ART students have been given the chance to showcase their talent alongside past British masters after being shortlisted in a BBC arts competition.

Cleveland College of Art and Design students Jamie Keenan and Connor Shields have seen their work put on display in The Royal Academy of Art’s historic Reynolds Room, after being shortlisted in The One Show’s Summer Art Competition.

Open to amateur artists from across the UK the competition invited entries on canvas or paper, covering any theme.

From more than 1,100 submissions Jamie and Connor, both of Middlesbrough were named as two of the 24 shortlisted entries to receive the honour of being displayed in the Royal Academy alongside great British artists such as Constable, Gainsborough and Turner.

Jamie, 20, who submitted a painting of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge, said: “I submitted my work but didn’t think much more about it. It was the first competition I’d ever entered so I didn’t expect to hear anything back.

“When I got the call to say that I’d made the long-list I was really excited, then I got another call to say I’d made the shortlist and was even more excited.”

Both Jamie’s artwork and Connor’s painting of Hearst Castle, California, is on display in The Royal Academy until tomorrow (August 9).