Some brilliant young talent in the City of Ryde was recognised on Wednesday 29 April 2026 when the winners of this year's Youth Creative Competition were announced.
Open for artists and writers aged 12-24 years old, this competition not only showcases some incredible talent but also highlights the enormous benefits that art - and the message behind it - can provide.
Entrants were asked to respond to the 2026 theme 'Your Dream' in the categories of art and writing with a total prize pool $6,000 awarded.
The art category included painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, digital artwork, collage and short film, while the writing category encouraged entries in short story, fan fiction, poetry, review or piece of prose.
City of Ryde Mayor Trenton Brown (pictured above, with 16-19yrs art category winner Angela Yu) acknowledged the high standard of work produced across the board in all the entries.
"This year's theme gave our young creatives a brilliant opportunity to use their skills and imaginations to develop some deeply impressive and meaningful work," he said.
"Our panel of art and writing competition judges - all experts with specialist knowledge - were treated to a wonderful variety of entries, which made the job of selecting the winners difficult, but enjoyable.
"And it's also a wonderful representation of our inclusive and diverse community."
The winners were:
ART CATEGORY
12-15yr age group
Winner - Jesse Ezra Eduarte
Runner Up - Mackenzie Mayne
Highly Commended - Eelian Li
16-19yr age group
Winner - Angela Wu
Runner Up - Chuyan Chen
Highly Commended - Eelian Li
20-24yr age group
Winner - Darcy Halfpenny
Runner Up - Bethany Rae
Highly Commended – Sudenaz
WRITING CATEGORY
12-15yr age group
Winner - Chloe Lu
Runner Up - Aditya Paul
Highly Commended - Vicky Fan
16-19yr age group
Winner - Annabelle Whitfield
Runner Up - Angela Tran
Highly Commended - Amelia Mayne
20-24yr age group
Winner - Thuhashini Celia Thirimanna
Runner Up - Audrey Fallone
Highly Commended – Ben Whitfield
