World peace is tough to visualize as a snapshot, but a Saanich student has captured its spirit in a drawing that came out on top in Canada, and one of the best in the world.
Arbutus middle school’s Xuan Emma Lu earned an award of merit from the Lions Club International peace poster contest, one of 23 granted internationally. Her striking portrait of doves flying above a praying girl, who is holding ribbon of national flags, and with iconic structures in the background, caught the eyes of judges in three separate competitions to make it to the finals.
“It seemed challenging and fun, and it’s for a good cause, to promote peace in the world,” Lu said. “I thought peace was like birds. I drew what I thought was peaceful.”
Jim Hoskins, past president of the Gordon Head Lions Club and district chair of the peace poster contest, said he had 187 entries in Victoria from seven schools. In all the Lions Club fielded 400,000 drawings from around the world.
“Hers is the only entry in all of Canada to get a merit award, so that’s pretty big,” Hoskins said. “I’ve been doing this contest for 22 years and only one other time, in 2003, have we won an award of merit. It is a phenomenal drawing.”
Humble but talented, the 13-year-old is already building an art portfolio that includes designing the logo and writing and designing the website for the Victoria Titans Volleyball Club, which she plays for. She also designed her school yearbook and logos for T-shirts for her environmental leadership class.
Her original drawing will be on display in Hamburg, Germany, in July for the Lions Club International convention.
For her effort, Lu won a total of $755 from three rounds of judging. Some of her friends entered the contest too. “They were surprised (I won). They made me buy cupcakes for the class,” Lu said laughing.
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