and Mrs Shirmaine Lynch-Harrigan
Visual Art is gradually becoming a trend of work in Anguilla, especially among the youth. Many young, local budding artists create some highly impressive pieces which, in certain cases, empower them with a drive to rely on their artistic skills for a career.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, in collaboration with the Regional Security System-Asset Recovery Unit (ASS-ARU), last February, launched the 2020 Creative Youth Art Competition for students of the ECCB Union in two categories: ages 13 to 16 and ages 17 to 19. In September, assessments revealed that two of Anguilla’s young artists were winners and, on Wednesday, November 25th, Sagè Connor and Nyrah Derrick were recognised with attractive awards at the ECCB agency office.
With reference to the regional arts initiative, a communiqué from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s main office in Basseterre, St. Kitts stated: “Students from five Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) member countries emerged as the top performers in the 2020 Creative Youth Art Competition sponsored and hosted by the ECCB and the RSS-ARU. Sagè Connor, of the Omololu International School in Anguilla, and Anique Ward, of the Clarence Fritzroy Bryant College in St. Kitts and Nevis, captured first-place in the 13 to 16 and the 17 to 19 age categories respectively.”
According to ECCB’s Country Manager, Mrs. Shirmaine Lynch-Harrigan, also being recognised for her outstanding art work was Nyrah Derrick of Anguilla who won the Best In-Country Award. She complimented both Nyrah and Sagè with much enthusiasm, and expressed her admiration for all the Anguillian artists — in a comment to The Anguillian: “We are quite pleased that we have had participation from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, and the Omololu international School, especially given the fact that in February and March, when we started the promotion, we became affected with the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were closed and there was much uncertainty.”
Mrs. Lynch-Harrigan highlighted the fact that the students and the teachers still persevered, completed their pieces, and submitted them in ample time. “As a consequence,” she said, “they have reaped the rewards of their labour because Anguilla won fi rst-place in the 13 to 16 category with Sage Connor’s piece, and in the 17 to 19 category, the Best In-Country prize was won by Nyra Derrick.”
She noted that Anguilla did very well in the competition, being the country with the largest submission of pieces per country. “This is highly noteworthy”, she said, “since Anguilla had only two schools that entered the competition, whereas the other countries had a far greater number of schools entering. This shows that our students were very keen and resilient in the programme, despite the challenges of COVID-19. We are thankful for all the Anguilla students who entered. All of them are commended.”
Teachers and coaches who worked along with Anguilla’s participating students included: Visual Arts Teachers of ALHCS, Ms. Canita Ruan, and Ms. Alaina Carty; as well as Omololu International School’s Visual Arts Teacher, Mrs. Collet Jones-Chin.
Overall, comments from the ECCB’s main office hailed the artists as amazing: “The judges of the competition, who were professional artists from across the ECCB member countries have described the pieces as awe-inspiring and said they took the opportunity to learn from the students’ work. ‘We were blown away by the skills demonstated by the students and their art pieces’, said Taffari Crawford of Anguilla, the Head Judge for the ages 13 to 16 category. Shadrach Burton of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Head Judge for the ages 17-19 category, described the pieces as really amazing and showing a lot of talent.”
In addition to their trophies and awards, first-place winner, Sagè Connor, won a cash prize of EC$3,000, while her school, the Omololu International, received a EC$2,000 donation. Best In-Country winner, Nyrah Derrick received an attractive trophy along with a Certificate of Recognition — and her school, the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive, received a Certificate of Participation.
Mrs. Lynch-Harrigan observed that Anguilla is no stranger when it comes to winning high awards. She said that in the past Anguilla was rated among the top three winners in ECCB’s Youth Essay Competitions; and she went on to disclose: “ECCB is changing the brand from essay writing exclusively to include the Creative and Visual Arts as well, so that all talented students may be able to compete in their areas of endeavour.”
The 2020 Creative Youth Art Competition were open to all member countries of the ECCB Union, including: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla and Montserrat.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
