{"id":201110,"date":"2025-12-20T01:20:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T01:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/201110\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T01:20:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T01:20:09","slug":"embrace-the-great-outdoors-to-create-great-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/201110\/","title":{"rendered":"Embrace the great outdoors to create great art"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>RT\u00c9&#8217;s This Is Art! competition, supported by Creative Ireland and the Shared Island initiative, is back for a for another year and we&#8217;re calling on children across the island of Ireland to use their imaginations and embrace the outdoors, with the theme &#8211; This is Nature!<\/p>\n<p>All entries must be submitted online via the <a href=\"https:\/\/thisisart.rte.ie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This is Art! website<\/a> by the closing date, midnight on Saturday, 31 January 2026.<\/p>\n<p>This year, participants are encouraged to seek the magic of nature, be it the outdoors, the natural world around us, the human form or even the behaviors of humankind.<\/p>\n<p>The competition promotes artistic practice among young people and encourages and supports creativity, originality and self-expression.<\/p>\n<p>If you or someone you know is a budding young artist who could bring the theme This Is Nature! to life, invite them to get involved and start imagining their submission.<\/p>\n<p>A prize fund of \u20ac10,000 will provide awards and bursaries for winners across the five categories.<\/p>\n<p>Now in its fifth year, this all-island competition is open across five categories and to all abilities:<\/p>\n<p>Age 7 and under<br \/>\nAge 8 to 11<br \/>\nAge 12 to 15<br \/>\nAge 16 to 18<br \/>\nGroup category<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Five people, 2 men and 3 women, standing in front of a display unit at an art studio.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/002338fb-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\n(L-R) Maser, Helen Steele, RT\u00c9&#8217;s Suzanne Kelly and Joe Caslin. Photo: Andres Poveda<\/p>\n<p>A stellar panel of judges has been assembled for the all-Island competition, including renowned street artists Maser and Joe Caslin, award-winning fashion designer Helen Steele, Curator Mary Conlon, and Sean Ronayne, a Cork-born ornithologist and wildlife sound recordist.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the launch of This is Art!, RT\u00c9\u2019s Suzanne Kelly, Head of Children&#8217;s and Young People&#8217;s Content said: &#8220;For the past four years, This is Art! has amazed us with the level of creativity and originality we\u2019ve seen. Every year this unique competition grows and grows, and it really is a privilege that we here at RT\u00c9 can help curate &amp; provide continuous access to this amazing art treasure trove for the entire nation. We\u2019re excited to announce this year\u2019s theme: This is Nature! And we can\u2019t wait to see the fresh ideas and unique talent it will inspire. Submissions are now open \u2014 get ready to create!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>How to enter:<\/p>\n<p>Create, snap and upload on rte.ie\/thisisart by midnight Saturday, 31 January. Entry is free and further information on how to enter is available on <a href=\"http:\/\/rte.ie\/thisisart\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rte.ie\/thisisart<\/a>.<br \/>\nThis all-island competition is open to entries from young people aged 0-18 and accepts submissions in any and all forms, from paintings, drawings and sculptures to photography, digital art or even creating something using found or upcycled materials.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A young oy with glasses and a white jumper sits on an art display unti holding a postcard.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/002338fd-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nThis is Art! is for young people from 0 to 18! Photo: Andres Poveda<\/p>\n<p>Last year&#8217;s RT\u00c9 This Is Art! competition received over 3,000 entries from young artists aged 18 and under. If you or someone you know is a budding young artist and could bring to life the theme of This is Nature! invite them to get involved and start imagining their submission.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the \u20ac10,000 prize fund, Maser will design and create this year\u2019s category winner trophies, making a bespoke piece of art for winners to treasure forever.<\/p>\n<p>The bursaries will empower young artists to develop their talent with additional education and training. Beyond the prizes, more than one hundred shortlisted entries will receive personal commendations and feedback from the judges on their work.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/learn\/2024\/1216\/1486837-rte-this-is-art-2024-art-competition-winners-announced\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to see last year&#8217;s winners.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/player\/series\/this-is-art-club\/SI0000012697?epguid=IP10002124-03-0001\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">And, if you need some inspiration, This is Art! Club is streaming now on RT\u00c9 Player!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RT\u00c9&#8217;s This Is Art! competition, supported by Creative Ireland and the Shared Island initiative, is back for a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-201110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}