A2 Fine Art student, Emily Collard has been shortlisted for the 2015 Saatchi Gallery/Deutsche Bank Art Prize for Schools. The international prize is open to primary, secondary and sixth form schools from around the world.

This year's judging panel included Lauren Child MBE, writer, illustrator and creator of 'Charlie and Lola'; Catherine Goodman, Artistic Director of The Royal Drawing Schools; Alistair Hicks, Art Advisor to Deutsche Bank; Nigel Hurst, CEO of the Saatchi Gallery and artist Richard Wilson.

Emily's painting was selected for the shortlist from over 20,000 works of art and is an amazing achievement! The 20 shortlisted pieces will be exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery in London from the 28th April - 4th May 2015. The winner and runner-up prizes will be announced at 7pm on the 28th April 2015 at an opening event. First prize is £2,000 for the student winner and £10,000 for the art department of the winning school/college.

Kirsty Ratcliffe, Subject Tutor for Fine Art said, “This is an exceptional opportunity for Emily to have her artwork exhibited in the internationally renowned Saatchi Gallery. Emily's painting really captures the essence of the Koi moving in the water and her use of light is particularly striking. We are thrilled to see Emily's work hung in the Saatchi Gallery and, as a department, we are extremely proud of her achievement. We wish Emily all the best in the final stages of the competition.”

Emily Collard commented, “When I chose the topic of ‘Multi-Cultural Society’ for one of my AS Fine Art topics, I never could have guessed it would lead to something as exciting as this! The inspiration for my topic came from Japanese culture, which I wanted to explore for the theme as my aunt is Japanese and I love all the beautiful natural elements that play a big role in their beliefs and traditions. I chose Koi carp for my final piece because they are so graceful and delicate, yet I could still be very experimental and play around with bright colours, textures and layering! Finding out that my piece had been selected as one of the final 20 in the Saatchi competition has given me so much determination to continue my art in the future and also fresh confidence and love for being creative. Even getting to this stage will stand as a massive achievement for me and will always be a highlight of my time at Farnborough 6th!“

Emily’s artwork can be viewed here