WEEKS of anticipation are today at an end. Hundreds of votes have been cast, the poll has been counted and result of the most exciting ballot in the UK art world can now finally be announced.

WEEKS of anticipation are today at an end.

Hundreds of votes have been cast, the poll has been counted and result of the most exciting ballot in the UK art world can now finally be announced.

That's right, the waiting is at last over and our discerning readers have made their decision. It is time to tell the world who has won The Evening Star's Anthea Turner Prize.

A competition in which the ultimate victor enjoys prestige, glamour, and a selection of DVDs, the third annual Anthea Turner Prize was a closely fought battle in the minefield that has become the contemporary art scene.

Awarded to Suffolk's youngest and finest artists the coveted accolade encourages modern interpretations of art allied to the ancient skill of portrait painting.

This year's hotly contested competition was defined by the head on rivalry of nine reception class pupils from Morland Primary School, in Morland Road, Ipswich, who all submitted their visionary interpretations of small screen star Anthea Turner.

But there can only ever be one winner and today, the same day as the Turner Prize winner was announced in London, five-year-old Terisha Reeve went home with an Evening Star goodie bag and a smile on her face.

Teacher Jean Dedman said: “She's a good all rounder. I am very proud of her. All the class loved doing it and they have done very well.”

Proud mum Pam Reeve, took time out from her job as a shipping clerk, to watch Terisha claim her prize.

She said: “I am not sure she knows who Anthea Turner is. I told her she is a journalist. She loves art.”

Our thanks go to all those youngsters and voters who took part in this year's competition.

Honourable runners-up were Adam Hamilton, Ben Evans, Charles Fenson, Craig Manning, Danielle Crane, Raheem Siddique, Ryan Mayes and Tillie Walsh.

The four artists who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2005 are

Darren Almond who “uses sculpture, film and photography, and real-time satellite broadcast to explore the effects of time on the individual”.

Gillian Carnegie who “works within traditional categories of painting yet, while apparently following the conventions of representational painting, Carnegie challenges its established languages and unsettles its assumptions”.

Jim Lambie who “takes the ephemera of modern life and transforms it into vibrant sculptural installations”.

Simon Starling who “makes objects, installations, and pilgrimage-like journeys which draw out an array of ideas about nature, technology and economics.”

Source: www.tate.org.uk

While

Terisha Reeve “uses the medium of watercolour to create a passionate, broad-brushstroke, post-modern interpretation of the 21st Century phenomena of celebrity”.