Raphaella Herford received the Little Sellers Scholarship to further her studies and support a career path in the arts. Photo: ESC.
A talented teenage artist from the Eurobodalla was given a boost to help achieve her goal of a creative future when she took out the inaugural scholarship in the 2022 Little Sellers Art Prize.
Raphaella Herford is the first recipient of the Little Sellers $2000 Scholarship, which is for further studies in visual arts.
The 17-year-old from Moruya said it was “pretty surreal” to win.
“It’s just empowering to get to that level where my art is appreciated,” she said.
“It’s empowered me to continue my art practices and improve on them.”
Eurobodalla Shire Council’s creative arts coordinator Indi Carmichael said the scholarship was an important step to support creativity and visual literacy in the shire.
“We want to make sure the arts is seen as a viable career path for our young people and that they have the tools and resources to realise those aspirations,” she said.
Raphaella’s winning charcoal-and-pencil piece is titled The Highs, The Lows, The Inside-Out and is about perception around her mental health.
She said many people saw her as a joyful character – saying she was compared to the yellow character from the film Inside Out – but she was not always like that.
“The artwork is about how I am perceived to be that yellow character, but sometimes, it’s not always about that,” she said.
She said she was lucky to grow up in an artistic household and had been obsessed with art since she was little.
“To me, it’s really therapeutic, it’s where I can express my emotions,” she said.
“I love how people can perceive an artwork; there’s so many different meanings to it, it’s so beautiful.”
Raphaella is currently creating her major art project for year 11, but said once she finished year 12 she wanted to study an arts/drama course, then do a post-grad in teaching.
“I’ve always wanted to be an art and drama teacher and to build empowerment in kids,” she said.
The Little Sellers Art Prize was open to artists in school years 1-12 and this year’s theme was: Greet the sun. Face the moon.
“We judge across a variety of categories: technical skill, creativity and interpretation of the theme,” Ms Carmichael said.
“We had so many fantastic entries that really played with the theme – the winners showed promise in all three categories.”
She said the younger kids’ artwork “had amazing impact”.
“They don’t have a high level of technical skill, but really immersed themselves in the theme and explored their own creativity,” Ms Carmichael said.
“There was an amazing bunch of winners this year.”
The competition was established in 2016 as a companion to the Basil Sellers Art Prize.
The prize winners are:
1-4 years: Holly Blaas; runner-up, Lacey Lee.
5-7 years: Amelia Hick; runner-up, Abbie Morris.
8-10 years: Alison Muller.
11-12 years: Raphaella Herford; runner-up, Lucy Badman.
Children’s Services Award: Sunnie Thompson.
Youth Award winner: Eve Willis.
2022 Little Sellers Art Prize: Alison Muller.
Little Sellers $2000 Scholarship: Raphaella Herford.
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