Where can you find a super-duper animal, a sense of place, and spring, summer, autumn and winter all at one time? At the National Gallery in Edinburgh, where the winners of this year’s National Galleries of Scotland Art Competition for Schools are on display.
An astounding 5,796 works of art poured in from nursery, primary, secondary and special schools, and the best 53, which make up the show, will tour from Edinburgh to Stirling and Fort William until May.
Every year, this competition has grown since its inception in 2004, with a 44 per cent increase in submissions this year. There are six categories, from nursery to S2, special schools and group entries. Each has its own topic - on the National Galleries website - with three paintings by famous artists to illustrate it. Children are encouraged to think about specific aspects of the works, the colour, the detail, and so on, then let their imaginations soar.
The results are there for all to see - from Abbie Turner’s strawberry (Food is Fantastic, nursery category) and Ben Murray’s Super-Duper Animal (P1-3) to Alexander Crawford’s dynamic Sense of Place (S1-2), Jack Johnston’s aeroplane in Look Up, Look Down (special) and Hillside School’s collage of faces (group).
Every one’s a winner, and testament to the work of art teachers and class teachers across Scotland, from Ross-shire to Skye to Edinburgh and the Borders. A calendar featuring the top winning artworks will be sent to every school in Scotland and go on sale in the gallery shops.
www.nationalgalleries.org
The winners are: Abbie Turner, Levenhall Nursery, Musselburgh (Nursery); Ben Murray, Eccles Leitholm Primary, Kelso (P1-3); Lara Bauchop, George Wat- son’s College, Edinburgh (P4-7); Alexander Crawford, Dollar Academy, Clackmannanshire (S1-2); Jack Johnstone, Prospect Bank, Edinburgh (Special Education Schools); Hillside School, Aberdour, (Group Entry)
TESS celebrates school artwork this year with a new Art Gallery slot in its weekly Time out page (p31). Send 3-4 jpegs of the best artwork from your school to scoted@tes.co.uk.
