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JCI Aberdeen Celebrates Young Artists

Junior Chamber International Aberdeen (JCI) unveiled the work of budding young Aberdeen artists as the winners of the JCI Aberdeen Secondary Schools Art Competition were announced at its patrons evening.

Three winners emerged top out of over 70 entries to have their piece displayed at the Aberdeen Art Gallery from the 9th to the 14th of August. First place was awarded to Harriet Cropper from St Margaret’s School for Girls, Erin Cornwell, also from St Margaret’s School for Girls, came second, and third place went to Taylor Forman from Bridge of Don Academy.

The successful students also received a free photography lesson and prize money for their school. The first placed pupil’s school scooped £500 with second and third place winning £300 and £200 respectively thanks to the sponsorship from BP.

Winning pupil Harriet Cropper said, “I was really pleased when I found out I came first but it was also a surprise as I didn’t expect to win. It was a good project to be involved in and everyone in my class was really excited about it.”

The winners were announced in front of an audience of prominent Aberdeen business people, as well as the teachers, friends and family of the pupils, at JCI Aberdeen’s patrons evening which took place at the Aberdeen Sports Village. JCI Aberdeen is supported by a community of 20 patrons who help to make projects like the school art competition happen. The patron’s evening aims to thank these organisations for their ongoing support and to celebrate the work JCI Aberdeen has done over the year leveraging this support.

This competition was launched last September, open to first and second year secondary school pupils across Aberdeen City and Shire. A number of schools entered including Bridge of Don Academy, Dyce Academy and St Margaret’s School for Girls.

JCI Aberdeen Project Manager Ajish Varghese said: “We have been thoroughly impressed by the calibre of entries to the competition and it has been a great success. It is inspiring to see the highly creative work of the young people who have taken part. Running projects with schools in the region is very important to us in terms of supporting our local community and is a main theme of what JCI Aberdeen does.”

The competition aimed to encourage young people to show off their creative side and the theme was the ‘Rights of the Child’ as outlined in the United Nations Convention on this. Students were asked to create an artwork to illustrate one of the articles of the convention which include Freedom of Expression and the Right to Education.

Art teacher Jane Richardson from St Margaret’s School for Girls said, “The competition worked really well and the pupils really engaged with it. They all came up with some very interesting ideas and I feel they got a lot out of taking part. It also had a good cross-curricular element to it by incorporating social themes in the topic.”

The submissions were judged by a distinguished panel of judges consisting of local art expert Ian Mitchell, Gordon Henry, previously Chief Executive of the Aberdeen & Grampian Tourist Board and President of the Aberdeen Artists Society as well as JCI Aberdeen, and George Masson from UNICEF in Aberdeen.

Junior Chamber International aims to develop the leadership skills of its members whilst promoting entrepreneurship, social activities and benefit for the local community. It provides the opportunity to come along and try something new, such as project management or public speaking, whilst developing skills in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. The organisation develops its own programme of events by reflecting four areas of interest: community, business, international and personal and professional development.

For information on the opportunities that exist within JCI Aberdeen please contact Steven Wilson on president@jciaberdeen.org.uk. Please also see www.jciaberdeen.org.uk and www.jci.cc.