AN Aberdeen garden will transform into an art gallery when it displays youngsters self–portraits throughout December.
The secondary school pupils’ art works will be exhibited at the city’s The SMART Gallery from Saturday 1st December and the top 40 entries will be reproduced in an installation at Rubislaw Terrace Garden’s, in the heart of Aberdeen’s west-end business community.
‘My Future Aspirations’ was launched by Thorpe Molloy Recruitment four years ago. It challenges Aberdeen City and Shire S1 and S2 pupils to create a self-portrait and short narrative which illustrates the hopes and ambitions for their future lives and careers.
Almost 200 pupils from 16 schools took part in the annual competition. The joint winners of this year’s competition are Angela Webster from Alford Academy and Findlay Munro from The Gordon Schools in Huntly.
Sally Reaper, creative director of The SMART Gallery and one of this year’s judges, commented: “As a gallery curator it was a joy to see such an array of artwork within the exhibition.
“I was intrigued by the attention to detail in the narrative, the quality of drawing and compositions together with the clever use of a variety of mediums.”
Fellow judge, David Leng, head of Schools and Education Establishments, Aberdeen City Council, said: “This exhibition is an excellent showcase for our young people’s hopes and aspirations captured in a variety of art forms.
“This type of creative activity is a great example of the benefits of Curriculum for Excellence which gives our children the opportunity to work with partners in developing new ways of learning.
“We are delighted that the pupils’ work is being exhibited in such an innovative and exciting manner due to the support of our business partners.”
Karen Molloy, director at Thorpe Molloy Recruitment, said she was impressed by the amazing array of work submitted and thrilled about this year’s new street art project.
Karen explained: “Working in collaboration with The SMART Gallery and Aberdeen City Gardens we’ve brought Street Art to Aberdeen. The self-portraits will be displayed on A2 panels bringing colour and fresh interest to the gardens.”
Members of the public will also get a chance to vote for their favourite art work on line.
Karen continued: “As well as the exhibition at The SMART Gallery we have created an online gallery at www.thorpemolloy.com and we’ve uploaded all the self-portraits to www.facebook.com/thorpemolloyrecruitment so as many people as possible can enjoy them and vote for their favourite.
“The response has been fantastic so far and we’ll be announcing the winner of our ‘People’s Choice’ vote at the end of the exhibition.”
The top 12 self-portraits also feature in Thorpe Molloy Recruitment’s 2013 calendar and, thanks to the continued support by competition sponsor FirstGroup, also appear on 20 buses which you may have spotted across the city.
My Future Aspirations exhibition is on display at The SMART Gallery between 1st-23rd December and in Rubislaw Terrace Gardens throughout December. The street art display will then tour around other gardens in the city throughout 2013.
The SMART Gallery, situated at 9 Albyn Terrace, is open 12noon – 4pm Saturday and Sunday and during the week by calling the gallery on T01224 561 977.
MEDIA RELEASE posted by Granite PR. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmeidascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Brett Jackson
Email: brettjackson@granitepr.co.uk
Website: http://granitepr.co.uk/
