Sharing peace is a concept Lions Club International is bringing to kids in the form of an art project. The club hosts an annual Peace Poster contest where students are asked to draw what they think peace looks like. This year’s theme is “Share Peace.”

“You’re trying to create a theme using symbols that everybody would understand no matter what language they spoke,” coordinator from the Vicksburg Lions Club Barbara Applebaum said.

They make sure to not write any words or numbers on the posters that would indicate what country the poster came from so that the image can be understood worldwide.

The club asks children 11 to 13 to make a poster by November 15, 2015 that represents peace. Kids around the world participate in the contest.

The international competition won’t take place until early 2016, but Vicksburg held its competition last week. Monday through Friday the 10 contestants met every day from 10 to 11:30 a.m. to work on their posters at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center. Under the direction of art instructor Karen Biedenharn, the participants used paints, colored pencils and other mediums to create their artwork.

All work is done at the center to ensure that the kids have equal time to work and to make sure they don’t get any outside help.

“I can’t do it for them, just help them with composition, balancing colors, teach them how to use the paintbrushes,” Biedenharn said.

She said she is really excited about the variety in this year’s entries.

“I really like that the kids brought out unique points of view about what shows peace,” Biedenharn said.

Friday afternoon two members of the Vicksburg Art Association judged the 10 posters and announced the top three finishers. Posters were judged on originality, artistic merit and expression of the theme. First place winner Kaylee Jackson received a $75 prize, second place Matthew Turnage won a $50 prize and third place Kathryn Goss won a $25 dollar prize.

The top three posters will be on display at the Vicksburg Mall for the rest of the month.

Jackson’s poster will be taken to district contest in Jackson. The winner of district will go to the state competition, and the state winner will go to the international contest. There are cash prizes at each level of competition. The international winner will receive $5,000 and a trip to the award ceremony.

Last year, Vicksburg’s winner Austin Harris also won district but lost in the state contest to a girl from Starkville.

The Lions Club and SCHC work together to make the contest happen. The SCHC allows the participants to use the art supplies at the center, and the Lions Club will restock the supplies the center is low on. Usually they purchase paper, but in past years they have also bought Sharpies and pastels. Any leftover supplies the Lions Club purchases for the contest are donated to the SCHC.

“Each year we order a packet of 20 pieces of this art paper, that’s the specific size that they need, and she [Biedenharn] gets to keep what we have left,” Applebaum said. “It’s a donation to the Southern Cultural Center from the Lions Club as part of our thank you.”

River Kids is a free art class every Thursday afternoon at the SCHC that Biedenharn also helps teach.

“I think the partnership works out really well because River Kids has been around 15 years and so we have 15 years worth of supplies, all kinds of brushes, paints, pastels,” Biedenharn said.

“And there’s no way that the Lions Club could order those,” Applebaum said.

The Peace Poster contest use to be organized by an art teacher at Warren Central Junior High School who had her students enter the contest. After she retired, Applebaum spent two years planning how they would continue the contest. This is the third year Applebaum and Biedenharn have been at the reigns.