We interviewed Ava Finn, a student in 4-1H, to find out more about her experience with winning the Art Category for Years 3 and 4 in the Forestville RSL ‘Australia My Country’ competition.
The Australia My Country (AMC) Competition is sponsored annually by the Forestville RSL sub-Branch and is designed to enhance the sense of pride and patriotism of participants by commemorating, through writing and art, Australia’s proud military heritage. The Competition is open to Year 3 to 6 students of the Primary schools located within our defined geographic area and is run in conjunction with the principals and teachers of those participating schools.
The topic for the Competition is selected annually by the sub-Branch Committee and participants can choose between written work (composition or poetry) or artworks to meet the Competition requirements.
The topic for 2022 is “31st May 1942, the day the War came to Sydney”.
We spoke to Ava after she had received her certificate and $200 prize money at a presentation at the RSL in Forestville on Saturday 18 June 2022.
Ava said she decided to enter the competition because she is passionate about art. She said, “being creative is exciting and you can stay calm whilst creating.” Ava said she finds creating art very relaxing.
We asked Ava where she got her inspiration for the piece she entered into the competition. Ava said, “ I was having a look at some information and I noticed the periscope. It gave me the idea to add lines to my artwork so that it looked like someone was looking through the periscope to hit a target”.
Ava created the artwork using a canvas and some acrylic paints.
On hearing the news that Ava’s entry had won the competition she said,
“I was pretty excited when I heard the news. I was very relieved and so happy”.
On the day of the presentation, Ava said it was great to hear her name being called out and receiving the certificate and prize money was so exciting.
The artwork will be on display at the RSL for 2 months and then it will be returned to OLGC.
Ava’s mother, Kathryn, said Ava “was very determined to enter this competition, as she loves art and being creative, it was also a great way to teach her about history. So receiving a prize is a huge confidence boost for her.” Ava’s parents said they would encourage other families to get involved in the competition next year as it was certainly a rewarding process.