Judges for this year’s Young Thinkers’ Competition were bowled over by hundreds of creative entries from Shropshire youngsters when selecting twenty budding artists to feature in a bespoke exhibition staged at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery from February 7th for the month.
Shropshire’s creative young people had been challenged by Morris & Company and University Centre Shrewsbury to let their imaginations run free and design a striking emblem to celebrate Charles Darwin and his links with Shrewsbury for the 2020 Darwin Festival celebrations.
The twenty finalists’ range in age from 7 to 12 years in age with designs featuring everything from Darwin’s childhood in Shrewsbury to his voyage around the world. The overall winner will have their design featured on specially created flags to fly at Morris & Company’s Welsh Bridge offices and on University Centre Shrewsbury’s Guildhall flagpole. The design will also be created into a permanent feature for display in the Campus to inspire students for years to come. The winner will also receive a trophy and a family VIP cinema experience.
One of the judges was artist Linda Edwards who commented: “The cleverness and intricacy of some of the ideas was truly inspirational. I loved the way young minds have interpreted the life of Darwin in such a brilliant variety of ways – we had collages, graphic computerised designs, images that jumped out at you with humour and some with real originality. It was a tough job selecting our Highly Commended entrants and the Winner but we are very excited to reveal which young artist will be flying the flags of Shrewsbury for Darwin this year.”
An event at 5.30pm on February 7 at the Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery will see the winning entries revealed and the winner crowned Shropshire’s Young Thinker 2020.
Judge Professor Anna Sutton, Provost at the University once again judged all this year’s nominated entries and commented: “Clearly, Charles Darwin continues to inspire. It was an absolute pleasure to view the explosion of creativity in the submissions for this year’s prize. Many thanks to all who submitted entries. They have posed a great challenge for the judges.”
Robin Morris, Charmain of Morris & Company and fellow judge said: “We have loved staging this competition over the years, it has given us all a window on the creativity of Shropshire’s youngsters.
I think there will definitely be some oohs and aahs at this year’s final event. The images are a vibrant illustration of how unfettered young minds interpret the link between Darwin and our wonderful town.”
To attend the event at 5.30pm on February 7 at the Museum and Art Gallery, please contact: youngthinkers@morrisandco.com
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