YOUNG AT ART

TALENTED YOUNGSTERS ARE BEING GIVEN THE CHANCE TO HANG THEIR WORKS AT A TOP CITY GALLERY, WRITES RUTH MILLINGTON

- Ruth Millington is a Birmingham-based art historian and writer

BURSTING with colour, expression and individuality, more than 50 exhibited artworks at Birmingham's RBSA Gallery prove a point made famous by Pablo Picasso: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up".

Young, talented makers, aged four to 17, are being celebrated in the inaugural Young Artists Prize this summer.

A few weeks ago, I was honoured to join a panel of selectors, which included RBSA president and notable artist Ed Isaacs PRBSA, and Karolina Korupczynska, director of Stryx Gallery, who is also a Birmingham-based artist. Together, we spent a day reviewing entries across four separate age categories: 4-6, 7-10, 11-14, and 15-17.

It was by far the most fun I'd had judging an art competition, which was free to enter for children from across the city of Birmingham, plus Sandwell, Solihull, Wolverhampton and Dudley. Children were invited to submit work in any 2D media, excluding photography and digital work, with a focus on imagination.

The children's imagination was what amazed us judges most. At a time when we are being told that young people are glued to screens, it's clear that many are still playing with pens and paper, brushes and paint, as a way of bringing their own ideas to life.