Issued Wednesday, 13th November 2002

TEXACO MAKES 2003 A 'COLOURFUL' NEW YEAR

2003 promises to be a happy and 'colourful' New Year thanks to the publication by Texaco of their 2003 Children's Art Calendar.

Published in two versions - both in month-to-a-page format - the 2003 Texaco calendars come in large, see-at-a-glance, wall hanging version and in a smaller, flip over, desk-top design. Both feature a contrasting, cross-section of paintings chosen from the record 50,000 entries, which were submitted to the 2002 Texaco Children's Art Competition.

Most of the paintings featured from month-to-month were chosen from those that took top prizes and special merit awards in the competition. In the large format version, each page contains a pen picture of the artist printed alongside his or her painting.

Here, Texaco Event Co-ordinator Amanda Cullen shows how attractively designed each page is. Chosen to illustrate the month of January is a painting entitled 'Still Life With Mandolin' which won a special merit award for 15 year old Terenure College student James Kennedy whose pen picture appears alongside his painting.

The Texaco Children's Art Competition has been an annual event for almost 50 years during which time it has touched the lives of almost every family in Ireland. Earlier this year, this sponsorship was awarded 'Best Continuing Sponsorship of the Arts' at the Allianz Business 2 Arts Sponsor of the Year awards ceremony, which was held in Dublin in May.

Although the Texaco Children's Art Competition has changed little since its inception in 1955, one major new initiative, which was introduced this year, is the UTV/Texaco Young Artist Commission. Within this programme a Stg£1,000 commission is offered each year to the overall winner of the Texaco Children's Art competition. Their commissioned piece will then be exhibited permanently in the prestigious UTV Collection.

Information forms for the 2003 Texaco Children's Art Competition are currently being distributed to schools. The closing date for receipt of entries is Friday, 28th February 2003.