Student artist showcased in celebrity art auction for the anonymous heART project

The anonymous heART project launched in 2018 and is an innovative fundraising campaign that sees top artists and celebrities produce unique pieces anonymously, which are then auctioned online. All proceeds go towards helping fund vital medical research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease. This year’s auction will add to the £200,000 raised over the last four years.

To celebrate the fifth anonymous heART project, the charity has collaborated with Walker Morris to offer an exclusive opportunity to the students of Leeds Arts University. The students were asked to submit a concept for an A5 postcard, with an open brief that could include textile, illustration, photography, music or creative writing – as long as it fits onto an A5 postcard.

This year’s finalists have been named as: Aalia Ashraf – Foundation Diploma in Art & Design, Juliet Gaskell – level 5 BA (Hons) Visual Communication, Louise Allen – MA Creative Practice, Nicole Chang – level 5 BA (Hons) Visual Communication, Lauren Crawford – level 5 BA (Hons) Illustration and Thea Wormald – level 4 BA (Hons) Fine Art. The winning design will be commissioned and auctioned as part of the anonymous heART auction alongside professional artists and celebrities taking part in the project. The winner will also receive £1,000 in prize money.

Walker Morris sponsored the first anonymous heArt project in 2018 and has a long history of supporting the arts, having brought the prestigious Royal Academy Schools Show out of London for the first time in its history in 2003, and sponsoring Ashley Jackson’s ‘The Power and the Passion’ exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London and Temple Newsam, Leeds.

David Smedley, Chairman of the LLP and a judge for this project, said:

“Walker Morris are immensely proud to be sponsoring the anonymous heART project again this year, as well as being able to offer this unique opportunity to the extremely talented students of Leeds Arts University. The quality of the work has been incredible and the piece we chose as the winner is a tremendous piece of art – a standout piece in my view – about togetherness and support that sends all the right messages in these challenging times.”

Rachel Brooke, the anonymous heART project lead at Heart Research UK said:

“Being part of the judging panel has been such a pleasure and what a fantastic opportunity to see some very different and diverse pieces of art. All of the submissions were inspired and had a real mix of techniques, styles and artistic vision, which made the task of choosing just one winner incredibly difficult. A lot of the pieces had a strong sense of bringing people together which is something that we try to do at Heart Research UK. We keep families together for longer through our investment into medical research and our work in local communities.”

This year’s auction will go live on eBay on 4 November and will see up to 500 A5 creations auctioned, including pieces from Ashley Jackson, Sarah Graham, Ralph Steadman, Andrew J Millar, Naomi Vona, Otto Schade and Bambi. However – the artist’s name will only be revealed once the piece has been sold and received by its new owner.

For more information about the anonymous heART project, please visit the Heart Research UK website.