New media

Simon Williams

Simon Williams (www.oproduction.co.uk/index.html) is an independent director, cameraman and editor specialising in the arts.

He has worked with clients ranging from individuals and small businesses to the likes of Channel 4, the British Film Institute, the BBC, EMI, Virgin Records and the Tate Gallery.

The judges felt he was an excellent ambassador for Medway, also producing work to help other Medway artists to promote themselves.

A judges' commendation went to Medway Renaissance Concept Branding project by three students at the University for the Creative Arts.

Fashion and design

Rüdiger Leopold

Rüdiger graduated from the University for the Creative Arts (www.ucreative.co.uk) in 2007 with a first class honours degree.

He has a distinctive style that demonstrates emerging new technologies in the precious metals profession.

The judges were really impressed with his work and his design solutions and felt he was an outstanding winner of this award.

Music

The City of Rochester Symphony Orchestra

The City of Rochester Symphony Orchestra (www.crso.org.uk) has brought high quality performances of large-scale symphonic music and big name soloists to Medway.

The orchestra is run by a hard-working committee of volunteers and seeks to nurture enthusiasm for music in people from all walks of life.

Roger Sayer from Rochester Cathedral

In the words of his nominator, the contribution made by Roger Sayer (www.rscm-oxford.org.uk/Archive/rogersayer.htm) to music in Rochester as Director of Music at Rochester Cathedral is unparalleled in the last 20 years.

The judges agreed and wanted to recognise the excellence he has demonstrated in terms of the practice and recording of music.

Literature

Zara Carpenter

Zara Carpenter is a full-time writer who has so far had three books published:

• Chatham Girl,
• Reflections of a Dancing Bear,
• The Medway Festival Fringe.

She has also helped with workshops for groups such as the Kent Association for the Blind and been involved in the Medway Fuse Festival.

Zara is part of Medway’s Stuckist movement and the judges were impressed with the rawness of her writing.

Heritage

Art in Churches 2007

ARCH or Art in Churches (www.artinchurches.org.uk) is a HeART Medway-initiated public art project featuring contemporary artworks in four medieval churches on the Hoo Peninsula.

Eleven north Kent artists created site-specific responses to the churches to attract new audiences to the more rural areas of Medway.

The judges were won over by the way this project promoted a cultural heritage of a part of Medway off the beaten track that is often overlooked.

Judges' commendations went to the Guildhall Museum, Rochester and the Royal Engineers Museum, Gillingham.

Visual arts

Hei People public art project 2007

The Hei People (http://heipeople.com) were a series of wacky public art installations by the internationally-acclaimed Finnish artist Reijo Kela.

Nobody in Medway could have failed to have noticed hundreds of scarecrow-esque figures who appeared at Fort Amherst in May 2007 as part of a project aimed at demystifying the public art process.

The four-week installation, funded by the North Kent Local Authorities Arts Partnership and Arts Council England South East, was accompanied by public events and schools workshops and was one of a series of installations that took place in north Kent.

Performing arts

Loop Ed Dance Company

Loop Dance Company (www.loopdancecompany.co.uk) is based at the Brook Theatre in Chatham and brings contemporary dance to the Medway area.

Through the Loop Ed sector of the company, it also aims to open up contemporary dance to a much wider youth audience, offering training, choreography, film sessions and visits to other dance companies.

Partnership working

New Art Centre (NAC)

The New Art Centre (www.nucleus-arts.com) in Chatham has grown from humble origins as a space for local artists to develop and display their talents into the leading arts and community base in Medway.

The centre works with a huge range of groups and project partners, such as the Kent Association for the Blind, MCCH and Medway Council's Youth Service to name but a few.

Without working in partnership, the NAC would not be the thriving community hub that it is today.