11th Edmonton Children’s Art Contest Honours 34 Winners
Creative Dreamers Foundation held the awards ceremony for the 2026 Edmonton Children’s Art Contest on October 18 at Centre Stage in West Edmonton Mall.
Now in its 11th year, the contest celebrates and supports artistic talent and creativity among Edmonton’s children and youth. Approximately 500 students participated in this year’s contest, with 32 receiving awards. Elisha Gerrie, a Grade 11 student at Harry Ainlay High School, received the contest’s top award.
This year’s theme, “Me — Show Who You Are Through Art,” encouraged participants to express their individuality, personalities, interests, and imagination through their artwork. Entries were judged on their connection to the theme, creativity and originality, effort and completeness, artistic skills, and ability to express ideas through art. All artworks were evaluated with consideration for the participants’ ages.
The ceremony welcomed Edmonton City Councillor Thu Parmar, representing Ward sipiwiyiniwak, and Anna Alfonso, Vice President of West Edmonton Mall. Alfonso personally selected and presented the special West Edmonton Mall Grand Awards. Carly Burgess, a Grade 9 student at Laurier Heights, received the award in the Children’s Art Contest category, while Seafood Aisle was selected in the Student Creative Showcase category.
Introduced in 2026, the Student Creative Showcase is a new program inspired by high school students’ ideas and designed to give young creators opportunities to develop and present their creative projects, artwork, and business ideas to the public. Seven student teams participated in its inaugural year.
Participating teams were evaluated through on-site booth visits and interviews, with judges considering creativity, originality, project execution, and organizational and management skills. Videos submitted by the teams following the event were also reviewed as part of the final judging process.
Seafood Aisle, a team comprising Grade 12 students Shihan Li, Maggie Hou, and Ellisa Liang from Old Scona Academic High School, received the Student Creative Showcase’s Creative Vision Award, in addition to the West Edmonton Mall Grand Award.
The Creative Venture Award was presented to StuckOnOSA, a student-led creative business team consisting of Alex Wen, Ellie Ding, Jessica Jia, Emma Jia, and Clare Li. Both winning teams received certificates, commemorative plaques, and funding to support their future creative projects.
The Children’s Art Contest took place on June 21 as part of the 2026 Edmonton Creative Art Fair at West Edmonton Mall’s Ice Palace. The fair also featured 280 student artworks in Hanul Art School’s annual exhibition, alongside the Student Creative Showcase, a coding fair, the Edmonton Artisan Market, and a variety of creative activities for children and families.
Creative Dreamers Foundation expressed its appreciation to all participants, families, volunteers, sponsors, and community partners for their continued support. The foundation emphasized that the creativity, dedication, and imagination demonstrated by Edmonton’s young people reflect a promising future for the local arts community.