First Ever Angela Hunt Legacy Prize Winner Announced
This month we sat down with the first winner of the Angela Hunt Legacy Award, a prize of £5,000 awarded to promising artists to help fund their creative businesses after they have left Cardinal Newman.
Eva Darling Walmsley, studied Textiles, Digital Photography and English Combined at Cardinal Newman between 2017 – 2019. When she left College, it was the peak of COVID restrictions, so Eva dedicated her time to her artwork, whilst seeking work experience with local design-based companies, including John Mark, a digital wallpaper manufacturer and Beaumont Textiles, where she was eventually hired as a Marketing and Design Coordinator.
Eva now works for the Graham and Brown Marketing Team, working across wallpaper, paint and fabric collections, enabling her to use all the skills she has developed through her work experience within marketing as well as her creative flair for design.
Alongside this work, Eva has continued to work on her own brand, Eva Darling Designs, which sees Eva create products and soft furnishings such as tea towels, aprons, cushions and even wallpaper, all featuring her own beautiful artwork.
Eva decided to apply for the Angela Hunt Legacy Award, after a friend spotted the opportunity and thought it would be perfect for her. The award consists of two separate grants of £5,000 each, donated by former Newman Art Teacher Angela Hunt, as part of her will after she passed away. Angela wanted to continue to inspire and enable creative young people to flourish even after she was no longer around. As the very deserving winner of one of the £5,000 grants Eva has big plans to help grow her brand and her business.
During our conversation, Eva told us: “The award has had such a positive impact on my business so far. I have created a really careful plan for how I am going to put the money to best use for developing my business. It has allowed me to make some big investments in my business that I would not have been able to afford otherwise. I’m really excited to be able to put my designs out there.”
So far, the fund has allowed Eva to produce high quality accessories to take with her to trade fairs, which helped her to compete on the same level as the other creators at high end trade events, helping her designs and her brands to catch the eye of industry insiders.
Eva has big dreams for her business moving forward and has already begun diversifying into other areas such as sip and paint classes, collaborations with other local businesses, such as a local florists, designing the packaging around the bouquets, not to mention a video featuring Eva and her designs with Porsche!
The future is definitely looking bright for Eva. If you would like to see more of Eva’s work, or follow her progress, you can find her on Instagram @EvaDarlingDesigns
The College is also still accepting submissions for the other half of the Angela Hunt Legacy Award for Fine Art. The prize is open to former Newman students who are Fine Art Practitioners, just starting out with their own business or venture within this discipline. For more details about the fund, including how to apply contact Hannah Murphy hmurphy@cardinalnewman.ac.uk
