YOUNG@ART
Rita Scholten (left) and Elvira Pontier planning the art event. Photo: Ina Holst
In time for the annual Bay Art awards, a new initiative, YOUNG@ART, is to be launched this week. YOUNG@ART aims to encourage those who already have an interest in art and is set up by Elvira Pontier and Rita Scholten as a separate youth section under the umbrella of Bay Art.
Bay Art will be the first event for YOUNG@ART, but other events will be run in the future. Participants can exhibit their works and Elvira and Rita hope that through the initiative young people will feel encouraged to engage and express themselves through artistic media. It will also teach them to organise themselves from concept to the final stroke, and how to present and price their pieces, said Elvira.
“It was my kids’ idea,”said Rita. “They didn’t want any prizes but they wanted encouragement. So we came up with a TALENT sheet for the entrants, which stands for The Art Loving Encouraging Notes To Shine, with commentary and encouragement from a young artist and two professional adult artists for each entrant.
“It is designed for young budding artists to step into the professional world and be acknowledged as an artist and feel supported in their art and taken seriously. The YOUNG@ART award is opening up an opportunity to bond with an adult artist and possibly to set up a mentoring programme in the future.”
Rita and Elvira said they appreciated the support from Creative Communities and Golden Bay Arts.
“At the moment art for the kids is not well supported in the Bay and with YOUNG@ART we’ll try to give those kids who are not sporty a chance to get the acknowledgement and support they need for their direction and creativity.”
YOUNG@ART is open for 7 to 17-year-olds and entries for young artists will be shown on the same days as Bay Art but in a separate room. The entry fee is $5. The judging artists for the youth event are Maniana Raunigg, who won a Bay Art Award prize two years ago, Amira Mudfaery and Sarah Hornibrooke.
The YOUNG@ART exhibition will be held on 23 – 31 October in the Golden Bay High School. For further information ring Rita Scholten on 525 7055, or Elvira Pontier on 525 8485.
Ina Holst
