Children of the Dream Youth Art Competition announces winners

ALBANY — Teachers, middle and high school students and Renaissance Connection board members met at the Thronateeska Heritage Center Wednesday evening to see who placed in the annual Children of the Dream Youth Art Competition.

Out of 33 participants, 11 went home with awards.

This year’s competition theme was “Speak Up, Speak Out.” The students’ art includes depictions of the Flint, Mich., water crisis, police brutality and civil rights. Femi Anderson, owner of Renaissance Art Cafe and executive director of the nonprofit Renaissance Connection, said she was pleased with how students interpreted the theme.

“I’m very pleased,” Anderson said. “My biggest thing was the theme could be considered to be a little controversial because people sometimes don’t want people to speak out. That motivated me to really push that, with so many things going on in the world right now — everything from voter registration confusion, police brutality and should you or should you not kneel — I wanted to see what the kids thought about it. You can see a lot of that comes out in their artwork.”

The middle school award winners for the competition were:

— Best of Show: De’Miyon Arline, Robert A. Cross Middle Magnet School. Arline’s art, “Remembering Malcolm X,” showed an outline of Malcolm X among a starry background.

— First Place: Tyler Miller, Albany Middle School

— Second Place: Thaddeus Wright, Robert Cross

— Third Place: I’yanah Henry, Albany Middle

The high school award winners for the competition were:

— Best of Show: Shamar Fair, Dougherty Comprehensive High School. Fair’s work, “Am I Next?,” depicted a crowd of protesters, one of whom is raising a sign that reads “Am I Next?”

— First Place: Anaya Davis, Dougherty High

— Second Place: Hakiria James, Dougherty High. James’s work, “Defenseless,” features a child sitting alone in front of a microphone in a courtroom while wearing headphones. The words above and below the scene say “Speak Up & Speak Out/Because I can’t speak for myself!”

— Third Place: Gethyn Ellerson, Dougherty High

— Rising Star: Nevaeh Stokes, Westover Comprehensive High School

— Rising Star: Justice Craig, Dougherty High

— Honorable Mention: Quaddarion Shedrick, Dougherty High

James said the reports of immigrant children separated from their families inspired her art. She said her drawing took about a week-and-a-half to complete, and she used color pencils for the child’s eyes, mouth and jumpsuit and chalk for the rest of the art.

“(President) Trump took the immigrants to court and had them on trial without their parents, even babies as young as 3 years old,” James said. “So I just woke up about that because a lot of people don’t know about it.

“Children can’t speak for themselves, and we need to speak up for them.”

The exhibit will move to Thronateeska’s Wetherbee Planetarium, located at 100 W. Roosevelt Ave., before going to the Albany Mall in January.

“I think (art) gives them a vehicle to be able to really let people know that they have a voice too, and they’re thinking,” Anderson said. “Most of the time, you don’t think kids are even paying attention, but they are. It’s a good way to release that too, through their art. So I’m very pleased.”

After being displayed at the mall, the exhibit is also expected to be at the annual King Day Celebration, the Albany Civil Rights Institute before coming to the Renaissance Art Cafe gallery.