Award ceremony for the 2024 painting competition – “Wonderful water worlds – animals in and around water”
Levin, 10 years basic school “Gemeinschaftsgrundschule Michaelschule”, Bonn. © LIB, Alexander-Koenig-Gesellschaft
Inspired by the water habitat and its fascinating (animal) inhabitants, over 3,300 children’s artworks from Bonn and the surrounding region were submitted this year – a record! A total of 61 works of art were selected for the special exhibition, which can be seen in the café of the Museum Koenig Bonn until August 25. 13 artworks won prizes and were selected for the 2025 annual calendar.
The painting competition, through which primary school children can discover nature through art, was organized this year for the fifteenth time in a row by the Alexander-Koenig-Gesellschaft e.V. (AKG) and the Dr. Hans Riegel-Stiftung. On Sunday, June 30, 2024, the young up-and-coming artists were honored for their creative pictures in the lecture hall of the Museum Koenig Bonn – Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change.
The motto of this year’s painting competition from Bonn, the surrounding area and from the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate invited pupils to immerse themselves in a habitat for countless animals and plants. Whether in flowing or standing water, deep or shallow: mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and many other numerous species were discovered and imaginatively and artistically depicted by pupils from the second to fourth grades using a wide variety of painting techniques and materials. Inspired by the aquatic habitat and its fascinating (animal) inhabitants, a total of 3,321 works of art were received from 72 schools with 172 classes – a new record that we are proud of!
The jury with representatives from school authorities, the Museum Koenig Bonn, the University of Bonn, other educational institutions and, for the first time, the artist agency HIGHLIGHTZ as well as the AKG and the Dr. Hans Riegel-Foundation, selected 61 pictures for the special exhibition and 13 for the award ceremony and the 2025 annual calendar. This year, the Dr. Hans Riegel Foundation and the AKG also awarded two special prizes and a further special prize in honor of Manfred Tulke, the initiator of the NATUR BEFLÜGELT! painting competition.
Helmut Stahl, President of the AKG and Prof. Ingeborg Henzler, board member of the Dr. Hans Riegel-Foundation, welcomed all at the award ceremony and thanked all children who took part again this year, their parents, the dedicated teachers and the jury. Mrs. Gabi Mayer, the deputy mayor of the city of Bonn, Katja Dörner, gave her greetings and was impressed by the children’s creativity. Ingrid Hirsch-Leggewie, project manager of the painting competition on behalf of the AKG, presented the children with their prizes: a certificate, a creative workshop at the Museum Koenig Bonn and a book matching the theme.
