Steven wins 3rd place at National Gallery Articulation Prize

A Sixth Former recently won 3^rd place representing Shrewsbury School at a regional round of an Articulation competition hosted by The National Gallery.

Steven J (SH, LVI) represented Shrewsbury School at the Regional Heat of the Articulation Prize – a nationally acclaimed public speaking initiative for young people, designed to promote the appreciated and discussion of visual culture.

The competition sees students deliver a 10-minute presentation to an audience about a work of art, architecture or an artefact in a museum or gallery setting. At the internal school competition, Steven came first with his study of Yanfeng Wu's print series 'The Stranger', 2022. Steven went on to represent Shrewsbury School at the 'Regional Heat' which took place in Coventry at the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery.

He was up against 9 other speakers and gave such a well-researched, passionate and interesting presentation, even contacting the artist which was very impressive! 

The adjudicator, Jon Sleigh - Learning Curator, arts educator and art history writer, congratulated Steven for creating such powerful emotion in the room and for beautifully taking the audience on a journey with him. He encouraged him to keep on sharing that gift with others. He commended Steven for finding a meta narrative and for taking us on a journey into sheer humanity.

Bella Winkley, History of Art teacher said: “Up against nine other students - who all gave passionate, interesting and well-researched presentations - it is such a great achievement for Steven to win third prize in this annual national event.

“He went above and beyond in this competition, getting in touch with the artist Yanfeng Wu and presenting the vulnerable side of the artist in a compassionate and emotive way. Steven's presentation held the room captivated. Emotions grew as people around the room began to connect with the prints through Steven's carefully crafted script.

“A great success, well done!”