By Mary Findlay
Opening this month in the Stanthorpe Art Gallery is our annual youth art prize.
This exhibition features hundreds of artworks from young people across our district, and is sponsored this year, as always, by the very generous Crisps family, of Crisps Coaches, Stanthorpe.
Crisps Youth Art Prize offers a place where our young people can tell their stories.
Last year we had almost 1000 works from young people in the gallery and an incredible story was told about how our children experienced the fires, drought, and Covid-19 through the previous year.
After going through difficult times it is important to investigate what is significant to the individual, and what has supported us during these times.
The theme this year is Our Community: My Place.
This exhibition captures what our youth hold dear to them.
Young artists were asked: If you went away, what would you remember most about your place? What would you miss? For some, it is the people around them, their school or their bedroom. Sometimes it is the everyday scenes and sights, or the flora and fauna of the district.
This is sometimes the first time that a young person has had a work exhibited, and it is important to have their work valued and shown publicly.
According to the International Child Art Foundation, “Research indicates that a child who is exposed to the arts acquires a special ability to think creatively, be original, discover, innovate, and create intellectual property—key attributes for individual success and social prosperity in the twenty-first century.” Here at the Gallery we take every opportunity to support our young people in their arts journeys, and we look forward to sharing their work with the community.
The opening night and awards will be held on Thursday 7 October, at 5:30pm for Kindy – Year 6, and 5:45pm for grades Year 7-12.
The Crisps Youth Art Prize will be showing at the Gallery until 13 October.
OPEN
Weekends 10 am – 1 pm
Tuesday – Friday 10 am – 4 pm
Free entry
www.srag.org.au
