Enter the 2011 ‘Art in Heaven’ Competition Pupils from Perryfields School, Sandwell, made tiles on the theme of justice in the style of Keith Haring’s art This presentation invites to you make an art work on one of our five themes. The National Association of Teachers of RE will give prizes to the winners. See more details on our web art gallery at www.natre.org.uk

What is ‘Art in Heaven’? ‘Art in Heaven is an annual competition run since 2004 for pupils in RE that gives you a chance to be creative and imaginative in RE. It is all about spiritual ideas and your skills There is a wonderful web art gallery. Last year about 30 000 entered, and some of the best are on show. If you enter this year, perhaps your picture will be on the gallery next time. Have a look, and choose some favourites of your own from the gallery. Teachers and pupils are warmly invited to join in with their own ‘Art in Heaven’. The closing date is 31st July. The entry form can be downloaded from www.natre.org.uk

5 themes to choose from The themes are: Spiritual Words Art in Heaven has five themes for 2011. Your teacher will choose a theme with you for you to enter. Have a look at some work from each theme now. The themes are: Spiritual Words Stories of Truth? Journeys Festive visions God: Who? Where? How? If?

Spiritual Words What words are the most spiritual for you? Peace? Promise? Truth? Love? Justice? Holiness? Prayer? Trust? Humanity? Unity? For some people, a verse from a sacred text will be the starting point for their ideas about spiritual words, whether it is Qur’an, Bible or Guru Granth Sahib. For others, a word has become spiritual because of its beauty or impact. Pupils might start with the words here, but winning work on this theme will explore the images and symbols that make the words powerful and spiritual, and enquire into the reasons why some words have the power to change the world.

Spiritual Words. Children at All Saints Wokingham had a whole week about spirituality, and learned what the word means. This display of oak leaves from hundreds of children tells the viewer what spiritual ideas the children developed.

Henry, in Year 6 at Christ Church Primary Bradford on Avon, chose ‘Light within’ as his spiritual words. “What I like best about my work is the man in black, it represents you, the light comes from within you and spreads out. It also comes from outside from the candles, these represent things that inspire you and give you light, your family or friends, what you believe in. I used oil pastels to make my design as they made the really bright colours I wanted.”

William goes to Ralph Sadlier Middle School William goes to Ralph Sadlier Middle School. His spiritual words are from the Bible.

Natacha is 13 years, and from Pool Business and Enterprise College Natacha is 13 years, and from Pool Business and Enterprise College. Her spiritual words are ‘Peace’ and ‘Respect’ “I have used the Ying and Yang symbol at the centre because it represents peace and I feel with respect for everything comes peace. I have used it for the black and white to show respect for different cultures and the respect between them. The owls show respect for animals and the flowers around the outside to show respect for everything on earth. The blue strip in the middle represents people’s feelings . The colour blue is often related to sadness and’ feeling blue’ but it also shows happiness and optimism ‘blue skies’. I think that it is important for peace making to respect peoples’ feelings and not judge people.”

Open Mind “We designed these t-shirts to represent being open minded Open Mind “We designed these t-shirts to represent being open minded. We thought if we did this on a t-shirt it would show people that you should be opened minded. We thought about what it would take to be open minded. The things we came up with on our t-shirt were loving each other which are represented by the giant love heart. The different symbols represent different cultures and that we are all equal even if we believe in different cultures. The hands represent respect and peace. Being open minded means you can have your opinion but you still have to respect other people’s opinions.” Victoria and Samantha,15

Love is the most spiritual word Love is the most spiritual word. “My work is called ‘All you need is love’ It shows a man and a woman getting married and promising to be together, in a place of worship, a place to show you love someone. I got this idea as we listened to Beatles love songs before starting our project. I think without love, life is not worth celebrating.” Leah, 12, Flixton Girls High School

God: Who? Where? How? If? This competition has often asked: where is God? Who is God? Does God speak? This year, all these questions can be part of the theme, and the new focus is on your questions for God: Where are you, God? What do you want me to do? Do you love us all? What are you like? Why are you invisible? How can we find you? Why can’t I find you? Where were you when evil happened? Where are the signs of your love? Are you real, or made up? What questions would you like to ask God, and how might a person who knows everything and loves everyone reply? This theme is just as much for atheists and agnostics as for believers in different faiths: the atheist may say: ‘Where is God? Nowhere at all.’

Jumping up to God, Ethan, Age 6 “Up in heaven there is God. All of these are planets and God made them. I am jumping up to give God a flower from the hill. God looks just like me.”

Matthew, from Monkton Pre Prep School is 6 Matthew, from Monkton Pre Prep School is 6. He says: “God is above the rainbow, and the sky is blue. God is at the top, running in the clouds above the rainbow.”

Who is God? Alix, Annabel and Olivia (13) have used Islamic rules to create this image of the Islamic understanding of Allah. They think God, for Muslims, was in the words of the revelation of the Holy Qur’an.

Tom, Billy, Joe and Kathryn are 13 From John Taylor High School in Staffordshire “God: Why? Our piece shows the idea of people drowning into the earth, leaving life as they used to know it. It shows hands and faces reaching towards what they hope will bring help, to save them from the genocide and the terrible images that crawl in their minds. We were trying to represent all the pain and suffering that was overlooked by so many people during the Rwanda genocide, so we showed the idea of Rwandans with their hands reaching out for help, but none is received from military rescue forces. To us, this shows that God was not there to help the Tutsis so they had to pray and beg for their lives – this may have brought them hope but it did not save many of them. Their hands are reaching out, trying to locate God, but he is just out of reach.

The Personality of God Anastasia (13) Waldegrave School, Twickenham The tree in the bottom right of the painting represents that with God you grow: the side facing him has leaves, the other side is bare and empty. The three crosses show how I interpret Jesus: I used glitter glue for the crown, to show that he is a king. White paint symbolizes that he is pure and perfect. Dark clouds signify problems in our lives, but although we don't know what God looks like, I think we know his personality. I think God is loving, welcoming, approachable and quick to forgive. The usual stereotypical view of God is an old white man. I have shown God's hands, one like a woman's, one black. God tries to show us who he is, through the bible and our own religious experiences. The words around the hands of God remind me what I believe he is like.

Festive Visions Divali and Hannukah, Eid and Easter, Red Nose Day and New Year, the festivals of life erupt in colour, splendour and community in every faith and any life. Pupils might choose the festival they celebrate, or the one they are learning about and express its key moment, or its big idea with colour and a viewpoint all their own. Festivals are all about vision: the past is visualised and remembered while the future is seen in a visionary way. What is your festive vision? Fireworks, or peace? Light, love or All Hallows Eve?

A Day to Remember - When Jesus Died Lauren, Age 7 “Jesus is crying on the cross. I have painted him in bright colours. The sky is very dark blue.”

A Day to Remember: Eid Al Fitr Usman, Age 8 Everyone smiles, and there are presents for the children. We eat and drink because Ramadan is over.

Festive Visons: Easter The children of Alexander Hosea Community School in South Gloucestershire created Easter Banners, one from each class, to show their understanding of the celebrations.

Remembering Divali Jemma, 14 From rangoli patterns and story telling to the possibility of joyful celebration or a changed life this year, Divali celebrates light and the ways it triumphs over the darkness.

Journeys Religious texts are full of journeys: from Eden or Nazareth, to Makkah, Bethlehem, Tarsus, Heaven or Nirvana. ife is seen as a journey in many religions. If life is a journey, then what are the milestones, signposts, guidebooks and service stations on the way? What speeds you up or slows you down? What are the destinations? In this theme, pupils winning work will develop great creative ideas about journeys of faith and life, expressing their own ideas as maps, pathways, roads to freedom or random wanderings.

The Path You Follow Amber, Warwickshire Age 9 My name is Amber and I am 9 years old. This canvas is called 'My Spiritual life: The Path you follow.' It is a painting about bad and good. There is a path running through it and this is the path you follow through your spiritual life. You can either choose to be on the dark and thorny side, or on the happy, bright, healthy side.

Saffron,13, writes about the journey into our own minds.

Freya, 15, from Ridgeway School explores the journey into her own spirit. “I walked across an empty land I knew the pathway like the back of my hand I felt the earth beneath my feet I sat by the river and it made my life complete.”

Stories of Truth Every religion tells stories, but are they true? Do they tell us the truth? For younger pupils, this theme involves taking stories they love from religious traditions and expressing the key moments or ideas artistically. Start with any story: Jacob or Moses, the Guru or the Buddha, the Prophet or the Christ, stories told of creation, parable, paradox or meaning. Older pupils might add a question mark and use the stories of faith as starting points for their own ideas about truth. Or they might explore or question atheist or scientific stories as well as those that come from faith.

Stories of Truth “I like Jonah because it shows you can't get away from God he is everywhere.”   Demi Smith Age 6 goes to Havannah Primary School

Abigail, 12, from Nottingham Bluecoat School painted Guru Nanak. “God is not a Hindu, God is not a Muslim. The Guru’s stories teach millions of Sikh people how to live, to treat others equally, to worship God in truth and to serve humanity by choice. Look for God in the eyes of the Guru.”

Kulsum Basharat, 13, from Beardwood Humanities College “I thought of the idea of symbols in the water because I wanted to show them as all coming from the same place because no religion is better than any other. You can even imagine the peaceful sounds as the symbols calmly splash into the water along with birds tweeting. I have added an image of the Buddha because I feel that the Buddha represents peace to me and it makes my spiritual space a place for meditation- the waterfall of peace.”

Hannah Downing is 15. She painted the story of the first temptation of Eve “This piece is a modernised version of the Adam and Eve story. It refers to the modern everyday struggles to overcome sins such as lust and greed. I have included imagery of temptation, the woman, or ‘Eve’, taking a bite out of the apple. It also has the representation of greed with the sweets and piles of money. There is also a referral to lust with the inclusion of a kiss and lips. I wanted to capture the mystery of the story of Adam and Eve and also makes it relevant to the modern age.”

And what about you? You have seen a lot of examples of the brilliant entries to the Art in Heaven competition. Now think over your own idea, beliefs and skills Plan to make a super entry of your own, to send in before the end of the summer term –closing date is 31st July Write a note about how good it is – you can use the prompts we suggest. All the best! www.natre.org.uk/spiritedarts Don’t forget - you can see hundreds of interesting entries and other winners on the web gallery