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Winning school artwork goes on display

Winners of the Junior Chamber International Aberdeen (JCI) secondary school art competition will have their artworks displayed this week at the Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Three budding young Aberdeen artists emerged top out of over 70 entries to have their artwork 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 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.

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 won £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.”

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 were 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 and we hope that many people will visit Aberdeen Art Gallery to see the exciting artwork these young people have produced. 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.”

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.

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