Recent Nottingham Trent University graduate and Young Creative Awards winner Sasha Hughes-Stanton has been awarded a special prize by national arts charity UK Young Artists – a week-long residency in Shanghai, China.

22 year-old Sasha graduated from Nottingham Trent University this year with a First Class Honours degree in Textile Design.

In May, Sasha was awarded the prize for Design & Architecture (19-24 age group) at the sold-out Young Creative Awards ceremony at Nottingham Playhouse.  Sasha was commended by judges from architectural practice Maber for her skilful submission, which explored innovative designs for public shelters and spaces in Nottingham city centre.

UK Young Artists (UKYA), which receives funding from Arts Council England and four regional universities, launched a new partnership with the Young Creative Awards (YCA) this year, promoting work by former YCA winners at the multi artform Nottingham-wide arts festival the UKYA City Takeover in February 2019. 

UKYA went on to offer a special prize at this year’s Young Creative Awards, selecting one young person from across the 11 categories whose work demonstrates originality and a commitment to their practice.  Sasha was selected from nearly 100 YCA finalists.

For her prize, Sasha will be given a fantastic funded opportunity to work with an international group of young artists as part of a week-long site specific residency in Shanghai, China in September 2019.

Michelle Bowen, Director at UK Young Artists said: “We had a hard choice to select from such a stellar shortlist of Young Creatives but Sasha’s work stood out for its high quality, understanding of materials and unique voice.  We are sure that this will be an invaluable experience for an exciting young artist at the beginning of her career.”

Sasha Hughes-Stanton, pictured, added: “I was thrilled to win at the Young Creative Awards, and I could not believe it when I was informed about the UK Young Artists prize too.  I was completely overwhelmed, and cannot wait to take part in the project in China, working with other young artists from the UK, China and Korea.”

Jonathan English, Chair of Young Creatives Nottingham commented: “This year’s Young Creative Awards was the biggest celebration of Nottingham’s young creatives yet, recognising the brilliant work of dozens of talented young people like Sasha Hughes-Stanton. We are delighted to be working with partners like UK Young Artists to provide unique, enriching experiences for young creatives, helping to support them into successful creative careers.”