[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/altana edited.jpg” caption=”ALTANA Pharma president John Suk and third-year honours art student Allison Garrett stand in front of Garrett’s artwork, which won the 2006 ALTANA Pharma/SOTA Art Competition in late December. Photo courtesy of SOTA. “]Third-year honours art student Allison Garrett has won the 2006 ALTANA Pharma/SOTA Art Competition. Garrett's artwork, consisting of welded steel circles that symbolize the complex web of contributions in a successful team, was installed at the ALTANA Pharma office in Oakville last month. She also received a $1,000 cheque from ALTANA Pharma. The company has nine pieces of artwork by McMaster students.

“Allison's work was chosen for its interpretation of the theme of 'vision' and for the highly innovative proposal that she presented,” said Judy Major-Girardin, associate professor in the School of the Arts (SOTA).

The competition is in its ninth year.

“It began when the German pharmaceutical company opened a branch in Canada and they contacted us to discuss a strategy for bringing art into their company and partnering with the community,” said Major-Girardin. “We designed the competition to provide an opportunity for students to participate in a competition and have their work showcased in a public collection.”

The competition is open to McMaster honours art students who are
enrolled in the Practical Issues course (ART 3D03), which addresses
professional aspects of the field of art, explained Major-Girardin. Students learn how to write an artist statement, C.V. and project proposal, including a budget, visuals and cover letter. They also learn how to present their ideas in a professional and creative way.

The students are required to produce a proposal for course credit, but submitting their proposals to the competition's jury is optional. Twenty-nine students entered their artwork in the 2006 competition.