The annual Threatened Species Art competition has had an overwhelming response this year, with more than 1200 entries submitted by young artists across the Macarthur region.
The competition, now in its eighth year, encourages young people to create an artwork of a locally threatened species in the Macarthur region, for the chance to win great prizes and have their work displayed in a travelling exhibition at council libraries.
Winners of the competition were announced on Threatened Species Day, recognised each year on September 7 to commemorate the death of the last remaining Tasmanian tiger at Hobart Zoo in 1936.
This year saw some amazing artworks entered by young local people, with Isabella McConachy from Wollondilly winning the 5 to 6 years category with an artwork of the Gang Gang cockatoo, Claire Henry from Wollondilly winning the 7 to 9 years division with her artwork of the Spotted-Tailed Quoll, and Leon Paleilei from Campbelltown taking the honours in the 10 to 12 years section with his drawing of the Swift Parrot
First prize winners in each category will receive an Eco Pack valued at up to $250 which includes environmentally themed books and crafts.
Second and third place prize winners will receive an Eco Pack valued up to $100, and $50 respectively.
School prize packages were won by Douglas Park Public School for achieving the highest student participation rate, and Wilton Public School for the highest number of entries overall.
Each school will receive a variety of eco-related prizes, such as composting kits and free registration to the international environmental education body, Eco-Schools.
For the first time in the competition’s history, the Australian PlantBank at The Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan sponsored the competition, contributing to each of the school prizes with a rare and endangered spiked rice flower, only found in the Narellan and Illawarra areas, and 25 mint velvet plants, which are listed as a vulnerable species in NSW.
These prizes will give students a hands-on conservation experience that extends beyond the competition.
Mayor of Campbelltown, Cr Paul Lake, congratulated all the entrants on the standard of the artwork submitted and acknowledged it was difficult for the judges to select the winning entries.
“I hope all the entrants had fun learning about the plants and animals of the Macarthur region and creating their amazing works of art.
“Using art to highlight endangered species is a great way to get residents of all ages to think about the way they interact with the natural environment, and we’re proud to see this competition growing in popularity each year,” Cr Lake said.
Winning entries will be displayed in a travelling exhibition across the Macarthur region throughout September, in recognition of Biodiversity Month.
Visit campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/TSAC for exhibition dates, a full list of winners and to see the winning entries via Council’s Flickr feed.
2015 WINNERS 5 to 6 years:
1st Isabella McConachy, 2nd Taleena Boseski, 3rd Mahem Naeem.
7 to 9 years: Claire Henry, Charlotte De La Garde, Olivia Prior.
10 to 12 years: Leon Paleilei, Jayden Cook, Renee Rice.
Schools: Highest participation: Douglas Park Public School (77 percent of students); highest number of entries overall: Wilton Public School (241).
