So You Want to be an Artist 2012 - Finalists! Part Deux

So the voting has ended and the finalists stabilized - whew. Again, a nail biter as no-one knew their actual likes.

So You Want to be an Artist 2012 - Finalists!

So the drawn-out, dirty, no-holds-barred, street-fighting, world of social networks did their thing and the 12 finalists are set. It was a bit wonky to follow, but that just added to the nail-biting and exciting finish. Some came out early with big support, then suddenly others caught up and passed them in votes. Finalists - please write in and tell us about how you marketed your work: Facebook? Mum and Dad calling everyone? Special Interest Groups? Celebrity Endorsements? One finalist we know did all those things. We like the democracy of facebook voting, BUT, so many good pieces were left behind. ALL the entries deserve to have been seen by the judges. May we suggest for next year two streams? One for the crowd to vote on, and a separate one just to let the experts do their thing. Congratulations you twelve! See em here http://makeart.gallery.ca/gallery/finalists

so you want to be 2012 - 15 days to go!

This piece by Anika Kitka shows tons of imagination and strong craft. An amazing drawing. SHE NEEDS VOTES. Like it here http://makeart.gallery.ca/gallery/details/719/

So You Want to ... go to ESA

Hey, two students from the Etobicoke School of the Arts are doing alright in the National Gallery Contest, but both need your votes to crack the top 12: Matt Ledwidge's Landscape-tools and Alex Bailey's Regent Park One are almost too mature for this stage of the competition where (after friends and family are pressed into making their likes known) the public votes tend to consume the most easily digestible pieces. Anyways, Matt got in touch with us and directed us to ESA's site where we learned that he and Alex were entered into the makeart competition. We were pretty pumped to realize their entries were part of our personal top 12 entries. Matt - don't be subtle - ask for a like - ya gotta be obvious! Again, we don't like artist statements, but theirs are good at supporting their own artworks. ESA can be found at http://www.esainfo.ca/

So You Want to be ... 2012

The National Gallery of Canada's So You Want to be an Artist 2012 contest is off to a flying start with about 170 entries in a fight to be "liked" into the top 12. At that point things calm down and the experts take over to choose who wins the top three prizes. Many of the entries are really, really good, and several deserve to have more votes than they currently do. Well its only four days in and many many days to go, but here are some images that need some votes. Niki Watts' Thunder Dancer is an awesome piece in graphite. Ben McGuinness' At My Worst reminds us of cool punk photography from a long time ago. Julia Casol's Captured Elegance finds colour and composition in clutter (awesome painting!). And Shannon TJ's Vividsection is super professional illustration. We at CanadaSchool only wish the judges could see all the work. It makes us sad that good work might not make it into the top 12. Maybe next year they will have two streams: A popular vote and critic's picks. And a special note to those with very few votes - it takes guts to enter your work for the world to see and we respect that. Now is the time to take some more chances and work your networks HARD.

So You Want to be an Artist 2011

We missed this as it was happening, but here is the winning piece for the National Gallery's "So You Want to be an Artist?" contest held last year. The winning entry was very good. His artist's statement was very professional as well. As much as we don't like artist's statements, a well-written one is best. Oh, the link this contest was through Ms G-E's appeal for support for valwitton's piece "Scarlett" through the excellent art blog at http://artshhs.blogspot.com/

Both images courtesy of the National Gallery at www.gallery.ca

2011 Earth Day Art Contest for BC Students

Here's the cover art for the British Columbia Secondary Schools’
2011 Earth Day Art Show and Competition. This powerful image is uncredited, but it comes from one of the three documents describing the contest... oh, this just in... the artist is Grade Twelver Brooke Thomas. We're not sure which school, but likely in Surrey, BC based on the link...

http://www.artscouncilofsurrey.ca/

Your teacher has to register your intention to compete by January 28th, then the art must be delivered in Surrey by March 11th. Your process must be documented and seems to be important for the judging. Since that makes for a big project, may we suggest integrating your research efforts with that of other school assignments?

SAATCHI GALLERY / SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ART PRIZE FOR SCHOOLS 2010 Deadline

The deadline for entries is coming up fast - December 3 for both the Schools' Prize and the Sculpture Prize. Get your school's teacher to set it up NOW!

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/portfolio/index.php

This is Erica Phillips' Entry from Collingwood School in West Van. Its a sorta tattoo mermaid totem pole thingy and pretty cool.

There are currently only three other Canadian Schools entered. Get cracking.

Top OCAD Entrance Scholarship Winner 2010

Congratulations to Maxwell Hyett of Kingston, Ontario. He walked into OCAD with the top entrance scholarship waiting for him. This is according to the article in the Kingston Whig-Standard...

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2714101

His experience goes to show how important portfolio day can be.

Photo of Max credit goes to Christine Blais of the Kingston Whig-Standard.

SAATCHI GALLERY / SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ART PRIZE FOR SCHOOLS

Here's some Canadian entries to the Saatchi Gallery / Sunday Telegraph Art Prize for Schools from the UK.



The top one is a collaborative effort by multiple students from Windsor Ontario's Riverside Secondary School. Cool!

The other is from Alison Davis who is at Bernice MacNaughton High School in Moncton, New Brunswick. Her colourful untitled car is done in acrylic on a 24 x 30 panel.

Enter your work soon at http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/portfolio/index.php

The deadline is coming fast in early August.

No Canadian Visual Art?

no image to post from the annual Scholastic Art and Writing awards because there are no Canadian winners for visual art. we suspect it is because this long running contest (over 80 years!) is almost unknown in Canada.

but congratulations to Jesse Shulman for winning a silver medal in the science fiction/fantasy category in writing. Jesse is the only Canadian winner in any category. (Jesse, contact us to tell about your experience.)

if you are in grade 7 to 12 next year, check out artandwriting.org well before December. if you are considering an art school in the USA, some serious scholarships may come your way.