Kildare student wins prize for stunning portrait of her sister

In the 14-15 years age category, Mae Cowper Gray (age 15), a pupil at Cross & Passion College, Kilcullen, won second prize for her work entitled ‘Della's Resolve (My Determined Sister)’ in this year’s Texaco Children's Art Competition.

Her artwork is described by Final Adjudicator – Irish visual artist, curator and educator – Pauline O'Connell, as a work which “captures a moment with great accuracy. With textural precision, the artist renders the knitted hat, skin, hair and fabric with a delicacy of touch using coloured pencils.”

No stranger to the Competition, Mae won first prize in the 9-11 years age category in 2021.

The Texaco Children’s Art Competition is popularly regarded as the longest-running sponsorship in the history of arts sponsoring in Ireland, with an unbroken history that dates back to the very first Competition held in 1955. This year, as has been the case throughout its life, it has been a platform on which young artists from Kildare and counties throughout Ireland have had their talents recognised and their creativity commended.

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