Four West Lothian pupils win praise in art competition
Four West Lothian schoolkids have scooped prizes in a Scotlandwide art competition.
Youngsters collected their prizes from the Tesco Bank Art Competition for Schools at a prize giving ceremony in Edinburgh recently.
And their artwork has gone on display to the public for the first time at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
There were 475 entries from 13 West Lothian schools this year.
In Category A – Nursery, a special merit was awarded to Siddu Ganti of Eliburn Nursery Class; in Category B – P1 to P3, Marcus Doherty of Balbardie Primary took second place and a special merit was awarded to Ela Ahat of Knightsridge Primary; and in Category C – P4 to P7, a special merit was presented to Kornel Spalony of St Joseph’s Primary.
The competition, which is run by the National Galleries of Scotland and supported by Tesco Bank, attracts thousands of entries from children across Scotland each year.
Since 2012, the competition has encouraged more than 36,000 young people to submit their work, and every year the 53 winning entries are displayed at the National Galleries of Scotland prior to touring various locations around Scotland.
The range of prizes span from art materials for the winners to special art workshops for 12 lucky participating schools.
This year there were more than 8000 entries, ensuring a difficult judging process for the panel.
Fifty-three winning young artists were commended in their respective categories.
All prize-winning entries will remain on show at the gallery until September 16, before being displayed at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Larbert.
Linda McClelland MBE, Playfair Education co-ordinator at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “If you need cheering up just come along and see the 53 winning works of art from this year’s competition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. With postcards and calendars for sale in the shop, you can even take a small artwork away with you. As ever the work by these young artists from all over Scotland is astonishingly good.”
Chris Sibbald, head of communications at Tesco Bank: “We are committed to giving children the opportunity to express their creativity, and on behalf of Tesco Bank I’d like to congratulate all 53 winners of the competition and also thank the thousands of other children who entered and made the judging process so difficult.”