Contributed
Jorge Ospina, right, student of Mona High School, accepts the Institute of Jamaica Trophy from Jean Smith, member of Council of the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ). Occasion was the award ceremony for the National Exhibition of Art and Craft in Schools held last Wednesday at the Institute. Mona received the award for "creativity and best use of colour" in the exhibition.Georgia Hemmings, Staff Reporter
Corporate Area schools have captured top awards in the 2001 National Exhibition of Art and Craft in Secondary Schools, currently on at the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) in downtown Kingston.
Prizes were presented to winning schools last Wednesday at a ceremony held in the IOJ's lecture hall.
The exhibition (which is also a competition) is organised annually by the Institute to develop a greater appreciation of art in schools, and to recognise and promote children's works. It highlights differing levels of artistic talent expressed by children, ages 15 to 17 years.
This year's exhibition saw participation from 17 schools, down from 28 last year, with the majority coming from rural parishes.
But, while only seven schools from the Corporate Area participated, it was Kingston schools which collected top trophies.
Commendable
Mona High School continues to produce a commendable standard of work, and, like last year, was awarded the Institute of Jamaica Trophy for the best overall entry in the exhibition. The school was praised for its creativity and vibrant use of colour.
The boys at Wolmer's Boy's School received the Robert Verity Trophy for two-dimensional designs, while the all-girls St. Hugh's High collected the Institute of Jamaica Shield for experimentation in three-dimensional design.
The Hugh Dawes Trophy for the best overall all-age schoool was won by the Ensom City Primary and Junior High School, an achievement the school had also earned last year.
Merit certificates were presented to Bois Content All Age (for use of natural dyes); Denham Town Comprehensive High (for relief sculpture); Manchester High (for experimental work in wood and found material); The Queen's High (for composition); and St. Andrew High School (for drawing and textiles).
The range of works was wide, and included painting, drawing, sculpture, installation art, woodwork, textiles, batik, leather craft, pottery, macrame, and graphics.
In presenting the judge's report, Karen Siyanbola, head of the Art Education Department at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, praised the children and their teachers for their efforts.
"With all the ugliness that is going on around us, this show tells us that there is still beauty within and, thus, hope for our society," she said. "You are our hope...and I hope that most, if not all, of you will continue to do art long after you have left school."
Judging was done on the basis of craftsmanship (30 marks), composition and design (30), originality (20), and presentation and finish (20), and Ms. Siyanbola elaborated on each criterion to the students
Craftsmanship, she said, referred to the quality of rendering of the work and its texture, while composition and design looked at balance, harmony, movement, and colour, whether in fine art or handcrafted items, posters, graphics, textiles or printing.
"Originality speaks for itself", the art educator said, "But it covers content, medium, style, and response."
She pointed to the sculptural installation by Mona High School as a good example of originality - a work produced in response to the September 11 terrorist acts in the United States.
Presentation and finish encompass how the works are shown, including the framing, mounting, and symmetry.
She concluded that "the collective works of all the schools are colourful, dynamic and a physical confirmation that we are on the right track in trying to develop such wonderful talent."
Source of delight
Her sentiments were echoed by Jean Smith, member of the IOJ Council, who said that "the innovativeness that we see here every year is always a source of amazement and delight."
According to her, the children have "utilised so many different types of local materials and moulded them into an item or the representation of an idea that often grabs us by the throat and brings us up sharply face to face with the joy or sorrow or, sometimes, hopelessness that too many of our young people have to contend with on a daily basis." IOJ programmes manager, Gaverly McGowan, thanked not only the winning schools for their efforts, but all other participants whose 'presence made a significant contribution' to the exhibition.
The adjudication panel comprised Paulette Bandama and Patricia Fletcher, education officers (visual arts) in the Ministry of Education; Dr. Nadine Scott, visual arts lecturer at the University of the West Indies; Hope Wheeler and Karen Siyanbola of the EMCVPA; Keith Curwin of Cherry Types Limited, and Stanford Watson of the Multicare Foundation.
The exhibition will remain open to the public until Friday, November 30, and can be viewed Monday to Thursday between 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
