Children's Art Competition Winners Announced

The Samhlaiocht Easter Arts Festival and Children's Bumble Bee Festival are the highlight of the Easter weekend in Kerry. Since 1992 the Festivals have drawn lovers of the Arts from all over Kerry to Tralee where they participate in a wide variety of wonderful events that take place over the Easter weekend.

Samhlaiocht, which means 'imagination' as Gaeilge, has captured people's imagination and the Festivals offer something for young and old alike. The Festivals have a different theme every year and routinely see in excess of seventy artistic events taking place in Tralee.

The theme for the 2009 Festival is 'Imagination' and in an exciting new departure Samhlaiocht offered children from all over the county the opportunity to see their work immortalized in the pages of this year's Festivals' Programme Guide. And the winners of the competition have just been announced.

"We were absolutely inundated with entries," said Bridie Brassil, who coordinated the event for Samhlaioct. "We had entries from all over Kerry from Fenit to Kilcummin, Killarney to Castleisland. Students from close to 15 schools submitted entries as well as numerous individuals. We had well over 150 entries all told!"

"One of the hardest tasks was deciding who the eventual winner should be," said Michele Sheehan, Samhlaiocht. "We spent a few days with all the art, all over the walls and all over every single desk top space in the office. We had everyone in the office driven mad!"

"Originally we were planning on having just one winner but there were so many fantastic entries that we couldn't do that!" added Bridie with a laugh. "Eventually we picked one overall winner and six special merit winners. We framed all the winning entries and have shown them to the kids involved – they're absolutely delighted!"

The overall winner of the competition is Anna Sugrue from Blennerville National School who is 10 years old with her winning work titled, 'Smile'. The other winners are Clodagh Gaynor, 8, from Fenit, Bronte Hannafin, 9, from Blennerville, Jack heaslip, 10, from CBS Tralee, Mary Murphy, 8, from Kilcummin, Micheal Murphy, 11, from Blennerville and Erin Stack, 8, from Kilmoyle.

Anna's piece will grace the cover of the Easter Arts Festival Programme Guide which will be ready and full to the brim of wonderful artistic activities for people of all ages. "Every year our Programme Guide is snapped up by attendees at the festival," said Bridie, "so we've decided that the programme guide is now a vibrant and artistic part of the festival. Extracts from the winning pics will appear though-out the Programme Guide!"

A selection of the entries, including the over all winning entry and all the merit winners, will go on display in the Samhlaiocht Gallery. The exhibition will open on Thursday, April 9^th and will be on display through out Easter. The official prize giving will take place at the exhibition opening in the Samhlaiocht Gallery in the Old Presbytery on Lower Castle Street, in the heart of Tralee, on the 9^th of April. Prizes are generously sponsored by Smyth's Toyshop, Polymath Book Shop and O' Mahony's Book Shop and will be presented at the exhibition opening.

For more information on Samhlaiocht please log on to www.samhlaiocht.com

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group.