"Color My Heart with Peace" International Children's Art Contest Award Ceremony 2022

On July 30, the Women's Federation for World Peace 2022 (WFWPI) held an online awards ceremony for the 2022 Color My Heart with Peace (CMHWP) International Children's Art Contest, a creative drawing project based on the vision of its Co-founders to achieve peace and unity through a culture of the heart based on living for others. About 30 young artists, their parents, teachers, and guests attended the ceremony, where the contest winners were presented with their award certificates. The MC for the event was Ms. Najette Chouchane, a young professional and art creator from the UK. The event's organizer and WFWPI International Secretary General, Dr. Paris Moon, was invited to give opening remarks, explaining the vision of the project and the overall information of this year's contest.

A total of 232 applications were submitted representing 24 nations in 10 regions. The applications supported the theme of “Peace and Unification in North and South Korea.” This year's winners' categories are divided into two age groups: 7-9 years old and 10-13 years old.
The works were reviewed and evaluated by a panel of judges: Prof. Hyoung Min Na of Kyung Hee University in Korea and Prof. Katarzyna Minollari of the International School in Art History in Albania. The evaluation was based on the following criteria: creativity 30%, interpretation of the theme 30%, the overall impression of the work 20%, and Facebook likes 20%. A total of 64 winners were selected, including 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze, 10 Merit, and 30 Achievement Award winners.

Vladyslava Solomakha (7 y.o.) from Ukraine and Gioia Bernardi (11 y.o.) from Italy was selected as the proud Gold Winners of the 2022 “Color My Heart with Peace” contest. At the awards ceremony, they shared the concept and background of their paintings. In her work "Union Light," Gioia shared that she depicted torches, which signify a new beginning for the Korean peninsula. She also said that the handshake in the light was shown as a symbol of a promise to unite and not betray each other.

Vladyslava, showing a painting entitled "Let's Play with Safe Toys, Brother," explained that when the contest began, their family was actually in the middle of a conflict and had to flee to Moldova, with no access to paper or art materials. However, Vladyslava was so excited about the vision of the contest that she lost sleep talking about how she could bring that vision to life on canvas. She decided to paint a brother and sister as symbols of North and South Korea. The brother, as North Korea, "plays" with missiles that are dangerous not only to South Korea but to the world. The sister, as South Korea, calls the brother to play with the safer toys and to appreciate and protect what we have around us and what God has given us. Vladyslava and her family hope that peace will come soon and that all families around the world will be able to live in a safe environment.

At the end of the awards ceremony, a group photo was taken of all the participants with their best smiles, which were the most important testimony of hope for peace and security. It was a beautiful ceremony that brought together children from different parts of the world to show how art and creativity can become wonderful tools for peace and be a step towards a harmonious world. Although various issues arose during the contest period and the deadline was extended, WFWPI is grateful for the understanding of the many participants and is moved by the young artists who participated so passionately in the contest with their colorful paintings.

By promoting the CMHWP contest on online platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, the number of subscribers tripled, allowing the contest to reach more art schools in different countries. In addition, to recognize this project as an important future research item, this year WFWPI, along with intern Ms. Millie Cox, wrote a research paper entitled "The Impact of Children's Art Competitions Hosted by NGOs" based on the records, results, and data from the previous and current art contests. This short research paper discusses and examines the significance of NGO-run children's art contests, particularly with regard to their impact on both participants and organizations: the WFWPI project "Color My Heart with Peace" and the UNHCR's contest "Youth with Refugees Art Contest. Each contest aims to raise awareness of this issue among the younger generation and utilizes art as a means for children to express their creativity and become more familiar with various topics.

WFWPI hopes this art project will be a small step in the larger vision of achieving peace and harmony not only on the Korean peninsula but throughout the world, starting from the hearts of future generations of children.