Macc Art Lounge Artist wins national award

An artist who is regularly featured at the Macc Art Lounge in the Grosvenor Centre has just won a prestigious national competition and the £5000 top prize.

Buxton-based Sandra Orme, who is one of 11 artists with work on display in the Macc Art Lounge in the heart of the centre, was selected by judges from more than 150 other artists to win the coveted Buxton Spa Prize (on Friday 1 July) for her piece, ‘Rising anew upon the Stones of the old’.

Artists come from far and wide to be a part of the competition. The artists were given locations in and around Buxton at random, the selected building or location then had to be the focus of the piece. Artists were allowed to work in any 2D media, except photography.

Sandra, who uses pastel and charcoal to bring her work to life, said she was delighted to be named the winner and receive the award. “Winning the prize means such a huge amount to me – it still hasn’t hit me that I’ve won it, I think I’m still in shock,” said Sandra.

“It’s a huge validation of what I do. I feel pastels are an underrated medium so I hope that by using them and winning this prize demonstrates the diverse effects that can be achieved.”

Grosvenor Centre Manager, Ed Kennedy, said he was delighted Sandra had won the award. “Everyone here at the centre is thrilled for Sandra,” said Ed. “We really believe in being able to support a range of groups across the Macclesfield community which is one of the many reasons we welcomed the Macc Art Lounge to the centre at the beginning of the year. They have so many fantastic artists, like Sandra, displaying and creating new pieces of work and putting on demonstrations for visitors. It’s great to have some of the best artistic talent in the region in the centre.”

Run by the Leeds-based East Street Art, the Macc Art Lounge is an artist-led initiative that organises pop-up exhibitions and promotes and supports professional artists across the North West. Currently based in the Grosvenor Centre, the Macc Art Lounge is open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 4pm until 16 July.

“We’ve seen the award-winning piece from Sandra and we think it’s brilliant,” added Ed. “To create an image like that using pastels is remarkable. I hope this award inspires people to visit the Macc Art Lounge in the centre and motivates budding artists in Macclesfield.”