Beaver Staff
A Photography Show featuring winning photos from the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board’s Student Photography Contest will be on display at the Quinte Arts Council (QAC) Gallery throughout February.
From December to January, Bay of Quinte youth between the ages of seven and 14 were invited to submit photos taken of people, places or things during the last year within the Bay of Quinte RMB’s partner communities of Belleville, Brighton, Greater Napanee, the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte and Quinte West. The contest’s purpose was to encourage artistic development, experimentation and expression among youth and to see how they perceive the world around us, which is often a much different perspective than adults.
Among the winners was Napanee’s Hally Girouard, who placed first and second in her category, one of her winning shots featuring the Napanee River. On Thursday she was among the guests celebrated at the gallery.
Hally Girouard’s second award winning photo.
“We were blown away by the response to the photo contest with over 150 photos submitted from youth around the region,” says Bay of Quinte executive director Dug Stevenson. “It’s really obvious that there are a lot of budding young artists in our region and we want to play an active role in fostering their artistic development. We’re grateful to the QAC for offering their gallery space to give these youth a chance to see their work up on display and for the community to see it as well.”
Alexander R., also of Napanee, has a photo featured in the gallery as well.
“Supporting young artists, fostering creativity and innovation in this new generation of creators is a key part of the mandate of the Quinte Arts Council,” says QAC executive director Janet Jarrell. “The key to building a sustainable arts future lies in making young artists a priority today, in education and all other areas of everyday life. We look forward to celebrating the outstanding students participating in this photography show at the QAC gallery, which showcases impressive levels of skill, creativity and courage.” The show will feature the 23 winning photos in the QAC Gallery at 36 Bridge St. E, downtown Belleville. Winning photos from Quinte West participants are also on display in the Quinte West Public Library throughout the month of February.