Using everything from crayons to holiday cookie sprinkles, dozens of children of U of T law students, staff and faculty expressed their creative side in the Faculty's Kids for PEACE Holiday Art Show.
The children -- ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years - submitted drawings and canvases that focused on the theme of peace, using variations on images of doves, the planet Earth and peace signs. Many older children also submitted vibrantly coloured abstracts and integrated the theme of diversity, multiculturalism and friendship into their pictures.
From the almost 40 submissions, one work of art was chosen as the cover of Dean Mayo Moran's annual Faculty of Law holiday card. Kaleidoscope World, by four-year-old Moira, daughter of SJD student Rommel Salvador, was the winning design. The picture, named after a song by Filipino musician Francis Magalona, depicted a rainbow of handprints surrounding a cut-out dove. A canvas painted by 12-year-old Charlotte, the daughter of faculty member Catherine Valcke, was chosen as the runner-up.
"All the artwork was so thoughtful and creative, and the children obviously put their hearts into it," says Dean Moran, who along with Assistant Dean for Students Alexis Archbold and SLS President Alykhan Sunderji chose the winning design. "It was very difficult to choose just one as the cover of the holiday card. I wanted to use all of them."
Among the submissions was a series produced by 12 Girl Guides and Pathfinders from the east end of Toronto as an activity towards their earning a Peace Badge. The idea to include the girls -- many of whom come from single-parent homes and economically disadvantaged families -- in the show came at the request of Allison Sephton, a second-year law student and their Girl Guide leader.
"The 'girls' were so excited to be a part of this - they went all-out in creating their artwork. This meant a lot to them," says Sephton, who has been involved with the Girl Guides since the age of six and a leader since her late teens. In total, eight of their pictures will be part of the art show. The remaining four works of art were made from clay and too fragile to include in the show.
The Faculty of Law also held a draw for all the children participating in the Kids for PEACE Holiday Art Show. Professor Andrew Green's eight-year-old daughter Abby won the year-long family membership to the newly renovated Art Gallery of Ontario. The Faculty of Law will also pay admission to the AGO for the participating Girl Guide group and their team leaders.
The show will be open to the public and on display in the Rowell Room at Flavelle House until the end of the year.
