Marshalstown pupils come up trumps in art competition
AN ART competition which was rolled out across Wexford to coincide with the release of bestselling children’s author Caroline Busher’s ‘ The Ghosts of Magnificent Children’ has been a great success with Marshalstown NS winning the competition.
The competition which was open to all primary school children centred around the main protagonist of the novel, Ginny who has a bird called Blue living inside her. Her ribs are woven together to form a birdcage.
Blue perches on a swing made from one of her ribs. A peculiar character, children have been curious about her since the book was released earlier this month to widespread critical acclaim.
Caroline said: ‘whenever I meet children I’m instantly asked about Ginny. She is a wonderful character that seemed to come to me in the dead of night. Out of the blue so to speak!.
‘It was an obvious choice to ask children to design Ginny, she’s mysterious and elusive. You’re never fully sure about her, what motivates her.’
Caroline was recently appointed as the Reader in Residence with Wexford County Council Library Services and will be working with the library services, schools and community groups over the coming months to promote literacy and reading for enjoyment among children and young people.
Children responded with great enthusiasm to the character. They placed her in settings such as the graveyard on Inis Rua, or other locations on a fictional island that appears in her novel.
The Director of Wexford Education Centre Sean O’Leary, was very supportive of the project.
The winning school was Marshalstown National School where Caroline said the entries were a very high standard and demonstrated a real understanding of plot and character.
The children also reimagined aspects of the character that Caroline hadn’t even thought of.
‘It was surprising to see how the children had reinterpreted Ginny. It’s fantastic to see them coming up with such great ideas.’
The winning school was announced at a special children’s launch at the Wexford Book Centre. Parents, children and schools that took part in the competition attended the event. The event was organized by children’s book buyer Amy De- vereux and was a huge success.
Fifth and Sixth Class worked closely with visual artist John Busher and class teacher Catherine McCarthy in the week leading up to Halloween. Catherine is very talented in the area of textiles, and the collaboration was very fruitful. John led children to create three-dimensional aspects such as casting and construction, while Catherine led the textile pieces.
The project brought Ginny to life, even though she had been dead for 100 hundred years. ‘It was a wonderful experience to see a fantastic character spring from the page, and a joy to see children fussing over the costume to see who could wear it next. The project has been such a success I am considering bringing it to every children’s event. I absolutely love what the school, children and artist have helped to create, it’s a real honour.’
The support of school principal Michelle O’Neill also made the project possible, making sure the children received enough time to complete the work.
The project is part of ‘ The Ghosts of Magnificent Children’ book display at Wexford Book Centre during the winter months.