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15 September 2020, Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis – Students from five Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) member countries emerged as the top performers in the 2020 Creative Youth Art Competition sponsored and hosted by the ECCB and the Regional Security System Asset Recovery Unit (RSS ARU).

Sage Connor of the Omololu International School in Anguilla and Anique Ward of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College in Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis captured first place in the
13 to 16 age category and the 17 to 19 age category respectively.

Sage’s piece titled, A Colour of Hope, is her interpretation of the topic, Recycling: Waste Management for an Eco-Friendly Region.  The piece is a painting done in mixed media, including recycled paper, where the silhouetted face of a woman symbolises humanity.

For her interpretation of Cultural Awareness: Keeping Our Culture Alive, Anique’s depicts eight characters assembling to celebrate and embrace their different cultures in the form of a dance. The characters represent each of the ECCB member countries.    

Hilary Lawrence of the St Mary’s Academy in the Commonwealth of Dominica and Paige Budd of the Anglican High School in Grenada were the second and third place winners respectively in the age 13 to 16 category. In the age 17 to 19 category, Odama Tiffany Prince of the Basseterre High School in Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis won second place, while Khadijah Halliday of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College placed third.

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The judges of the competition, who are professional artists from across the ECCB member countries, have described the pieces as awe-inspiring and said they took the opportunity to learn from the students’ work. “We were blown away by the skills demonstrated by the students in their art pieces”, said Taffari Crawford from Anguilla, the Head Judge for the 13-16 category. Shadrach Burton from the Commonwealth of Dominica and Head Judge for the 17-19 category described the art pieces as really amazing and showed a lot of talent.

The first place winners in each of the categories will be awarded a $3,000 cash prize and a grant of $2,000 will be awarded to their respective schools.  The students who placed second will each receive $2,500 and their schools will be presented with a grant of $1,500. The third place winners will each receive $1,500 and their schools will be awarded a grant of $1,000. 

Fifty-six entries were received from the eight ECCB member countries on the three topics: Recycling: Waste Management for an Eco-Friendly Region; Cultural Awareness: Keeping Our Culture Alive; and Combating Crime through Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery.

The eight judges were: Taffari Crawford, Anguilla; Renee Phillip-Morris, Antigua and Barbuda; Shadrach Burton, Commonwealth of Dominica; Roland Benjamin, Grenada; Stephen Mendes, Montserrat; Deborah Vaughn Tyrell, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis; Alwyn St Omer, Saint Lucia; and Julian Pollard, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The ECCB/RSS ARU Creative Youth Art Competition, is part of the ECCB’s Community Outreach Programme, and is aimed at encouraging critical and innovative thinking and raising the awareness of secondary school and community college students in the ECCU on issues of economic and social development.

The winning pieces can be viewed on the ECCB website and its Facebook page.

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About the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) was established in October 1983. The ECCB is the Monetary Authority for: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Media Contact: Shermalon Kirby, Acting Director, Corporate Relations Department

Phone: (869) 465-2537 | Fax: (869) 465-9562

E-mail: info@eccb-centralbank.org | Website: www.eccb-centralbank.org