After receiving thousands of entries, today we announced the five category winners in the 2025 edition of RTÉ’s This is Art! Click on the gallery above to see them now.
Supported by Creative Ireland and the Shared Island Initiative, RTÉ’s This is Art! continues its mission to champion and platform young creativity across the island of Ireland. The annual all-island competition invited young people aged 18 and under to respond to this year’s theme: This is Nature!
The 2025 Category Winners are:
- Age 7 and under: Henry Sheehy (7), Clare - 'The Woods'
- Age 8 to 11: Keira Shand (11), Offaly - 'Roots of dreams under moonlit beams’
- Age 12 to 15: Robyn Summerbell (14), Wicklow - ‘A Wasted Life’
- Age 16 to 18: Evan Shanahan (17), Dublin - ‘Nature’s Call’
- Group Category: Dominican College, Taylors Hill, Galway - ‘Legend to Life’
Across the five age categories, entrants submitted work in a wide range of mediums including drawing, painting, sculpture, decoupage and mixed media.
You can see all the submissions on the This is Art! website here.
Press play on the image above to watch the news2day report.
While only a tiny fraction can come out on top, the competition celebrates every single young person who shared their creativity this year. Each submission contributed to a vibrant, diverse and inspiring showcase of talent from every corner of Ireland.
With a prize fund of €10,000 77 young artists won prizes this year. First-place winners across all categories will receive a bespoke award created by artist and judge Maser. Second and third-place winners - 28 entrants - will receive bursaries to further develop their artistic practice. In addition, the top 20 entrants in each category will receive personal commendations from the judging panel.
This year’s judging panel - graffiti and street artist Maser, muralist and educator Joe Caslin, artist and fashion designer Helen Steele, Director of The Dock Mary Conlon, and ornithologist Seán Ronayne - met in Dublin last month to review the entries and select the winners. The judges were inspired by the depth of thought, imagination and confidence shown across the submissions, noting the powerful ways young people interpreted the theme, ‘This is Nature!’
Visual artist Maser created the bespoke trophies for the winners. He said, "Art gave me a voice when I didn’t always have the words. It’s powerful like that - it lets you express who you are without asking for permission. Seeing the response to This is Art! was seriously inspiring. The creativity, individuality and confidence coming through the work was next level. You could feel the personality in every piece. That’s what it’s about - young people backing themselves and putting their ideas out into the world. The future of Irish creativity is in very good hands."
Commenting on the winners' announcement, RTÉ’s Suzanne Kelly, Head of Children's and Young People's Content, said: "This Is Art! truly embodies our mission within Children’s and Young People’s Content at RTÉ. It provides a platform for talented young people to showcase their creativity and, in doing so, inspires others across the country to express themselves through art. It’s a privilege to be able to support young people in this way and to shine a light on the remarkable artists we have across the island of Ireland. We would encourage everyone to explore the digital gallery to experience the extraordinary entries from every corner of the country. If you haven’t already, visit the online gallery and see the talent for yourself."
Visit the RTÉ This is Art! Digital gallery at thisisart.rte.ie/submissions, and explore entries from this and previous years.
