East Sussex College student wins top award in Royal Opera House Design Challenge

Lewes campus student Charlotte Dance has won one of the top awards at this year’s Royal Opera House Design Challenge.

Charlotte, who studies Level 3 Art & Design, was crowned the winner of the Set Design category with her piece themed around Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 masterpiece, La bohème.

It is the second year in a row that a student from the college has won the Set Design category and the eighth consecutive year that East Sussex College students have won top awards in the Design Challenge.

The annual Design Challenge competition runs in the Autumn term and invites students from colleges and universities across the country to compete in four categories; Set Design, Costume Design, Hair, Wig and Make-up Design, and Marketing Strategy and Design.

Along with Charlotte’s success, two other Lewes students were highly commended for their entries. Ryley Ormond achieved a highly commended award in Set Design and Betty Taylor was highly commended in the Marketing Strategy category.

James DiBiase, Art and Design Course Leader at East Sussex College, said, “I am thrilled to have three finalists in this year’s Royal Opera House Design Challenge, especially as the competition is getting harder and harder each year as more talented students participate.

“All our students on the Art & Design Extended Diploma worked on this project with creative energy, commitment and enthusiasm. Charlotte, Ryley and Betty fully deserve recognition for their wonderful outcomes. They demonstrated remarkable skill, pronounced flair and significant ingenuity in producing work of such high calibre. It continues our fantastic success in this competition and highlights Lewes as a college for creative excellence. Roll on next year’s challenge!”

The results were announced last Friday (6th March) and Charlotte has been invited to a winners' exhibition on Friday 27th March where she will get an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the Royal Opera House and have her work displayed in the ROH’s Linbury Foyer until 7th April 2020.