National Art Competition Awards
Shannon Ward scoops prize at national art competition final.
The winners of one of the country’s biggest art competitions, run by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), announced on Sunday 11th February at Croke Park. A huge 30,000 entries were received through 300 credit unions for the All Ireland Credit Union Art Competition. Cash prizes were awarded to the winners by broadcasting legend Marty Whelan at the prize-giving ceremony.
Shannon Ward was awarded winner of the 11-13 years Special Category, one of 5 finalists from Northern Ireland to be recognised at the ceremony. She is pictured below with Lurgan Credit Union Director Martin Cullen.
The All Ireland Art Competition is now in its 33rd year and continues to be hugely popular with children and adults alike. This year’s theme ‘Dreams are made of this….’ was open to interpretation by each entrant. The theme aimed to give all entrants a wide-ranging scope to express their creativity and imagination.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, ILCU President, Brian McCrory said: “This competition brings together people of all ages from every corner of Ireland and is a celebration of their diversity and creativity. The Irish League of Credit Unions will continue to support and nurture the artistic development of young and old in our local communities with this fantastic annual event, which is truly representative of the credit union movement’s spirit of community.”
Mr McCrory continued “I am greatly impressed by the quality of the artwork on display at Croke Park today, and it has been very compelling to see how uniquely each of the artists interpreted the theme of Dreams. I would like to extend a huge congratulations to each and every artist that participated.”
Fiona Clarke from Lurgan Credit Union said:
“On behalf of Lurgan Credit Union Ltd, I want to congratulate Shannon Ward on her marvellous achievement! We are really delighted to have one of our entries selected for a national award – it is wonderful to see talented young artists in our local area achieve such a high accolade. Hopefully this will be a great incentive for other young people in the Lurgan area to take part. Shannon’s submission to the competition was excellent, and I’m sure she will be keen to repeat her success from this year. Many thanks to all of our local schools who support the Art Competition and other initiatives, and make it possible for children such as Shannon to receive national recognition for their abilities.”
The judges for this year’s competition were: Una Sealy, RHA Gallery and RTE’s Painting the Nation, Ursula Retzlaff O’Connell, Artist, and John Walsh, Creative Director FOCUS Advertising.
Shannon is pictured below with Sally Blaney, Marty Whelan and Brian McCrory and her fabulous winning entry.
