Young local artists are being recognized for their heartfelt designs in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.

Youth aged 12 to 18 entered a contest launched by Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority to design a poster for this important national recognition day, which honours survivors of residential schools and children who never returned home.

Health authority staff and select community partners reviewed 25 submissions from across the region and selected three winning entries.

The winning submissions were created by Vanya from Stonewall, Nicholas from Garson and artistic duo Hunter and Evan from Stonewall. Their designs will be featured on posters that will be on display in Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority facilities across the region.

Vanya’s poster depicts an image of girl in an orange shirt without any facial features.

“I drew this girl without a face because in residential school, lots of identities were lost,” Vanya wrote in her artist’s statement.

The artwork by Nicholas shows a dreamcatcher with handprints in the background.

“I put the handprints and orange on the poster to remember the children that went to residential schools,” Nicholas said. “The dreamcatcher is for Indigenous people. I also wanted to remember the survivors in my own family.”

Evan and Hunter worked together to create a poster that depicts a dreamcatcher on a background of green leaves and purple flowers.

“The poster has a dreamcatcher and nature, which are both significant to the Indigenous culture,” they shared in explanation of their design.

Each winning submission received $100. Members of the public will be able to see this artwork posted in IERHA facilities at the end of September.