Ben and Willow were thrilled to represent all of the children at Phoenix and to receive the school's ‘Visual Arts School Award’ as part of Lowestoft Town Council's Black History Month Competition, and attended the awards evening on Friday 15th November held at The Victoria Hotel, Lowestoft, with Mrs. Freeman, Mrs. Gloss and Madame Mizeret.

The evening was opened by the Mayor of Lowestoft, Nasima Begum with a welcome video from Antony Ogogo. Poetry was performed by Ivya Scott of the Suffolk Windrush Celebration Committee, accompanied with Gambian music from ‘Julla’.

We chose Alma Thomas as our inspiration for our artwork this year and the children were incredibly enthusiastic about her style of art. Alma Thomas was known for her powerful form of brilliantly coloured and richly patterned abstract art, intimately connected to the natural world and her curiosity around air and space travel. She was also the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art and exhibited her paintings at the White House three times.The children’s artwork formed a vibrant expression of Alma Thomas’s style, and when displayed together forms a beautiful river of Black History art, intertwined with the natural environment around us, and celebrating the beauty that we all represent.