Rotary Art Olympiad

Rotary Club of Pune Sinhagad Road, RID 3131, launched a mega drawing competition last year on a national-level and internationally across the US, England and Argentina. In Pune it was held at the Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Art Gallery.

“Through this event, we want to spot artistic talent in students and the general public, and promote it for recognitions on a global level. Winners will be trained professionally on various art styles through the Design Medium and Skill India programmes,” said Club President (2018–19) Shrikant Patankar.

Club member Nutan Lodha, with 25 years of experience in teaching art, has promoted the concept. The event attracted over 30,000 entries globally, including 500 from differently-abled artists too. Eighty-seven cash prizes and 800 merit certificates were awarded to Indian participants and 25 certificates were given to artists from the US and Argentina. A panel of accomplished artists shortlisted the winners. DGE Rashmi Kulkarni felicitated the winners in the presence of Rotarians and others. Earlier, the artwork of the participants was displayed for public viewing.

One of the participants has been shortlisted to represent India at the Senior International Design Olympiad 2021 to be held in China. She has already undergone 20 days of skill-enriching programme and will be further trained intensively for at least two years under the project initiated by the Skill India programme. One more participant has been selected to represent India at the Junior International Design Olympiad to be held in Russia in 2023, said Patankar.

The winning artwork from the US and Argentina was exhibited in Pune and later through arrangements with international Rotary clubs, exhibited in the art galleries in other countries too.

The initiative worth $9,500 benefitted over 30,000 direct participants and several more at the national and international-level, he said.