Sarah Mullaney from St Joseph’s NS, Swinford was named the Best Junior Painter in Ireland at the Sightsavers Ireland Junior Painter of the Year Awards. Six-year-old Sarah’s winning painting, ‘Seeing My Family’, was inspired by the competition theme ‘Seeing This Makes Me Smile’ and was chosen from over 5,000 entries from primary school children around Ireland. Sarah’s painting is now part of an exhibition at Airfield, Dundrum, Co Dublin alongside 14 shortlisted paintings and work from renowned artist Helen Steele until March 16.
“We wanted to inspire children to think of all the fantastic things that sight can bring to them and the theme has provided a wonderful insight into what is important to children today,” said John Fleming, chief executive of Sightsavers Ireland. “The exhibition is free to the public and we hope that families visiting will feel as inspired as our artists and leave with a smile on their face. Congratulations to Sarah on her big win; we look forward to seeing wonderful art from Mayo schools again next year.”
As well as winning a mega arts and crafts hamper and vouchers from Easons, Sarah and her classmates will receive a wonderful art class with Helen Steele herself. The Junior Painter of the Year Awards are kindly supported by Easons and The Irish Times.
People can find out more about Sightsavers and the competition, including top painting tips from Helen Steele, on www.sightsavers.ie or by visiting www.facebook.com/SightsaversIreland
