D&G Life Awards 2024
We were delighted to welcome the Dumfries and Galloway Life Awards back to The Crichton last week with the 2024 ceremony, which was held at Easterbrook Hall.
The D&G Life Awards celebrate the incredible community spirt of the region, as well as the remarkable array of talents, entrepreneurial skills, innovation, enthusiasm, dedication, and passion that exists here. The nominees are selected by the public and are those within local communities that people believe deserve recognition for their amazing achievements, for striving for excellence and flying the flag for the region in the fields of enterprise and education, food and drink, sports, culture, and tourism.
Visual Artist / Maker of the Year
The Crichton is proud to sponsor the Visual Artist / Maker of the Year award, and this year’s nominees certainly showcased the fantastic creative talent that exists in Dumfries and Galloway. Up for the award were:
Bea Last – a professional practicing Contemporary Artist, Mentor and Educator, Bea Last was recently awarded the Aesthetica Art Prize (Finalist) 2023 leading to an exhibition at York Art Gallery as part of Asthetica’s ART NOW symposium. In 2023, Bea received a supported visual arts residency award, at La Providence Centre Catalan d’art Vivant Ille sur Têt, Perpignan, France through 10dence Gallery in the Netherlands as one of their resident artists. Bea also mentors on a one to one basis and facilitates creative workshops for those on the autism disorder spectrum including other learning barriers.
Laura Hudson Mackay – also known as Lolliography, Laura is an award-winning Food Photographer and Food Stylist, who brings an artists’ eye to the styling of every image. With a background in hospitality, she attended catering college and worked in hotel and restaurant kitchens and front of house, from assisting a French pastry chef to silver service and management. Her culinary expertise really shines through in her imagery, and Laura’s food photography is in demand across the region.
Sheri Lennon Illustration – Sheri Lennon produces high quality digital illustrations for bespoke projects and children’s literature. After attending George Street School of Art, in Dumfries, Sheri gained a BSc (Hons) in Textile and Fashion Design Management from the Scottish College of Textile/Heriot-Watt University, Galashiels Campus. Sheri spent many years producing art work in portraiture and animal figurative but now focusses on illustration. She continues to pursue her ambition of working within Children’s Book Illustration and also produces illustrations for fashion editorial, greetings cards, concept art, surface pattern decoration and bespoke illustration for business.
Huge congratulations to Bea who took home the award on the night.
We also wanted to congratulate the other well-deserved winners on the evening, particularly Kathleen Cronie from Mostly Ghostly who won the Performing Artist of the Year Award. We’re lucky enough to have a Mostly Ghostly tour here on site at The Crichton, and we know the hard work that goes into each one. If you’ve been lucky enough to attend one of the Crichton Crypt tours, you’ll know first hand what a fantastic experience it is!
It’s always an absolute privilege to be involved in the awards that celebrate the best our region has to offer, as well as the hard work that goes into the event by our team at Easterbrook Hall. Thank you to Dumfries and Galloway Life for a brilliant evening, and to all the events staff who ensured the evening ran smoothly.
