Four West Cork students were amongst eight from the county to have won top prizes in this year’s 66th Texaco Children’s Art Competition.
In the 9-11 years age category, Edie Collins (11), a pupil at Ballinspittle National School, Kinsale, won third prize for a work entitled ‘Billie Eilish - Caution!’. Edie’s composition is described by Final Adjudicator and Chairman of the judging panel, Professor Declan McGonagle as “an impressive and powerful portrait of singer Billie Eilish, which clearly catches a very confident subject.”
Other West Cork winners – all of whom won Special Merit Awards for artworks that Professor McGonagle said: “were imaginative and displayed high levels of skill” – were: Lily Cahill (age 12), a pupil at Kinsale Art Academy; Katrin Birk (16) from Bandon Grammar School and Lara O'Sullivan (18) from Scoil Phobail Bhéara, Castletownbere.With the onset of Covid-19, the Competition had to be extended over a longer period this year with delays to the final adjudication process and the announcement of winners.
As a result, activities normally undertaken during April and May – traditionally, the introduction of winners to the media and the formal presentation of prizes – had to be set aside as a consequence of which prizes will be delivered by hand without the possibility of an awards ceremony.