Art in Schools, July 2008.

HAVING just opened the doors to the general public (on Thursday 31 July, 2008), the brand new Castle Galleries Newcastle in Monument Mall has shown its commitment to creating a new generation of artists in the region with the launch of a major children’s art competition.
The competition has been launched in conjunction with St Thomas Moore RE High School (North Shields) to encourage the children in each year group to discover and appreciate the joy of painting and art. The initiative, which is the brainchild of Castle Galleries Newcastle, has received the personal backing of three of Newcastle’s most outstanding artists – including celebrity artist Alexander Millar, Mark Grieves and Jeff Rowland – all of whom are showcased in the new gallery in Monument Mall.
Millar, Grieves and Rowland visited St Thomas Moore before the end of term, to tell the pupils about their lives and careers as professional artists and inspire as many children as possible to take part in the art competition with their live painting demonstrations. The three artists will judge the entries at the beginning of September and a winner from each year group will be announced on Saturday 20 September at Castle Galleries Newcastle (between 12-3pm).
The overall winner will be presented with a fabulous selection of art materials by TV artist Alexander Millar, whilst the winner of each year group will have their work professionally framed by Castle Galleries and the art will go on display to the public in the gallery from 20 September.
Self-taught artist Alexander Millar started working as a window cleaner before discovering his natural talent for painting. His infamous Newcastle ‘Gadgie’ originals are now fetching five figure sums amongst his growing legion of fans. He said: “There’s a whole world out there to explore and record as an artist and Castle Galleries wants to inspire and ignite children to pick up a pencil, crayon or paint brush and discover the joy of art. Not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer and it’s great for children to know that if you practice long and hard enough, you can earn a good living as a successful artist and, most importantly, do something that you truly love doing.”

Cited from 'Whats On NE' August 4th 2008.