I had the honour of being one of the judges for the Toronto Public Library’s 2024 Design a Bookmark contest – and it was not easy! Over 5,000 entries were submitted from young artists in age categories 0-6, 7-9 and 10-13. Each library branch submitted their top choices for the final judging and there were SO MANY beautiful bookmarks. The winners were chosen for originality, theme and design. In addition to four winners in each category, four designs were selected as Elizabeth Cleaver Design awards for outstanding artistic merit. I was impressed by the variety of styles and mediums used by the artists, including collage, pencil, paint, markers, fabric and plasticine. The award presentations took place at at the North York Central Library and it was wonderful to meet the artists and celebrate with their families. Each artist received a certificate, a book bag with book prizes and 150 copies of their bookmark plus a set of all the winning designs. After the ceremony we held a plasticine workshop. You can imagine the masterpieces these accomplished artists created with clay!
You can see all the winning designs and learn more about the contest here, or collect all the winning bookmarks at your local library branch. The contest will open again next fall, stay tuned!
