Zeekoevlei Primary School Grade 4 pupil, Victor Brown, 12, has been recognised for his artistic talent.
Victor won a gold medal at the Provincial Visual Art Exhibition, held at Battswood Art Centre, on August 24.
He also received a gold medal in the Metro South region and celebrated with gold medallists from other regions at the gala event at the Iziko Art Gallery, on September 7.
Here, all the gold medallists from the entire province were acknowledged, receiving further certificates and trophies.
Grade 7 teacher Michelle Petersen discovered Victor’s talent when she looked for interested pupils to enter the art competition in June.
Victor’s peers pointed him out and Ms Petersen was impressed when she saw his art file.
Ms Petersen said: “I asked him to draw Spiderman and I noticed his passion for drawing.”
Victor’s mother, Deidre, passed away 10 years ago. He grew up in Middleburg with his grandmother, Francis, but when she died last year, he moved in with his aunt, Shirley, in Lotus River.
Ms Brown said she was very proud of him.
“He has asked me before if I could enrol him in an art class, but we are not by the means. He is generally a quiet boy but he told me he wanted to be an artist one day.”
Ms Petersen said she, along with Victor’s class teacher Hilary Cupido, principal Graham Ritchie and subject advisor Natasha Esbach, took him to both award ceremonies.
Ms Petersen said she focuses on bringing out the children’s talents at school level. “Most of our children at school suffer from low self-esteem, and need parents and teachers to build them up. We have to encourage them to not only excel academically but to discover their other talents.”
She said she exposes her Grade 7s, in Life Orientation class, to singing, dancing and poetry. “I discovered a shy boy in my class can sing.”
Ms Petersen said she has a passion for Zeekoevlei Primary, being a former pupil of the school herself. “I would love to continue to help our children and to prepare the for the world,” she said.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) celebrated the achievement of pupils in the field of visual art with the first Visual Art Exhibition that took placeat each of the eight education districts from July to August.
All Grade R to 9 pupils were invited to take part in the event
Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded and the criteria used to reach the final decision included: use and application of the elements and principles of art (visual components of artwork): creativity (artist’s originality); technique and media (artist’s skill and use of various media) and visual impact and presentation.
The theme of the exhibition was, “I Celebrate My World” and it consisted of works on paper (2D) in a variety of wet and dry mediums and some 3D works.