Natalie Gale

Fund-holder Guy Readman has recently made a grant that has helped a talented young artist from Seaham to attend the prestigous Slade School of Art in London.

Following in the footsteps of Antony Gormley, who also studied at Slade, 24-year-old Natalie Gale from Seaham brushed aside competition from more than 360 candidates from across the UK to gain her place.

Having painted from a very young age Natalie went to University and gained a first class honours degree from the Wimbledon School of Art. After leaving, her talents then took her to Paris where she worked as a freelance artist’s assistant.

Natalie has already shown her work in a number of well-established galleries including the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, the Hot house Gallery, London and the Noilas Gallery, London.

The Slade School of Art was established in 1868 and became one of the most important art schools of the 19th Century. Slade has seen some of the most influential British Artists come through their doors including Augustus John, Derek Jarman and Antony Gormley, best known as the sculptor who created the world-renowned Angel of the North.

The only thing preventing Natalie from following in these great footsteps was the £10,000 she needed to pay for course fees and living costs in London. Despite huge sacrifices on behalf of Natalie’s family she still fell short of the £10,000 she needed.

Natalie applied to the Foundation for help and fund-holder Guy Readman, chairman of Birtley-based Tor Coatings Ltd, was happy to give Natalie the £2000 she needed to secure her future.

Natalie sent in a letter of thanks to Mr Readman:

"I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the generous gift of your grant but more so for believing in me and investing in my future.

I feel this whole term has gone very well, mainly in terms of developing my work, making professional contacts and having the resources of London at my fingertips. The grant has been a huge support, without it I would not have been able to attend my course!"

Since starting her course Natalie has secured a place as a studio assistant for Turner Prize nominee Cathy de Monchaux, has been asked to take part in a group exhibition at the London Vaults.

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