For the first time in the eight years the Cornwall Lions Club has been sponsoring the Peace Poster competition, Cornwall will have a representative at the national level. Jonathan Gagnon, a sixth grade middle school student, successfully made it through the local, district, and state rounds to reach the final stage.
“It’s amazing,” said Gagnon, who didn’t know he would make it this far when he entered the contest. “I tried hard on my poster, but I didn’t know what the other posters would be like.”
For the past 25 years, children in nearly 100 countries have participated in the Lions International Peace Poster Contest. Students ages 11 to 13 are eligible to participate. This year’s theme is “Our World, Our Future.”
Each year, Lions clubs around the world proudly sponsor the Lions International Peace Poster Contest in local schools and youth groups. This art contest for kids encourages young people worldwide to express their visions of peace. For more than 25 years, millions of children from nearly 100 countries have participated.
Throughout the competition, each poster is judged on originality, artistic merit and expression of the theme. Posters advance through several judging levels: local, district, state, and international. At the international level, judges from the art, peace, youth, education and media communities select one grand prize winner and 23 merit award winners.
Gina Dianis required her sixth grade art classes to create 16×20 inch posters, but not all students had to enter their poster in the international competition. Those who were interested in entering the contest, like Gagnon, could take their poster home to work on it further.
“I wanted to do well on it,” said Gagnon who spent an hour a day outside of class creating his poster.
The first step in the process was to consider this year’s theme.
“In art class, images began with a discussion about the importance of peace and how the power of visual imagery can reach cultures throughout the world, without the barrier of language,” Dianis said. “Poster winners and honorary mentions from past years were viewed on www.lionsclubs.org. A list of the symbols of peace was created, including international landmarks and visual contrasts between war and peace.”
“It’s our job, because we’re the next generation, to make the world a better place for everybody,” said Gagnon.
When it came time to put his thoughts on paper, the youth took it a step further by drawing two posters and then deciding which one he wanted to enter.
The first poster included a dove with a globe in its claws. The left and right sides of the globe represented good and evil. The second poster had a dove in the middle with a peace sign around it. Inside the peace sign Gagnon included popular landmarks around the world including the Statue of Liberty, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Eiffel Tower. At the bottom, the dove is holding a ribbon shaped like a heart with the world inside of it. On the top there’s a bouquet of flowers and each flower has a different religious symbol. On the sides of the peace sign are images of 9/11, tanks, and Hiroshima.
Gagnon chose the second poster as his final entry into the local competition.
“The composition just seemed a lot better. I had better ideas for the second one than the first.”
In creating his posters, Gagnon said he had a basic idea of what he wanted to include, but decided to sketch out his ideas first. One of his original designs had doves on the bottom, rather than hands, but Gagnon opted to change his mind.
“I knew it would look better and create a better image of peace,” Gagnon said of the change.
When it came time for the local competition, Gagnon was confident his poster would move onto the district level.
“Everybody was saying mine looked really good when I handed it in.”
Twenty-nine posters were entered into the local competition and Gagnon was named the first place winner. Andrew Lin took second place. Gagnon’s poster then went on to the district level and on Nov. 8 his poster was selected among seven other entries. Placing first in the district became a first for Cornwall, but then the poster went on to take states as well. Gagnon’s poster is now up against others across the nation.
“I think my chances are pretty good because I got this far.”
Although he’s looking forward to finding out how he finishes, Gagnon said he won’t be disappointed if he doesn’t win. He’s just proud for making it this far. For his efforts, Gagnon has already won $150 between the district and state levels. Gagnon isn’t sure what he’s going to do with his prize money, but is leaning toward saving it.
