International Academy of Astronautics Sponsors Multi-national Youth Art Competition
Visual Artwork, age 10-13: B.E.A.M. Base Exploration Aboard Moon, by Emily Miedema and Abby Bull, Canada
On April 11- 15, 2011, a youth art competition was held as a part of the 18th Humans in Space Symposium, sponsored by the International Academy of Astronautics, in Houston, Texas. The International Youth Art Competition was designed to involve young people in thinking about the future of human space flight and to provide them a way to communicate their ideas to the people who attended the Symposium. By including the next generation in envisioning the future, the competition increased their awareness of, interest in, and support of human space flight. Although the current generation of space scientists, managers, and explorers were assembled to plan for this next golden age, the younger generation will actually implement the strategy and so should be involved in the planning as well. Not only did the artists reach the Symposium attendees, but the message from the artists is already being noticed around the world, since the art is now viewable electronically in an Online Gallery.
The online international art competition invited youth from 10-17 years old to submit visual, literary, musical, and video art expressing “What is the future of human space exploration, and why is it important?” The response to the call for artwork was enormous: 550 art entries were received from 22 countries, distributed across five continents. An international panel of 71 judges (including artists, scientists, teachers, engineers, astronauts, and others) evaluated the art and provided the scores used to determine awardees.
Artists all over the world sent in their creations, such as Mayisha Nakib, from Ruston, Louisiana, USA. Here, she shows her painting entitled “What’s Your Horizon? ” to a Symposium attendee. Mayisha is 17 years old and won first place overall in the two Dimensional art category, age 14 to 17.
The conference was organized by a team led by Jancy McPhee, Ph.D. This team originated the idea, publicized it internationally, created a unique scoring system, created a complete online presence, and hosted the awards ceremony. The team meshed the efforts of the University of Houston (Texas), the International Academy of Astronautics, the Universities Space Research Association, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
A key component of the Competition was to ensure that the messages of the youth artists were “heard” by the adult Symposium attendees. So the best Competition artwork was woven into a live multimedia performance held at the Humans in Space Symposium Opening Ceremony, and other Symposium displays, in order to ensure that attendees would be exposed to the youth artwork and ideas. The musical portion was played by the local Clear Lake High School orchestra and conducted by the composers – James Tabata of Pasadena, Texas (USA) and Anna Wang of League City, also in Texas. James, 16 years old, composed “Fortunam, Movement IV: A Glimmer” and Anna, 14 years old, composed “Promovendus: Moving Forward”.
The hope was that the artwork would inspire adult attendees, giving them fresh ideas and new energy, while helping them to learn what the next generation believes is important for the future of human space exploration. These ideas could also influence the developing strategies for human space flight at the Symposium and future venues. Attendees said that they were deeply influenced by the thoughts, beauty, and intensity of the youth artwork.
The winning artwork is displayed and viewable worldwide in the Online Gallery at http://www.dsls.usra.edu/meetings/IAA/artContest/. By placing the artwork online, the messages and creativity of the youth will continue to inspire both generations of space explorers as they plan and carry out the future of human space flight, together.
The next Humans In Space Symposium will be in Spring of 2013 in Germany, and they may again sponsor a Youth Art Competition.
Visual Artwork, age 10-13: Moonworkers, by Albert Choi, U.S
Visual Artwork, age 10-13: Look at our New World, by Chi Yin Yu, China.
Visual Artwork, age 14-17: Cradle of Cosmos, by Anastasia Pronina, Russian Federation
Visual Artwork, age 14-17: Future City in Space, by Man Wai Leung, China.
Visual Artwork, age 14-17: What’s Your Horizon, by Mayisha Nakib, U.S.
Figure 3: The Glorious Cavern, Prannoiy Chandran, age 14, Singapore.
The Glorious Cavern
The cavernous darkness abounds,
Rich with twinkling stars,
Like tiny pearls in an ocean of black.
Riddled with stars,
Dotted with planets,
Shrouded in mystery…
The depths of space never end,
Like an endless shawl studded with pearls
Wrapped around planets.
The layman stares,
The astronaut observes,
The child delights.
All with awe,
At the majesty,
And the mystery.
Nothing has intrigued man more than this
Black envelope
Addressed to all who wish to explore its mysteries.
From the exploits of Apollo 11,
To the ambitions of space agencies,
To the gleaming rockets probing the frontiers of the world.
The silvery craft nears the planet,
The astronauts breathless
With excitement and awe.
The ship breaks through the atmosphere,
Like a silver arrow piercing a membrane
And the humans are speechless.
The rocky landscape glows in the setting sun,
And the humans disembark,
Feeling more excited than they’ve ever had.
The sense of adventure,
To wonderful new realms…
Strange new planets.
Even as the fragile Earth,
Struggles from pollution,
We probe the universe…
For a new planet,
A new galaxy,
A new universe…A new home, a brand-new life.
