An art competition open to all school children in Galway was recently launched by BirdWatch Ireland and Galway County Council which tasked the children to create artwork of their favourite local wildlife. The results are a visual feast of a wide variety of stunning wildlife that inhabit our countryside and seas as well as a fascinating insight into the birds and mammals that resonate most with children. Some of the popular choices, such as Barn Owl are expected favourites, but there are lots of surprises in there too.
The art competition was launched to celebrate the release of the children’s book ‘Golden Wings: A Tale about an Irish Barn Owl’. This beautifully illustrated book was circulated by BirdWatch Ireland and Galway County Council to all primary schools across Galway thanks to the support of the Heritage Council under the Heritage Stewardship Fund and inspired many budding wildlife artists to take up their own paint brushes.
Children across the county were tasked with creating their own artwork to depict their favourite local wildlife species, with the emphasis on local. The response to this request was simply amazing, with over 550 children from schools across the county producing stunning artwork of a wide range of wildlife.
There were 66 wildlife species chosen as ‘favourites’ by children across the county, with species such as Brown Long-eared Bat, Blue Tits, Curlews, Dolphins, Goldfinches, Mute Swan, Merlin, Otters and Puffins all represented.
However, it is now official, that the Red Fox is the most favourite wildlife species of school children in Galway, with 73 children painting beautiful images of the ‘Madra Rua’. Barn Owls were the second most popular wildlife species with 62 children choosing the ‘Scréachóg reilige’, as their favourite. Galway children certainly do love owls, and there were an incredible 85 paintings of other types of owls in addition to the Barn Owls, making ‘owls’ in general by far the most popular. Deer were in third place followed by the Robin and Red Squirrel.
John Lusby of BirdWatch Ireland said that the artwork is simply beautiful.
“The standard and attention to detail was incredibly high, it was such a pleasure viewing all the different entries but what I found most impressive was the selection of wildlife species, it is really positive to see that some children had chosen species like Hen Harrier and Pine Marten as their favourites, the fact that children are aware and appreciate these native species in their local area is really important”.
Robert Vaughan, wildlife artist and illustrator of Golden Wings commented on the high quality of the entries “It was wonderful to see such a beautiful selection of artwork and I was blown away by the knowledge and detail captured by each of the entrants. I was also really impressed with the selection of media chosen and the variety of wildlife. The enthusiasm and confidence of each entrant’s work was reflected in the animals and their environments. It truly was a pleasure to spend time looking through all of this work”.
Rosina Joyce, Biodiversity Officer with Galway County Council said this competition highlighted the huge interest Galway students have in our native wildlife. “It is very encouraging to see such an appreciation of biodiversity in young people, as this carries through to create lifelong values.”
Rosina also thanked all the children who entered the art competition.
“Well done to all the children who participated, the artwork was absolutely amazing and it is inspiring to see the level of knowledge and love for our wildlife among the next generation, we could all learn a thing or two from them!”.
All the entries to the art competition have now been judged and although it was difficult, the winning entries in each class from Junior Infants to Sixth Class have been selected and are shown below.
‘Golden Wings’ has been made freely available to all National Schools and libraries in County Galway. Copies of the book may also be requested from the Heritage Office of Galway County Council. A digital version of ‘Golden Wings’ is available for free through the Galway Community Heritage website and BirdWatch Ireland website: https://birdwatchireland.ie/golden-wings/ and https://heritage. galwayc ommunityheritage.org/content/topics/barn-owls/the-barn-owl-project-2 It is suitable for a reading age of nine years and older but can be read to younger children also.
Golden Wings was produced by BirdWatch Ireland and Galway County Council as an action of the Galway County Heritage and Biodiversity Plan 2017-2022, and the Galway County Culture and Creativity Strategy 2018-2022. This initiative was funded by Creative Ireland and Galway County Council. The printing of ‘Golden Wings’ and distribution to schools and libraries was supported by the Heritage Council under the Heritage Stewardship Fund 2022 and Galway County Council.
