THE Kelty and District Art Group is set to host the The Jim McLure Memorial Cup (Kelty Young Artist of the Year) award next week.

Named after the late Jim McLure, a talented artist who specialised in soft pastels, this competition honours a man who was kind enough to pass on his knowledge and encourage young people to take up the hobby.

The Kelty and District Art Group said: "Jim was one of the founder members of the art group and the first chairman. He was a very able artist who specialised in the use of soft pastels. Jim was generous in passing on his knowledge and was keen for people, especially young people, to take up the hobby. He ran a number of workshops and a regular pastel class each Monday morning until he became too ill to continue.

"This competition is open to children in Kelty Primary Schools from Primary classes five to seven. We have had 230 entries this year from Kelty Primary School and St Joseph’s Primary School; we are delighted that children from both schools have once again entered."

A ceremony announcing the winners of the Jim McLure Memorial Cup will be taking place at the Kelty Community Centre on Friday, May 26 at 7pm.

They continued: "We are very grateful to Betty Rodden from Kelty Community Council and Steig MacCallum of the Kelty Art Centre for taking on the onerous task of judging the finalists. Steig has also undertaken to frame the winning painting without charge. We are also extremely grateful to Councillor Darren Watt for agreeing to present the prizes and North Road Garage for providing the transport for our display equipment.

"Also on the Friday evening we will be presenting a cheque for £100 to a representative of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHAS) which we raised during 2022. A few weeks ago we were visited by Alison from CHAS when we had great pleasure in presenting her with a cheque for £100 to help support their very worthy cause. Each year we choose a different charity or good cause to support; during 2023 we will be raising money for Maggie’s Centre."

The winning entries for the competition will be displayed at the groups art and craft exhibition in the Kelty Community Centre which will open to the public on Saturday, May 27 from 10am to 4pm.

They added: "Entry is free and we ask the public to come along, give us their support and view not only the many paintings and craftwork produced by our members but also the winning pictures by the young people of Kelty."