Sarah Leddy from Inniskeen is congratulated by compere Marty Whelan (left) and Martin Sisk, President ILCU (right), for winning first place in the Credit Unions’ annual Art Competition (11-13 category). Photo: ILCU

INNISKEEN STUDENT WINS PRIZE IN NATIONAL ART COMPETITION
A secondary school student fom Inniskeen, County Monaghan, Sarah Leddy, has won first prize in the Irish League of Credit Unions annual art competition in the 11-13 year-olds category. She received her award at Croke Park last Sunday. Sarah is a past pupil of St Daigh’s National School, Inniskeen, and currently attends St Vincent’s Seconday School in Dundalk.

Her winning picture depicted the theme ‘ARTFEST’ and was singled out for special mention by the event compere, Marty Whelan of RTE. The competition, one of the biggest art of its kind for both children and adults, has been running for 31 years and is open to entrants of all ages.

This year it attracted over 30,000 entries through 300 credit unions nationwide.
The theme ‘ARTFEST’ was open to interpretation by each entrant and aimed to celebrate the creativity, imagination and vibrancy of the budding artists. The competition is about encouraging and rewarding self-expression, creativity and imagination among young artists throughout Ireland. Entrants are free to express their creativity using a wide variety of media.

The competition required entrants to draw or paint posters on the theme using pencil, charcoal, pen or ink, felt-tip markers, crayon, pastel, water colours, gouache, acrylics, oils, poster colour or collage.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, the President of the Irish League of Credit Unions, Martin Sisk, said: “We wholeheartedly support the artistic development of people young and old in our communities across the island of Ireland. The artists here should be extremely proud of themselves and the quality of the artwork displayed is truly outstanding. It is interesting to see how uniquely each of the artists interpreted the theme ‘Artfest’. Well done to everyone involved”.

Marty Whelan who was hosting the event for the fourth year running said he was delighted to be involved. “It is a pleasure to meet such an array of talented artists and give them the opportunity to showcase their creative ideas and gain national recognition for their ability. It is always great to see competitions like this support the arts and give people the opportunity to explore their creative side”, he said.

The judges for this year’s competition were: John Walsh, Creative Director FOCUS Advertising Agency; Ursula Retzlaff O’Connell, Artist; John Farrelly, Cartoonist and Graffiti Artist, VENTS.

ART COMPETITION WINNERS

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