Rockingham residents cast their vote as 2022 People’s Choice Award winners announced

The votes are in and the public has spoken, with three artworks from the Castaway Sculptures Awards winning the 2022 People’s Choice Awards. Castaways has been the City of Rockingham’s premier arts and culture event for the past 14 years, giving emerging and professional artists an opportunity to exhibit their creative skills and design sculptures from recycled and repurposed materials. In the main exhibition on the Rockingham Foreshore, the public chose artist Kim Perrier’s piece Fractured Time as the $1000 Fremantle Ports People’s Choice Award. Weedy Sea Dragon by Ruth Acton took out the $500 People’s Choice Award, while Sheoak Grove Primary School won the People’s Choice Award Trophy — Schools Competition for its piece Try Not to Fret It, Go and Express It. Perrier said he was honoured to win the People’s Choice Award for a second year running. “The sculpture illustrates the ‘mother of time’ rewinding the clock as numerals spiral down the tapered base, sucked into a black hole where time ceases to exist,” he said. “Winning the People’s Choice communicates to me that people see the value in my work, so it is very encouraging.” Sheoak Grove Primary School teacher Tamara Lee said students from kindergarten to Year 6 collaborated on their winning piece, which was a rewarding hands-on learning experience for them. “Our students learned how to consider different sustainable themes and choose a socially sustainable idea that was specifically meaningful to them, which they then collaboratively developed and built into their own expressive work of art,” she said. Local artists were also acknowledged by Rockingham mayor Deb Hamblin, who congratulated the People’s Choice Award winners for their creative efforts. “The quality of artwork in Castaways this year was outstanding and Kim Perrier, Ruth Acton and the students of Sheoak Grove Primary School should all be immensely proud of their efforts,” she said. “The city thanks Fremantle Ports for its ongoing support of the Castaways Sculpture Awards and for sponsoring this popular award category.” Castaway will return in 2023 from October 21-29 at the Rockingham Foreshore, Churchill Park and Rockingham Arts Centre.