NEWS FEED
A stunning horse’s head sculpture by an Kim Weiler from Milford-on-Sea was the public’s favourite at the New Forest Open Art exhibition.
More than 700 votes were cast and Kim’s 3D gorse wood creation ‘The Forester’ was the clear winner, triumphing over a record-breaking 215 entries and earning the artist a £100 prize.
Thousands of people attended the exhibition at the New Forest Centre in Lyndhurst in the summer, which is run in partnership with the New Forest National Park Authority. Visitors had the chance to see dozens of pieces of art inspired by the wildlife, landscape and traditions of the New Forest.
People’s Prize winner Kim said: “The New Forest Centre in Lyndhurst has been a fantastic showcase over the summer for the open art exhibition and I am so thrilled ‘The Forester’ has won the people’s prize.
“The New Forest is such an inspiring place and my pieces are made from gorse wood, collected under licence from around the Forest.”
New Forest Centre Manager Hilary Marshall said: “I am delighted, but not surprised, that ‘The Forester’ by Kim Weiler was such a firm favourite with our visitors. Having already been awarded highly commended by the competition judges, it is a wonderful use of locally-sourced materials.”
View an online photo gallery of this year’s entries at www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/openart2016. The exhibition and associate competition were sponsored for a fifth year by ExxonMobil at the Fawley Refinery.
