A Richmond-based visual art contest has received hundreds of submissions from across the world this year.
Canada Youth Visual Art Contest, an annual competition open to young people around the world is held by Youth Initiative Vancouver and Academy of Modern Art (AOMA) and was first launched in 2021.
This year, the contest received 660 pieces of artwork from 13 countries. The majority of the artwork is on display at Lipont Place on No. 3 Road today and can be viewed online after.
“Our competition was to connect young artists worldwide, especially during the global segregation because we started during the pandemic years,” said Yoshier Hu, a student from Hugh McRoberts secondary and co-president of Youth Initiative Vancouver.
“We believe art is basically a universal language for creativity, especially in youth.”
The contest is open to any type of art media, including traditional painting, mixed media, digital art, photography, 3-D models, sculptures and more.
A jury panel from different countries have selected 177 artworks as award recipients that will be announced at an award ceremony in Vancouver Saturday evening. More than 300 young artists are expected to attend the in-person event.
The students also hope to raise funds for charities through the contest with the goal of raising $15,000 this year, Hu explained.
“In the past, we have raised money for UNICEF Canada, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, and this year we are doing VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation,” she said.
“One of our main fundraising methods is artwork donation and charity auctions. Contestants and award recipients can choose to donate their artwork, and then we will auction it and raise funds that way.”
The winning artwork will be available on AOMA’s website.
