Coming to school to work hard on holidays and weekends paid off for four students at José Figueres Ferrer Experimental School in Taras, Cartago, east of San José, yesterday, when they were awarded the Grand Prize in an annual environmental mural contest sponsored by the Foundation for the Development of the Central Volcanic Range (FUNDECOR).
Through their mural, entitled “Uncertain Future,” the students adhere to the contest's theme of global warming by depicting a lush Costa Rican landscape fading into a desolate inferno after it's destroyed by a nearby factory.
The painting was inspired by the factories that spew smoke into the air outside the school's windows, said Marta Sánchez, the teacher who helped these four 16-year-old students complete the 40-square-meter mural.
More than 100 students from 19 public and private schools participated in the contest this year, and several others came away with awards for their efforts.
Best Adherence to the Theme went to two murals, both created at María Immaculada School in the northeastern suburb of Moravia. The Experimental Bilingual School in Belén, northwest of San José, won the Originality and Creativity award, and the Technical Professional School of the National Institute for Housing and Urban Development (INVU) in Alajuela, northwest of San José, won Best Overall mural.
Best Effort went to the Technical Professional School José Figueres Ferrer de La Lucha in Cartago. A few other schools received honorable mentions.
The students at prize-winning schools won trips and weekends at ecotourism establishments around the country.
The murals were judged by representatives of the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE), the San José Municipality's Culture Office, the artist group Andamio and Protecto, the paint company that sponsored the contest, according to a statement from FUNDECOR.
Students received a workshop on mural painting and artistic help from Andamio artists during their work. |
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