2019 marks the second year that the Martensville Beautification Committee has been in action and they are hard at work making a difference within the community. Most recently, the committee contacted all five of the Martensville schools (Valley Manor Elementary School, Venture Heights Elementary School, Lake Vista Elementary School, École Holy Mary Catholic School and Martensville High School) to participate in an opportunity to showcase the talented youth that we have living in our community.
The Beautification Committee decided to put up banners along Centennial Drive and asked the students in all five schools to draw pictures of what makes Martensville special to them. “We really wanted to make this a community project, so we asked the students what made Martensville special to them. The response that we had was incredible,” Beautification Committee member and City Councillor Deb McGuire said.
McGuire, along with Saskatchewan artist Jeannette Lussier, went through the 75 submitted pictures and judged them based on five criteria, which were five points each. In the end, a total of ten pictures were chosen, with some being done by an individual student, and others having been worked on together by several students. Each picture was awarded a cheque of $50, which was presented to the winners on Wednesday, June 13th.
Lussier, who has previously judged entries at the Saskatchewan Art Showcase during the Saskatoon Exhibition, was astounded at the talent in each submission. “Each piece was so special in its own way and showed a great spirit of community and it was so nice to see the community pride and involvement in each piece. I think it is so important to get youth involved in art because it is such a building block in life,” Lussier explained.
The banners have been ordered and will be displayed along Centennial Drive by the end of this month.
PHOTOS: The students from local schools whose artwork was selected to be included on the banners include:
Valley Manor students Gracie C. and Paytn S.
Martensville High School students Hailey H. and Rayne P.
École Holy Mary Catholic School students Raina, Kennedi and Ashlyn
Lake Vista Elementary School students Hayley V. and Danika B.
Venture Heights School students Rebecca H., Tarra D., Hunter B. and Alexis K.
