Run by the NASUWT and supported by SecEd, Arts and Minds is a UK-wide competition aimed at promoting race equality and diversity in schools.
It challenges students in primary, secondary and special schools to use art and creative writing to tackle themes of equality and diversity.
This year’s winning entry, selected by television presenter Gok Wan, was created by Ciaran Brazier, a year 8 pupil at Speedwell Centre in Blackpool.
His winning piece was a self-portrait produced in a mosaic style and was unveiled as the national winning entry at a ceremony in London last month.
His school will now receive £1,000, while all the finalists received gift vouchers.
Speaking about the winning entry, Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “Huge congratulations to Ciaran who is a very deserving winner of this year’s Arts and Minds competition. His captivating self-portrait is a clever interpretation of the competition’s message of celebrating equality and diversity, and Ciaran’s piece clearly shows a commitment and passion to his work.”
Mr Wan added: “I think it is so creative, I love the use of colour and the composition. I like the fact that all the pieces of paper that make up the mosaic are very sharp but when you look at the overall picture it has a lovely soft tone.
“Skin colour is very hard to get right but Ciaran has absolutely got it. His expression in the artwork is very calm and welcoming which really draws you into the picture.”
Other finalists in the art category included Callum Davies, a year 10 pupil at Glan Afan Comprehensive School in Port Talbot, for his piece I Am Not Just a Barcode and Tom Panter, a year 12 pupil at YsGol y Deri in the Vale of Glamorgan, for Fields of Equal.
Other artwork winners included Katharine Magwood, a year 10 pupil at Down High School in County Down, for her piece Respect Diversity and Eva Sykes, a year 9 pupil at Ponteland High School in Newcastle upon Tyne, for We Are Equal.
In the creative writing category, secondary finalists included Laura Stevens, a year 8 pupil at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham for her piece A Powerful Force, Laura Herbert, a year 7 pupil from The Henrietta Barnett School in London, for her work Stolen Identity, and Hannah Letters, a year 10 pupil at Red Balloon of the Air in Cambridge for A New World.
The awards also included the annual Anne Frank Poetry Award, which is organised by the Anne Frank Trust.
This year’s winner was Maha Salman, a year 8 pupil, also from King Edward VI, for her piece Hope, an excerpt from which is published below. Her school will receive a bronze bust of Anne Frank to display for the forthcoming year.
Ms Keates added: “It was a challenge for the judges to choose the winners, as the standard of entries through the competition gets higher every year across all age ranges and categories.
“NASUWT applauds all of the pupils and their teachers for their hard work and time taken to complete their entries. It is always a pleasure to see each year’s inspirational artwork which finds new ways to convey the important messages of diversity and equality.”
Other supporters of Arts & Minds include Love Music Hate Racism, SecEd’s sister title Primary Teacher Update, The Anne Frank Trust UK, Unite Against Facism, Think Global, VSO and the YMT.
For further information on the awards, visit www.nasuwt.org.uk/artsandminds
Hope
By Maha Salman (an excerpt)
As siren sounds, a life is broken
Eyes glaze with depression
As those who hide in the shadows
Wonder
Wait
Watch
As their hope disintegrates into dust
Day
By
Day
Wondering if their screams will cease to carry
Anchors made out of a thousand tears
Pain
Agonisingly mind-numbing pain
As evil torments each house
Corners unturned by this new-found darkness
Eliciting terror
People can only watch in grievous silence
As loved ones are stabbed with sickening poison