The regional art contest named after Liudmyla and Mykola Mazur, Podilska Palitra, started collecting children’s drawings back in 2000 and was aimed at finding and promoting young talents.
Every year in November, the Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum hosted an art event – an exhibition of creative works and a ceremony to honor the winners. Since its inception, it has been a public competition for the Liudmyla Mazur Prize, and in 2015, by the decision of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council, it acquired the status of the regional children’s competition for young artists named after Liudmyla Mazur “Podilska Palitra”.
Since 2016, it has been the regional art contest named after Liudmyla and Mykola Mazur “Podilska Palitra”.
Since 2017, the scope of the contest has expanded: it is held in two rounds. The first one involves works by contestants of three age categories: 6-9, 10-12, and 13-16 y.o. Three winners are determined in each of these age categories. In the second, works of contestants among young people aged 17 to 25 are considered and one winner is determined in four nominations: painting, graphics, sculpture and decorative and applied arts.
The contest is now held in the spring, with a different composition of the contest committee, and most importantly, the prize fund has grown significantly. Also, now all age categories participate in the first and second rounds, but only in the first round works are sent online, and those that have passed the second round go to the museum, where they are exhibited alongside other famous artists. In the second round, the laureates are selected, whose works are traditionally distinguished by colored labels.
This year, 573 works in various materials and techniques were submitted for the first round of the competition.
It was not easy for the contest committee to select 280 works from these to be shortlisted for the second round, and it was especially difficult to select 12 winners.
The contest was created to support the talented and persistent, and everyone who is not a laureate today is a potential winner next year.