A Ponoka student has been left “speechless” after her artwork was selected from among hundreds to be displayed at the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA).
Madison Fleck of St. Augustine School was one of 30 Grade 4 students in Alberta who had a winning work of art selected as part of the second annual ATB Financial Young Artists Competition.
ATB is collaborating with the AGA over a five-year period and spokesman Barry Strader said the company enjoys these projects. “We don’t just like to write a cheque, we also like to be involved.”
A panel of judges comprising ATB employees, AGA art educators, and a gallery owner.
For this year’s project young artists had to tell some of the history of Alberta through art. Strader said the contest also applied to the Grade 4 art history curriculum.
Fleck’s watercolour painting mixed with pencil crayons depicts petroglyphs within its bright canvas of a dinosaur, to represent fossil findings in the province, a bison and a bison hunter, as well as a pumpjack.
The painting began with some ideas from her family first, and then the ideas came. She worked on it for six to eight hours in total until she was satisfied with its presentation.
“It’s kind of like when you’re writing a story. You know when you need to finish,” she explained.
Fleck was quite surprised of her win, but looks forward to seeing her artwork hanging in Ponoka’s ATB Financial branch after it has completed its visit at the AGA on June 17.