28 wonderfully artistic children submitted entries to the Yass Landcare Group’s Insect Artwork Competition, currently on display at Yass Library.
The judges, well-known local artists Al Phemister and Roger Buckman, were blown away by the high quality and creativity of all the entries.
Winners in the 12 and over sections were: Liana Hippisley-Eyles (First prize), James Dokker (Second) and Kiralee Hooper (Highly commended). In the younger group, Bonnie Strachan won first prize, Olivia Chester won second prize and Freddie French’s work was highly commended.
Roger Buckman explained that the first prize in the junior section, by Bonnie Strachan, was selected for its exquisitely fine pencil drawing and attention to detail.
The winning senior entry, a set of three photographs, was outstanding for its excellent composition and intriguing choice of subject matter.
Other entries included a fabulous rainbow beetle, two delicate butterfly sculptures, and a lino print of a moth. The display also has some lovely dragonflies, an ear-wig, and some dead flies!
The art exhibition is a follow-up to Yass Landcare Group’s insect workshop held in August, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.
At the workshop, the children made insect hotels, learned about bees, termites and other insects and were entranced by water bugs captured – and returned – to Yass River by the Ginninderra Waterwatch team.
Insects are essential to our life. Without insects, life as we know it could not exist. Food crops would not get pollinated, soils would be infertile, and many species of birds could not survive.
Yet insect numbers are declining worldwide. It is estimated that over the past decade, the world’s insects have declined by 41%.
Yass Landcare Group hopes that the art competition and workshop have helped more children in our community to value the precious insects in our environment.
As Paddy Sharp says on the caption for his artwork “I love insects and bugs!”
President of Yass Landcare Group, Alison Elvin, thanked all the participants, the judges, Yass Library, and the major sponsor, Bintel (bintel.com.au), for supplying the major prizes: two beautiful microscopes.