My involvement with the Young Pavement Artist Competition - Adam Myers

9 November 2005

I am a strong supporter of the National Young Pavement Artist Competition, having been involved with it since 1985 when I was a mere 10 years old. At the time, I remember going to a small park in London and taking part in the very first competition, chalking away alongside my late brother Stephen and the other children who had entered.

Although the first competition was a fairly small event, I realised then what a brilliant idea it really was. It was fascinating to see how imaginative the participants were with their boxes of chalk and the squares of pavement. I enjoyed the day immensely and have attended the London event every year since it started. What’s more; not only have I previously taken part in the competition, I am now one of the judges at the London event.

One of my earliest memories of the competition is of my brother Stephen getting out of his wheelchair and drawing on the pavement like everyone else, creating a brightly coloured parrot. Amazingly, he won first prize! The judges chose his drawing on merit alone. They had no idea that he had muscular dystrophy like myself.

While I do agree that my brother was very creative, what the judges didn’t realise was that all he was drawing at the time were parrots.

So you may ask; what’s it like trying to judge all those drawings? Well, the truth is, it is really hard work. All the drawings at the London event are fantastic and, there are so many to choose from, it is difficult to select a winner. I am really glad that Jeanette is on hand to help judge the drawings from our assigned age group. Our colleagues at the Tate must find it extremely difficult to choose the national winner and runners-up from the hundreds of finalists around the UK.

I find the whole experience of being one of the judges to be an honour and a great responsibility. Long may the competition continue!

Want to find out about this year's competition? Click here to go to the competition's dedicated website!
www.muscular-dystrophy.org/pavementart