Template – Event

In 2021, Visual Arts Centre is pleased to announce our inaugural art competition for children and youth – “Courage, Hope and Love in the time of a pandemic”. This art competition is organised by Visual Arts Centre with the intention to inspire the children and youth of Singapore to create original artworks based on their reflections of the courage, hope and love experienced or felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. This nation-wide art competition serves to promote and recognise the creative and artistic talents of children and youth. There are two age categories for participants, Group A – Children of ages 7 to 11 years and Group B – Youths of ages 12 to 18. All students within the age range who are currently residing in Singapore is welcome to participate!

The art competition will award three top winners from each age category with prize money of $1,500, $1,000 and $500 respectively for the first, second and third prizes. The top 3 winners will also be awarded with $288 worth of gift vouchers and a gift hamper valued at $300 each. In addition, there will be thirty titles of artistic excellence announced for each age category to reward the finalists of the art competition. The artistic excellent prize winners will be awarded with gift vouchers and goodie bags worth $100 each. The top three prizes of this competition are sponsored by the eminent philanthropist and veteran artist Mrs Wong Kwok Leong. The gift vouchers and goodie bags are jointly sponsored by Elite Natural, Meitoto Beauty and Global Ginseng Group.

Supporting Art Societies 

This art competition is supported by major art societies in Singapore – the Federation of Arts Societies (Singapore), Singapore Watercolour Painting Society, the Lanting Art Society, and the Siaw-Tao Seal Carving and Chinese Ink Painting Society, and includes a prominent panel of judges comprising of established artists and leaders of art societies.

The Panel of Expert Judges

The judges are Mr Stephen Leong (President of Federation of Arts Societies (Singapore)),Mr Chua Mia Tee (Senior Singaporean Artist, Cultural Medallion Winner), Mr Choo Thiam Siew (Ex-president of NAFA), Mr Tay Bak Chiang (President of the Siaw-Tao Chinese Seal Carving, Calligraphy and Painting Society, Mr Seah Kang Chui (President of Singapore Watercolour Society), Mr Leow Wee Giap (President of the Lanting Art Society), Mr Fan Shao Hua (Senior Artist, UOB Painting of the Year Award Winner 2000) and Jason Tan (Global Chief Counsel of Federation of World Cultural & Art Society).

About the Art Competition – Courage, Hope and Love in the time of a pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019 has caused a dramatic loss of lives worldwide and posed unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems, food systems and the way we work and live globally. In Singapore, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused various economic, social and political issues and transformed how we live and interact with our friends and families. A circuit breaker was implemented last year and schools and most work places were shut down. Our flight terminals became deserted, our busiest streets and malls quietened, and we constantly adapt and adjust our work and lives to the new normal. Adults and children work and school remotely and play their part in reducing social interactions and adhering to the latest guidelines. Our frontline workers have fought bravely against the virus and put themselves at the forefront of the pandemic. From healthcare professionals who are risking their own lives to save patients, safe distancing officials doing their dutiful patrol checks to volunteers distributing masks and measuring temperatures… these are all facets of heroic moments and these heroes deserve our recognition and praise.

We would like to invite children and youths to reflect on the past year of the new normal and ask themselves if they have experienced any acts or moments of courage, hope and love in their daily lives. These could be personal encounters, lived experiences of closed family and friends, everyday observations, stories and moments. Following the theme of the art competition, we hope that children and youths will have an engaging and thoughtful time in preparation for the art competition. We look forward to seeing your wonderful art submissions for the Visual Arts Centre National Children and Youth Art Competition!

This art competition is open to all children and youth currently residing in Singapore. Participants may submit an original artwork created according to the theme of the art competition under either age category.

Group A:   Children (ages 7 – 11 years)

Group B:   Youth (ages 12 – 18 years)

*To participate in this art competition, please refer to the following guidelines and strictly adhere to the rules of this art competition.

Art Competition Guidelines

• Participants are to submit an original artwork of any size between 21cm height/length and not more than 60cm height/length. For example, the artwork may be 30cm (H) x 40cm (L)
• The artwork should be an original work produced by the participant for this art competition. The artwork should be produced from 30 April 2021 to 30 October 2021.
• The participant may freely express their artistic creativity in response to the art competition. The created artwork should adhere to the theme of the art competition and submissions which are irrelevant to the theme may not be considered. The artwork should be an original work and not a copy from an existing photograph or artwork. Hence, a participant may be forfeited if the artwork is found to be a direct reproduction of an existing photograph or artwork.
• The artwork will be judged based on three main considerations – relevance to theme and creative use of ideas and concept (60%), artistic technique and quality (30%) and overall artistic presentation (10%). The artwork will be graded and ranked according to these three criteria.

Art Mediums

• Participants may use any art mediums – pencil, colour pencil, graphite, charcoal, pen, markers, acrylic paint, oil paint, watercolour paint, poster paint, Chinese ink etc.
• Participants may combine and use multiple mediums.
• The artwork should be created on a piece of paper/watercolour paper/rice paper/canvas.

Entry and Submission Guidelines

• The registration fee to join this art competition is $18.
• To register for this art competition, the participant is required to fill in their information and pay the registration fee online. Applicants will receive their confirmation email within a week of successful registration.
• The participant may choose either age categories – Children group 7 – 11 years or Youth group 12 – 18 years based on their age at the time of entry submission. Participants may be holding Singapore citizenship, PR or student visa and he or she must be currently residing in Singapore. (Participants are required to provide a local contact number)
• To submit the artwork entry for this art competition, the participant is required to fill in Artwork Submission Form online and upload one to two images of the artwork (the image file should be saved as Last Name, First Name, Middle Name (optional), Title of Artwork). For example, the artwork image should be saved as “Chen_Amanda_YingYing_United”.
• The artwork may be submitted from 12pm on 30 August 2021 to 12pm on 30 October 2021. No submissions will be accepted from 12:01pm on 30 October 2021.
• Participants must ensure that their artwork is ready for presentation and exhibition as all thirty artistic excellence award winners and top three prize winners will be called to submit the artworks for the exhibition and prize award ceremony in Dec 2021. Participants who fail to submit their physical artworks will be forfeited.

Enquiries

Click Here for the frequently asked questions pertaining to the art competition.

For any enquiries regarding the art competition, please email to [email protected]

Please give us 3 to 5 workings days to respond to your enquiries.

Visual Arts Centre Address

Dhoby Ghaut Studio:    10 Penang Road 01-02, Dhoby Ghaut Green, Singapore 238469

MacPherson Studio:     140 Paya Lebar Road 03-04 AZ @ Paya Lebar, Singapore 409015