The Judges

Jamie Holman

A multidisciplinary artist, Jamie Holman Studios seeks to make the exciting connection and propositions visible, that manifest when heritage collides with contemporary practice. His research often proposes the emergence of culture through the celebration of topics & movements including subcultures, trades unions, folklore, activism, mill workers, football, labour & poetry.  

Jamie’s work includes deep research particularly into archives, often resulting in the discovery of unknown working-class histories and stories of individuals who have impacted the future of our nation, it’s culture and communities. This has included the discovery that the first Western film ever made was not, as previously recorded; The Great Train Robbery made in America – but was a 2.5-minute short film made in Blackburn, England by two Edwardian film makers called Mitchell and Kenyon. His research is then manifested into multi-disciplinary artworks made in collaboration with fabricators, crafts people and his studio team ‘Uncultured Creatives.’ 

He often works in collaboration with communities, many of whom are categorised as not engaging in art – whilst avoiding twee approaches to co-design and participation. His work challenges this, and other preconceptions about cultural engagement. He deeply understands how to work successfully and professionally with stakeholders and clients. 

Jude Wainwright

Jude Wainwright MAFA is a figurative and surrealist painter based in Manchester. Her work explores identity, emotion and storytelling through staged, symbolic self-portraits that blur the line between the real and the imagined. Drawing on theatrical gesture, costume and surreal settings, she examines how we construct and conceal the self, reflecting on the boundaries between authenticity, performance and control. 

Alongside her practice, Jude is the Studio Manager at AWOL Studios in Ancoats, where she supports a large community of artists and creatives. In 2022, she reached the semi-finals of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, and in 2025 returned to Sky Arts as a guest presenter, leading two Portrait Artist Masterclass episodes on narrative portraiture. 

Jude is a Member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Artists, and her work has been exhibited widely across the UK and internationally. 

Zara Saghir

Zara Saghir is a British South Asian socially engaged artist from Accrington, Lancashire, whose multidisciplinary practice spans photography, film, painting, sculpture, installation and participatory arts. Through collaboration and storytelling, she explores identity, heritage, belonging, and the often-unspoken social issues within British South Asian communities. Her work examines inherited values, cultural hierarchies and systems of power, creating spaces where personal experiences become catalysts for dialogue, connection and social change. 

Growing up in East Lancashire, surrounded by the region’s mill towns and post-industrial textile landscapes, Zara’s practice has been shaped by the histories and communities that define the area. Drawing on her own experiences as a British Pakistani woman, she investigates how identity is negotiated across generations, cultures and places. Working alongside communities through shared learning and creative exchange, she values lived experience as an integral part of the artistic process, ensuring participants become collaborators rather than subjects. 

Working across photography, moving image, sculpture and installation, Zara creates immersive and participatory works that amplify voices often underrepresented within contemporary art. Her projects encourage open conversations around belonging, representation and cultural identity, with a commitment to ensuring communities see themselves reflected within cultural spaces. 

Alongside her artistic practice, Zara works as an Assistant Producer for The British Textile Biennial and The Super Slow Way, supporting artist commissions, exhibitions, residencies and community-led cultural programmes across East Lancashire. This role complements her own practice, strengthening her commitment to socially engaged art and collaborative working. 

In 2025, Zara completed a month-long research residency in Islamabad, Pakistan, supported by the British Council, Art of Small Talk and In-Situ, developing a new body of photographic, film and audio work exploring women’s voices, cultural memory and identity. The same year, she won the Blackburn Open 2025, with her work acquired for the permanent collection. She has also exhibited her work in A–Z at Creative Spaces Burnley, further establishing her growing presence within the North West’s contemporary arts scene. 

 Zara is currently developing new commissions and exhibitions, including an expanded presentation of A–Z with Creative Spaces for Burnley’s Year of Culture. Alongside this, she is producing new photographic, sculptural and participatory works for upcoming exhibitions across the North West. Her practice continues to examine identity, heritage and belonging through collaborative and socially engaged approaches, creating work that amplifies underrepresented voices and encourages dialogue between communities, culture and place.   

Gaynor Seville

Gaynor Seville is Creative Director of The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery and has extensive experience in arts development, commissioning, and curating, spanning a distinguished career of more than three decades. She has worked internationally in public art commissioning, collaborating with many internationally renowned artists. 

A committed advocate for artists, she has played a pivotal role in supporting early-career practitioners through the design and delivery of professional development programmes and the establishment of artist support networks. Her work in Ireland achieved national recognition for excellence in commissioning practice and community engagement, including an award presented by the President of Ireland. 

This year marks five years of her leadership of The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery since it’s reopening in 2021.  During that time, she has successfully secured National Portfolio Organisation status with Arts Council England, attracted substantial external investment, and developed a programme and profile of regional and national significance. She has supported many local, national and international artists in their solo exhibitions in The Whitaker galleries as well as overseeing significant group shows.   The organisation has been a finalist for Best Cultural Venue in Lancashire for four consecutive years, winning the award twice. She is currently leading an ambitious vision for a new accommodation and studio wing.