Mayor Launches New Art Award

Local school children offered chance to design Trafalgar Square sculpture

A new art competition for London primary schools is to be launched by the Mayor of London in January 2007.

The Fourth Plinth Schools Award 2007 encourages schoolchildren aged between 7-12 to design a sculpture for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

This new award forms part of an educational programme to support and promote the Fourth Plinth project itself - one of the most high profile public art programmes in the UK.

The Fourth Plinth is an ongoing contemporary art programme that sees a new artwork being selected for the vacant plinth. The first new commission for the plinth - Marc Quinn's sculpture, Alison Lapper Pregnant, - was unveiled in a public ceremony in September 2005.

The Fourth Plinth Schools Award aims to encourage children to think about the importance and historical significance of Trafalgar Square and of the use of public space in general. Children can explore a variety of different art forms including drawing, painting, sculpture and digital media.

Two entries per borough will be selected for inclusion in a public exhibition at City Hall in June 2007, one from Year 3-4 and one from Year 5-6. First, second and third prizes will be awarded to the best entries from across London. All entries will be featured in an online exhibition on the Fourth Plinth  website www.fourthplinth.co.uk/schoolsaward.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said 'Londoners and people across the UK feel a genuine sense of ownership of Trafalgar Square. One of the most valuable aspects of the Fourth Plinth art commission is that it gets people thinking and debating about the place and value of art in the public realm. This starts to raise important questions about identity and citizenship and we wanted to include children in this debate.

'The Fourth Plinth project is a great opportunity to encourage more young people to engage with their surroundings. We hope the new Fourth Plinth Schools Award will help them feel more involved with both Trafalgar Square and their own, local public spaces.'

The deadline for entries for the Fourth Plinth Schools Award is 20 April 2007. All schools that wish to enter the competition first must complete the online registration form on www.fourthplinth.co.uk/schoolsaward by 16 April 2007. A teacher’s pack containing details of the award, suggested activities, national curriculum links and resources will be available to download from this website from mid January 2007.

November 30, 2006