Winners announced for children's Coronation Art Competition

The art competition organised by the Lieutenancy of Ross and Cromarty (incorporating Skye and Lochalsh) to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla has been hailed as a resounding success with over 75% of schools entering.

This has given over 2000 children the opportunity to capture an aspect of their local environment at this historic time.

Joanie Whiteford, the Lord-Lieutenant said: “We have been overwhelmed by the number of entries, and also the beautifully creative pieces of artwork submitted. We were delighted to see that all the chosen themes of birds, wild flowers, trees, seashore, insects and animals and mountains and moorlands were represented, and it is my hope that participation in this project will help make our young people more aware of our beautiful natural surroundings. My thanks to everyone who helped to make this project such a success."

Lizzie McDougall, local Artist and Storyteller who was also involved said: “The fantastic collages from every corner of Ross, Cromarty, Skye and Lochalsh which were created by the children are a glorious celebration of our natural environment at a very historic moment in time. The children have really explored the plants, animals and landscape of the area and depicted this in a beautiful array of artistic styles and techniques and the schools and teachers have done a brilliant job in encouraging the children and bringing their pictures together into the patchwork collages. Choosing winning collages was very hard but really all the children are winners and they all did brilliantly.  I hope that every child will feel a wee bit closer and prouder of the wonderful environment in which they live."

Cllr John Finlayson, Education Chair for The Highland Council added: “A big well done to every pupil who has taken part in this competition and come together to create wonderful art pieces to mark this moment in history. The six nature themes of the competition were an excellent choice to enable our pupils to express themselves and share their appreciation for our beautiful Highland environment and ecosystems. I would like to thank the Lord-Lieutenant and everyone who has been involved in the organisation of this art competition.”

The winning schools will receive a voucher to the value of £40 to purchase Art Materials in order to further the development of the children’s skills.

The overall winners of each Associated School Group (ASG) are as follows: 

• Portree ASG - Portree Primary School (P5)
• Plockton ASG - Kyleakin Primary School (P4) 
• Gairloch ASG - Shieldaig Primary School (P4-5)
• Ullapool ASG - Achiltibuie Primary School
• Dingwall ASG - Strathpeffer Primary (P5)
• Fortrose ASG - Resolis Primary School (P1-3) 
• Invergordon ASG - Newmore Primary School 
• Alness ASG - Bridgend Primary School (P1-3)
• Tain ASG - Hilton of Cadboll (P1-3) 

Each school will be presented with a certificate from the Lieutenancy and from The Lord Lyon, with the overall winners also receiving a Coronation Coin.  

Additionally, each pupil will be presented with a certificate to recognise their individual participation in the project.

The Lieutenancy Team would like to thank The Highland Council Officers, staff and pupils who supported this project.

It is intended to present The King and Queen with a souvenir of the artwork created.