Medb Ruane introduces Cilla Patton, winner of the 2003 OpenHouse/Irish Arts Review Art Competition, and tells us why this year’s competition was her most enjoyable judging experience
The first year was hot. All day long we three judges for the OpenHouse Art Competition sat in a dark, airless RTÉ ‘hospitality’ room, hypnotised by a whirring slide projector and the click-click-oops as slides fell into place — or, as often, got stuck. Our heads ached. March 2003: even in our most optimistic moments, we didn’t imagine the massive level of response the Competition would achieve within two years. This year, over 150 entries, a generally good standard and a wide range of styles made it probably the most enjoyable judging experience I’ve had in twenty years’ of working in the visual arts
