Newport researcher wins top award 

Dr Helen Sear, Senior Research Fellow in Photography at the University of Wales, Newport has recently been awarded a Creative Wales Major Award from the Arts Council of Wales. The awards provide support which enable artists to take time to experiment, innovate, and develop their work. The awards also aim to develop excellence by offering a period of research and development to some of Wales’ most interesting artists.

David Alston, Arts Director, Arts Council of Wales chairs the panel who adjudicate the Creative Wales Awards said: "Wales has many artists who are pushing the boundaries. That is essentially what a Creative Wales Award can make possible – a chance to think, to branch out and to take risks."

This years awards were noted for the exceptional standards of the artists involved.

In 1993 Helen received an Abbey Award at the British School at Rome and recent exhibitions include Grounded an Impressions Gallery touring show, Inside the View (part one) in Tarbes France and Spot at the Yard Gallery Nottingham. Her work was included in the exhibition About Face at the Hayward Gallery in summer 2004. A 90 page book of her work, Twice was published in 2002 and she represented Britain at the famous Photo Espagna in 2003. In October 2005 her work formed part of the exhibition La Mirada Reflexiva at the Espai D’Art Contemporani in Castellon Spain.