The artistic talents of Harrogate Grammar School students have been reflected in their submissions to the Young Artists’ Summer Show at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Students carried on developing their creative skills during lockdown, often drawing on the challenging times to inspire their work.

And many of their resulting artworks are among the 150 pieces of art submitted to be considered for inclusion in the exhibition, which is open to all UK students aged 5-19 and takes place at the Royal Academy (RA) in London and online.

Neil Renton, Harrogate Grammar School’s Headteacher, said:

“Our students have excelled themselves in rising to this challenge, employing their resilience and creativity to produce some exceptional work. We are very proud of them.”

Students from across every year group submitted three entries each for the Summer Show, which is widely regarded as the platform for young artists to get noticed.

Mediums included pastels, pencil drawings, oil paintings, photography, sculpture and lithographs. Some students took advantage of Harrogate Grammar School’s iPads for Learning scheme to produce iPad drawings.

Jo Oates, Faculty Leader of Design, said:

“Some of the submissions were produced as part of coursework and supervised lunch-time sessions, but most were at least partly produced during lockdown and often just for pleasure.

“This is the third year of the Summer Show and we’re had entries from more students than ever.”

Mrs Oates said she was encouraged that many of the sixth form students were going on to art foundation and specialist art, design and media courses with a view to taking up careers in the creative industries.

She added:

“It’s one of the fastest-growing sectors in our economy – and it is pleasing to see students securing courses in these areas.”

The students’ submissions will now be judged by artists and art professionals from the RA, with selected artworks displayed online and at the Royal Academy this summer.

See the Harrogate Grammar School submissions below:

Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here.