’ Return, looks at humanity’s growing disconnect from the natural world.
Through it he aims to encourage viewers to become reacquainted with the rhythms and processes of nature and with wildlife.
Informed by European folk traditions, Otis crafts costumes from natural materials.
His Seaton Delaval project focuses on a performance (also to be filmed) involving a striking feathered costume that will pay tribute to the birds that shape life at the hall.
He will draw on stories including the devastating fire of 1822, believed to have been caused by nesting rooks, and reference to the Delaval family’s questionable ‘sparrow mumbling’ entertainment, whereby young (and probably drunk) men would compete to bite the head off a sparrow.
Textile designer Joseph Marsh makes hand-painted patterns and luxury homeware that explore the relationship between people and their environment.
Inspired by the hall’s exposed brickwork and collection of Asian-inspired furnishings, Echoes of Seaton Delaval Hall will reimagine what its interiors may have looked like before the 1822 fire.
It will take the form of suspended rolls of chinoiserie-style wallpaper and feature panoramic landscapes of the hall and its hibernating pipistrelle bats.
Claire Ong creates textile works that explore the power of language, memory and human experience through screen printing, stitch and repurposed fabrics.
Her proposed artwork, Uneasy Chairs, has been inspired by Seaton Delaval Hall’s history as a Second World War overspill prisoner-of-war camp and will reflect on themes of welcome, belonging and community.
Also taking inspiration from the hall’s 18th Century upholstered furniture, she will create a series of velvet and wood artworks featuring words and phrases drawn from historical sources.
The winners’ work will be displayed at Seaton Delaval Hall from May 12 until July 11 next year along with David Kenney’s The Vanbrugh Perspective, postponed from this year.
The North East Emerging Artist Award is run in partnership by the National Trust at Seaton Delaval Hall and independent curator Matthew Jarratt.
Matthew said the creative imagination of the finalists was another indication of the potential among emerging artists in the region.
“It will be fantastic to work with the three selected artists and to support them to realise their proposals and for them to connect with the team at Seaton Delaval Hall who have so much historical knowledge to share.”
Emma Thomas, Seaton Delaval Hall’s general manager, said it had been a busy year for creative programming at the property.
“The North East Emerging Artist Award continues to remain at its heart, inspiring artistic practice and providing regional opportunities to develop careers,” she added.
“I’m delighted to welcome Claire, Joseph and Otis to the growing community of artists working with the hall.”
Seaton Delaval Hall is open Wednesday to Sunday (10am to 5pm) during term time and every day during Northumberland school holidays. The last admission is 4pm and standard admission applies.