Prize winner Peiqi hangs her painting alongside the famous LS Lowry works that helped inspire it!

Seven-year-old Peiqi Zhou has helped hang her award-winning painting in the Lowry Galleries, Salford where it will remain on display for the next year, alongside the famous works it was inspired by. 

Selected from hundreds of entries as the winner of The Lowry’s annual Copley Prize, Peiqi, who attends Yew Tree Community School in Chadderton, was welcomed to The Lowry alongside her family to hang her painting in the LS Lowry Galleries, where it will remain on display for 12 months.

Peiqi’s work was chosen as this year’s overall winner by Alison and Noel Copley, who founded the competition as an exciting way to encourage primary-aged children to develop their creativity and artistic ability.

The prize invites children to recreate their own modern-day versions of LS Lowry’s work, in ways that represent the world that they live in, often capturing images of the environment around them, just as Lowry did. 

Peiqi has titled her painting Two Lovely Little Sisters and said: “It is me and my sister walking through the park to the shops to get some food.

"We are happy because it is the weekend.”  

Gwen Oakden, Deputy CEO and Director of Development at The Lowry, said: "We are so in awe of the consistently high quality of entries and the endless creativity of the children who enter their beautiful work into the Copley Prize, and we want to thank everyone who took part this year.

"We are so pleased and proud to be able to share Peiqi's personal and touching work with thousands of visitors to our galleries over the next year.

"We also want to thank Alison and Noel for their continued dedication and support of this important programme which helps us to nurture and encourage the next generation of artists all over the country."  

Since 2013, The Copley Prize has received over 4,000 entries.

Any primary school-aged children (Key Stage 1 & 2) can submit their work now for the 2025 Copley Prize.   

Find out more at: thelowry.com/get-creative/thecopleyprize/ 

In 2018 The Lowry additionally launched The Copley Schools Outreach programme that delivers free high-quality visual arts workshops to schools.  

And in 2023, thanks to the continued generosity of Alison and Noel Copley, The Lowry extended its support to schools under a new umbrella of ‘The Copley Children’s Creative Arts Programme’ that combines Performing Arts and Health and Wellbeing as well as Visual Arts. 

Alison said: “Every year it becomes more difficult to choose a winner from the hundreds of wonderful entries.

"We were so inspired by Peiqi’s piece which combined Lowry’s distinctive style with the artist’s own experience, and it reminded me of the very special relationship sisters have.

"We can’t wait to see what the next year of the Copley Prize brings.”

Coinciding with the unveiling of Peiqi’s work in the Galleries, a collection of works selected by pupils from St. Joseph’s RC Primary School is also on display in The Copley Cases.  

The Lowry Galleries are open six days a week (Tues-Fri, 11am-5pm and Sat-Sun, 10am-5pm).

Admittance is free but donations are welcome.   

The Lowry Galleries are named The Andrew and Zoe Law Galleries in recognition of the couple’s £1m donation to the arts centre, which is a registered charity.

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.