and the winner is.....

Well the day arrived when everyone could see what all that fundraising was for - the newest recipient of the far south coast living artist scholarship was announced today at 12 (high) noon at Bega Valley Regional Gallery.....

In a lovely speech Karen O'Cleary from Narek Galleries (and much of the force behind the inception of the fsclap scholarship) congratulated the four finalists - Matthew Jones, Eryca Green, Craig Cameron, and Stan Squire for the quality of their scholarship applications - and pointed out that it's no mean feat being named a finalist in this increasingly prestigious and competitive award!

Karen at the very large lectern.....

And the winner is.......

Matthew Jones - aka Matt, aka Matty, aka Mister Jones
(caught here in the middle of his 'gee thanks' speech)

Matt was a finalist in the previous scholarship round, but this time clinched the prize (to little real surprise - if you've not seen his work, you owe it to yourself to check out his site or his walk-in studio space in Bermagui - fabulous stuff!)

Matt submitted an ambitious and expansive project in his scholarship proposal (more about this in a future post....) that really caught the attention of the judges - Helen Maxwell, Megan Bottari and Andy Townsend - it will be interesting watching his project unfold over 2011-2012.....

the fsclap scholarship threesome - previous scholarship recipients Poppy Benton
and Tanja Riese (now the fsclap president and vice president respectively)
have a group huddle with Matt....

this is what the fsclap committee and volunteers have been working so hard for.... don't they all look so happy! (p.s. I was smiling too - mostly because I'm always on the other end of the camera!)


and to all the supporters of the fsclap - a very big THANK YOU...... you're the biggest part of the this home-grown success story!



.. pics by rhonda ayliffe