The competition provides a fantastic opportunity to showcase the work of the degree level students as well as celebrating the continuing collaboration between Northbrook College and Worthing Festival.  

The college’s creative students, covering fine art, prop making, textiles and photography, were invited to submit a piece which could be used as the ‘face’ of this year’s multi-arts festival, which will bring together a host of events and activities covering live music, dance, heritage, art, comedy and more this summer.

Worthing Festival ‘24 will run from 8th to 23rd June.

After reviewing the submissions, the competition’s judging panel unanimously selected Jo’s beautiful abstract seascape painting as the winning piece.

The panel comprised Helena Thomas, Principal, Kirste McCool, HE Quality Manager from Northbrook College, councillors Rita Garner, Dale Overton and Cathy Glynn-Davies, Richard Manders from Colonnade House and Judy Fox from Time for Worthing. 

Cllr Garner, Worthing’s cabinet member for culture and leisure, said: “We were once again blown away by the quality of this year’s submissions and I’d like to thank all the students for their wonderful work. Jo’s original and striking seascape exemplifies the wealth of creative talent in our coastal town and the surrounding region.”

Jo, a mature student, originally studied at Northbrook but has now returned to the college after rediscovering her passion for painting during lockdown. She is now in the process of completing a higher education fine art degree at Northbrook College’s West Durrington campus.

Jo said: “I’m delighted that my painting has been selected for the official artwork for Worthing Festival 2024 . I’m proud to be representing Northbrook College and, as a mature student studying BA (Hons) Fine Art, I hope to inspire other artists to return to education later in life. It is a real confidence boost and I look forward to seeing my work in print promoting Worthing’s fantastic multi-arts festival.

Helena Thomas said: “We were incredibly proud of our relationship with Worthing Festival, and grateful for the opportunities provided to our talented students. 

“It’s important for our Northbrook College students to have the opportunity to work on ‘live’ projects for our local community, helping them to negotiate the transition of academic work and bring it to life. 

“We are so proud to see Jo’s work featuring so prominently, as part of this year’s fantastic festival.”

Event organisers are also invited to attend the ‘Get Ready for Worthing Festival’ event at Colonnade House on Thursday 18th January, which will talk people through registering an event, booking a venue and share some advice on how to promote an event.

New social media accounts have also been launched on Facebook, Instagram and X to create dedicated pages where people can learn more about the festival and its events.