Speyside High School Wins Chief Secretary’s Tobago Secondary Schools' Art Competition

Speyside High School has copped the Chief Secretary’s Tobago Secondary Schools' Art Competition. On Friday, winners in this year’s competition were revealed during a Prize Giving Ceremony at the Hampden Multi-Purpose Facility. According to organisers of the Chief Secretary’s Tobago Secondary Schools' Art Competition, this year saw the largest number of entries of 104. All participants were required to create pieces on the theme 'Rhythm of Life.' In the end, it was Speyside High School’s Khristiana George’s piece that moved the judges, gaining her the $4,000 top prize and securing $10,000 for her school. Chief Secretary Farley Augustine reminded the young artists that there are lucrative career opportunities in art. "We have made it a significant feature in our Tobago Day celebrations because we want to give prominence and also ensure that the THA is always giving support for our Creatives. I have said it before that very often those of us who are now in leadership and those older we may have been raised in an era where we were taught that art is really just a past time and not really one that one should put all their energies behind but we have seen in our world that there are opportunities in art that will allow you to be paid so handsomely." Moved to tears at the announcement, winner Khristiana George said she had entered the competition twice before but did not make it to the top 12. However, with encouragement from her parents, she gave it a third shot and this year the prize was hers. Her piece was titled 'Parlour Culture.' "To capture the everyday life so like the everyday rhythm of life so that’s why I was like okay a parlour when you around a parlour you seeing a lot of people playing cards, or people just walking by, or in the shop doing business so I thought that was like a rhythm in itself." Proud father Kurt George told us he is overjoyed with her daughter’s accomplishment. "Wow, I coulda melt, actually melt because I know she has been trying and I always tell her, girl don't worry." In second place was Signal Hill Secondary’s J’leise Johnson and the third place winner was Chanique Marcelin of Scarborough Secondary. The top twelve entries will be featured in the Chief Secretary’s 2025 calendar.