The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is hosting their 30th annual International Young Artists Aviation Contest by using the theme "Air Sports in Harmony with Nature.” Young artists must be between the ages of 6 and 17 years old. The deadline for receipt of artwork from the United States is January 22, 2016. The deadline for winning artwork to arrive at NASAO will be February 19, 2016. NASAO will provide additional information and guidance in the near future and will soon have brochures available. More contest information is available on the FAI website. By visiting their website, you can download the Interpretation of the 2016 theme in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish.
The FAI is interested in promoting all forms of sporting and recreational aviation including: ballooning, gliding, parachuting, aerobatics, hang gliding, ultralights, model aircraft, light sport aircraft, helicopters and world space records.
To better understand the interpretation of the 2016 theme, here are concepts to help in visualizing content:
The beauty of the earth is never clearer than when seen from the air. Every day, thousands of people flying in airliners look at the earth with a new perspective from above. Another group of boys, girls, men and women involved in air sports are fortunate to have a special view of the grandeur below them as the soar in gliders or float through the air in balloons. Others feel the rush of air as they parachute down to a beautiful field or cross the sky in an ultralight or helicopter.
From above, the fullness of nature is seen in ways unknowable from the ground. Helicopters give tours of the inaccessible rivers and canyons as balloons float across home towns, each giving new insight into how land, water, animals, and people share their environments. From the air, one is able to take pictures and film land that would otherwise never be seen. Aircraft do this without the need for roads. An airport or open field will do for the intrepid aviator.
While the air sport participants enjoy this freedom, they also must be very good neighbors to all the people and animals and the environment. This is especially important as they take-off and land. Air sports enthusiasts are happy to do this because the beauty of the earth is one of the reasons they love flying so much.
So have your youngster grab their favorite pen or brush to capture the connection between the land and the air. Encourage them to create a work of art that shows air sports and nature in harmony. Good luck!
