Explosions of colour met children and parents as they entered the Citywest Hotel for the Texaco Children’s Art Competition awards ceremony, and that was before the art display.
Balloons and clowns dominated the reception, which was alive with the buzz of young children who seemed almost unaware of the significance of the award they had won.
Overall winner, Simon Minias, 16, drew a portrait of his sister Sophie. Having never entered the competition before, he was very proud to have won the overall competition. Artistic talent must run in the family to have such a young first time winner? “No, I am the only one. My grandfather was an architect, but that’s not really an artist.”
Along with his prize money, Simon’s portrait secured him an invitation to an international exhibition in Tokyo, where his work will be displayed.
In second place was another competition debutant, 17-year-old James O’Neill who said his acrylic work was done “very quickly over a two month period.” He plans on entering next year and going for the top prize. “Next year I’m going to take my time with it and do something very extravagant.”
In the main hall where the ceremony was held, the back wall was decorated with pictures that earned a special merit.
Calum Gaul, aged 6, painted a lighthouse for the competition and was one of the few who knew his plans for his prize money of €100, “tickets to The Lion King”.
The younger children all exercised confidence and buoyancy as they marched up on stage to pose for their picture, while some of the older winners had started to develop that natural camera-shyness.
Iobhar Stokes-Rodriguez, 15, received his first prize, having entered before. He planned on spending his prize money on art equipment and told of another artist in the family. “My brother won too. He’s 10. He won two years ago as well, I was very jealous.”
Guest of honour, Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht, was very excited to be attending. “As a former teacher myself, art was just coming in in my time and I’m just overwhelmed by the talent here.”
The Texaco Children’s Art Competition is celebrating its 59th year.
