The Campbell Reporter
Community
Photograph by Kelly Hsiao
Another View: Helen Yang's Visionary Art School students (from left) Wicia Fang, Aileen Wen, Claire Chu and Laura Cao were all winners in the ninth annual United Nations Peace Art Competition. There were 15 winners, and Yang's students took home five of the awards.
United Nations art competition designed to think about peace
By Koren Temple
With the world celebrating United Nations Day on Oct. 24, a group of young art students in Campbell were honored for their ability to capture the meaning of peace.
Five students from the Helen Yang's Visionary Art School captured one third of the awards in the ninth annual United Nations Peace Art Competition. Wicia Fang, Laura Cao, Aileen Wen, Claire Chu and Jessica Hsueh won first-through third- place awards and honorary mentions.
More than 1,000 entries from children age 5 to 15 were received from the United States, Mexico and Canada, with 15 winners announced.
"The students were all very excited. At such a young age to have their art displayed for a great cause is very rewarding," says Yang.
The theme of the contest was building a "Culture of Peace," a world where cooperation, interdependence, cultural and spiritual diversity is interwoven by understanding, acceptance and celebration throughout the global world.
The winning artwork from the North American contest is on display at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for three to six months. The art will be viewed by thousands of people from around the world. One hundred pieces of the North American juried artwork will be sent to the host nation, Ethiopia, to compete on an international level.
The art school, located on W. Campbell Avenue in the Kirkwood Plaza, opened in May, and teaches its students traditional graphite drawing, charcoal, watercolor, acrylics, sketching, oil painting and other types of art.
Yang submitted all 65 of her students' work to the contest in late June. The contest was broken into three groups: ages 5 to 8, ages 9 to12 and ages 13 to15.
Wicia, 8, won first place for a color pencil drawing of five children of different nationalities holding up a sign that says, "May Peace Prevail on Earth." She drew an anti-gun logo in the background with doves flying high above the Earth.
"To know that she is so young and to have so much expression in her art is very touching," Yang says.
Laura, 6, won in the 5- to 8-year-old group. Her picture of colorful hot air balloons landed her a third-place award. The other students, 12-year-old Aileen and 11-year-old Claire won honorable mentions. Jessica, 15, took the third-place title in her age group with a drawing of a dove delivering a tiny Earth like a stork.
Even with so many awards, Yang says, "The contest wasn't about winning prizes but more or less about the learning experience. There was a lot of education that went into producing these drawings."
For Yang, art and education go hand in hand.
As the daughter of two art professors from China, she learned how proper instruction can inspire great artistic expression. Yang moved with her parents and her brother to the United States in the early 1990s from China, where both her parents had been prominent professors.
Yang's parents started an art studio from inside their Campbell home, where they taught mostly Chinese-American children. They moved into their own studio this spring at the Kirkwood Plaza.
The lessons are divided into classes for first-grade through high school students and adults. The classes meet once a week for an hour and a half. Currently, just Yang and her parents instruct the classes, but she says they plan to expand.
For more information on Visionary Arts, 1600 W. Campbell Ave., Suite 208, contact Helen Yang at 408.821.1277 or visit www.visionaryarts.net.
