Illustrator, author and comedian Aoife Dooley was on hand today, Thursday November 22, as Dublin Bus, for the very first time, surprised 11 budding artists with a bus wrapped in their colourful pictures which they created for the annual Children’s Art Competition. Aoife also judged the competition and chose the winning pictures to be displayed on the bus. Over 2,000 children from 25 primary schools entered this year’s competition which saw Susan O’Reilly from St. Canice’s Girls School, Finglas revealed as the overall winner at an unveiling outside The Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. Susan colourfully recreated the hugely popular Dublin Pride Bus in her winning picture.
In addition to appearing on the specially decorated Community Spirit Initiative bus, the 11 pictures will feature, alongside 30 others, in the Children’s Art Calendar 2019, and were on display at a special exhibition at The Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. The Children’s Art Competition is part of Dublin Bus’ wider Community Spirit Initiative which reflects the company’s commitment to playing an active role in the communities in which services operate. In 2017, as part of the Schools Education Programme, Dublin Bus Schools and Community Co-ordinators made 574 visits to schools to engage with children and young people across the Greater Dublin Area. The Community Spirit Initiative buses also made 427 trips, bringing thousands of children on school trips and to and from summer projects.
Speaking about the announcement and reveal of the winning pictures Aoife Dooley said: “I’ve always believed that it is important to nurture and encourage creative talent in children. I feel it makes a big difference not only to their artistic ability, but also for their self-confidence and belief in themselves as they grow up. It’s also fantastic that Dublin Bus is creatively using the Children’s Art Competition to show children that the bus not only helps to bring them to and from school, but also helps the lives of family, friends and neighbours living in their communities.”
Dublin Bus has held the annual art competition in primary schools across Dublin since 2002. The competition and Schools Education Programme promotes the concept of respecting public transport amongst school children. A different selection of schools are invited to participate in the competition each year with a new calendar produced annually. The calendar is distributed among the participating schools, Dublin Bus employees and is available to the public from the Dublin Bus Head Office at 59 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin 1.
Commenting on this year’s winning paintings, Ray Coyne, Dublin Bus CEO said "I am really impressed by the incredible creativity and high standard of artwork displayed in the 2019 Children’s Art Calendar. The imagination and creativity shown is a credit to the children and all those who support them. I was also encouraged to see that Susan’s winning painting made reference to values we believe are very important, including pride, fairness, equality and community. The calendar shows how young people in Dublin have great respect for Dublin Bus and understand the importance of public transport for their communities."
The 11 children, chosen in the 2017/2018 academic year, whose paintings feature on the bus wrap are:
1. Abdulrahaman Abdulnasser Ali, 5th class, St. Joseph's National School, Ballymun
2. Alanna Glover, 4th class, St. Bernadette’s Senior National School, Clondalkin
3. Anjola Awe, 6th class, Holy Family Senior National School, Swords
4. Ayse Guven, 5th class, St. Aidan's Senior National School, Tallaght
5. Daniel Adeyemo, 5th class, St. Ronan's National School, Clondalkin
6. Emily Han, 4th class, Tyrrelstown Educate Together National School
7. Fionn Ó Faoláin, 5th class, Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch, Ballymun
8. Hazel Kennedy, 6th class, Finglas Parochial
9. Margarita Charlamenkova, 6th class, St. Thomas' Senior National School, Tallaght
10. Susan O’Reilly, 4th class, St. Canice’s Girls School, Finglas
11. Zuzanna Rotkiel, 6th class, St. Gabriel’s Primary School, Ballyfermot