Winners announced in Welsh Libraries Arts Competition  

Donna Thomas from St Richard Gwyn High School joined winners from across Wales at a special awards ceremony at the Senedd in Cardiff on Thursday 24 February to pick up their prizes in the first ever national libraries arts competition – Express Yourself!

Donna was one of 4 winners of the Vale Libraries competition, all of whom were put forward to the national round of judging.

The other local winners were:

• The class of Sue Evans at Llanilltud Fawr Primary School who produced posters advertising the library.
• Helen Bagnall (representing Palmerston Community Learning Centre) with a colourful glass fusion plaque representing books and shelves in a library.
• Alexandra Bagnall (no relation) who produced an ink and watercolour illustration to win the individual category.
  
  
  

The final eighteen from around Wales were chosen from over 1600 entries. Welsh Libraries Champion, actress and writer Ruth Jones was at the Senedd to present the prizes. She commented: “The creativity and imagination shown in all categories is amazing; they would certainly inspire me to visit a library! It’s been an absolute pleasure to meet the winners and to see the wonderful work they have produced.”

Express Yourself encouraged people of all ages to show off their creative talents based on the theme of ‘libraries’. They could choose any format including creative writing, dancing, drama, music, animation, painting, photography, drawing or sculpture. The winners were selected from a range of categories including primary and secondary schools, community organisations and individuals.

Donna Thomas from St Richard Gwyn High School came third in the national final in the secondary schools category for her painting called ‘The magic world of books’.

Judges for the local competition in the Vale included Cllr Anthony Hampton and Sean Stafford from the Washington Gallery, Librarians Sian Jones and Chris Edwards and Arts Officer Tracey Harding. Cllr Hampton said he was delighted for a local winner to get to the national final with a worthy painting showing how libraries were such an inspiration.

The ceremony was hosted by Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones who said: “The competition has been a great success - it’s given people of all ages the opportunity to show off their talents and at the same time demonstrated how Welsh libraries can impact on and inspire people’s lives. I was impressed by the quality of the entries which show there is a wealth of creative talent in Wales.”

Film clips of the final event will be available online at http://library.wales.org