A Newmarket student is being recognized for her artistic abilities as the recipient of the 2022 Shannon Phair Award from the Newmarket Group of Artists.
Chloe Duncan, 18, who graduated from Dr. J.M. Denison Secondary School in June, said her art teacher nominated her for the award. She submitted some of her work and ended up winning.
"I felt really good," she said. "It feels really good to even be on the website and just actually have people see your work."
The Shannon Phair award is given to a graduating student from a Newmarket high school to inspire and support a local emerging artist. The winner also receives $500 to go toward their post-secondary education.
The award is named in honour of a late mixed media visual artist who exhibited her art throughout Ontario. The funds to create the award were gifted to the NGA in memory of Phair.
As the winner this year, two of Duncan's pieces are displayed on the NGA website, both of them hand-drawn detailed portraits.
"I usually prefer to draw but I do experiment with a lot of mediums. For example, right now. I'm experimenting a lot with collages and just having fun with that," she said.
For Duncan, art has been a part of her life "for as long as I can remember. I've just always been messing around with stuff, making something, drawing."
Drawing especially allows her to create something different, she said.
"When I draw, I feel like I can create something that's different and that not everybody can look at and say, 'Oh, that's very normally seen.' I just kind of have my own touch to things," she said.
Duncan is taking her love of drawing to the next level when she starts school in September at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she will be studying interior design.
"I liked the idea that it's not even just a drawing, but we learn a lot of digital design, which I'm really interested in learning how to get away from a drawing and also learn digital concepts as well," she said.
Along with the $500 award, Duncan has also received a free 2023 NGA membership.
