Brabant has four new ‘Young Vincents’. Through a drawing talent program, young people between the ages of 10 and 14 were given the opportunity to further develop their talent for six months. They did this with the help of eighteen artists from all kinds of disciplines, in order to blossom into a new Vincent van Gogh.
A total of sixty students participated in the program. Fifteen of them received lessons in Tilburg, where they could develop their talents with paint, charcoal and digitally. The program concluded on Sunday with an exhibition in the NS16 exhibition space, where the students’ work was exhibited. One of the students was also chosen as the new ‘young Vincent’
“Drawing makes me happy when I feel bad.”
According to the jury, it was 12-year-old Svea who earned this title. She herself did not expect it: “I am very happy, but I did not see it coming,” she says. “My mother almost cried.”
Svea received a gift voucher from the organization for drawing supplies and two thick sketch pads, so that she can continue to work hard in the near future. And she likes that: “Drawing makes me happy. When I don’t feel good, it helps me a lot,” says the new Van Gogh.
“Young Vincent van Gogh was a source of inspiration.”
Petra Robben, head of Vincent’s Drawing Room, explains what the program is all about. “The idea is not for the students to be as good now as Van Gogh was at his peak. We wanted to use the young Vincent, who was learning here in Tilburg at the age of thirteen, as a source of inspiration. It doesn’t have to be exactly seem.”
“We wanted to encourage the participants and take them a step further,” says Robben. “And also give them self-confidence, because it is also very exciting to see how talented others are.” As far as she is concerned, the students have done well. “The works are very good. The level is very high and they all have their own style.”
The latter was also noticed by jury members Klaartje Esch and Paul Dongen. “The students are very driven,” says Esch. “We really notice that.” Dongen: “We looked at the process they went through. They accomplished a lot in eighteen lessons.”
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