Catholic Young Artist Award

The Catholic Union Charitable Trust was delighted to receive over 500 entries for the inaugural Catholic Young Artist Award. Margaret Mizen MBE, Founder of the Mizen Foundation, and Judge of the Catholic Young Artist Award was overwhelmed by the pictures drawn by primary school aged children on the theme of Forgiveness.

Margaret Mizen MBE, Founder of the Mizen Foundation, says: “There were so many unique and wonderful pictures, all drawn with care and attention. I was incredibly impressed by all the artwork submitted, with each piece reflecting the theme of forgiveness in a beautiful way, so selecting a winner was no easy task.   Art is a great way to express our emotions and communicate such vitally important messages including those of forgiveness”.

The winner from St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School in Sunderland accompanied her artwork of a forgiveness tree with the phrase ‘healing begins when the heart forgives’.   Margaret felt a particularly strong connection to this piece.

There were three runners up:

• St Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church, Carshalton
• English Martyr’s Catholic Voluntary School.
• St Elphege’s RC Infant and Junior School in Wallington.

Professor Peter Hindmarsh, Chair of the Catholic Union Charitable Trust says: “I am delighted that so many children took part in the Award.  Margaret had an impossible task to select the winner and we are very proud of all the children. Please do keep an eye on our Weekly Briefing to find out further details of competitions and school related information and schools are of course encouraged to contact Margaret and invite her to speak to them about the importance of forgiveness, peace and hope”. 

Launched this year, the Catholic Young Artist Award is sponsored by the Catholic Union Charitable Trust. The winner will receive a cash prize and runners up will be recognised too.  This Award runs in tandem with the Catholic Young Writer Award which is open to Catholic pupils of secondary school age focusing on the question ‘why do we go to confession’.

Baroness Hollins, President of the Catholic Union, says: “We are look forwarding to showcasing the winners and runners up.  The future looks bright when children can express such a difficult concept as forgiveness through art – a concept that many adults still struggle with”.  

Ends

• The Catholic Young Artist Award is sponsored by the Catholic Union Charitable Trust https://cuct.org/
• Margaret Mizen MBE, Founder of the Mizen Foundation, judged the competition. You can find out more about the Mizen Foundation here https://mizenfoundation.org/
• The winning image can be found here on the Catholic Union’s website www.catholicunion.org.uk
• Sign up to the Catholic Union’s Weekly Briefing for free: https://catholicunion.org.uk/weekly-briefings/
• Find out ways you can support the Catholic Union here: https://catholicunion.org.uk/support-us/