DPR News
Kids' Art Fest
Wednesday, November 22nd, saw UCC welcome young artists from across Cork to see their work displayed to the public and be celebrated. We were delighted to welcome to campus some of the more than a hundred artists who took part to be presented with certificates and art packs by way of recognition of their efforts. This art fest for young people is linked to two international dates of note: International Youth Day (Aug 12), when the applications were opened, and World Children’s Day, November 20, when the exhibition was ended for this year.
This is the second year we have held this art fest focussed on EDI. Our aim is for kids of all ages to engage creatively with the subject matter and for it to be as inclusive as possible, so we encourage participants to use any artistic medium with which they are comfortable and to send in an image of same, which we then print and hang on the wall (and also include in our digital display online. Most entrants chose to create 2D images, some did explore other formats and if people are encouraged to look closely at the images, they might be able to identify those.
It is important to find ways for children and young people to think about diversity and equality and how to be inclusive because they are the future and the earlier people start thinking about the world and seeing it through an EDI lens, the better for all of us. It was wonderful to see such interest in the art fest this year and to see all their understanding of the theme and how they expressed it visually. Both this year’s and last year’s exhibition can be seen here: https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/news/kidsartfest/, and we already looking forward to next year’s exhibition, so keep an eye out for details in August 2024.