Spirited Arts Competition

The Spirited Arts & Poetry Competition is run by the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE) and hundreds of schools from around the world take part. AIA and VinE jointly sponsor an animal theme.

2026 Competition

Following the success of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 Spirited Arts competitions (see below), AIA and Veganism in Education (VinE) are jointly sponsoring the 2026 Spirited Arts competition theme “Prayers for all that lives! Animals, Earth, God” in which hundreds of schools worldwide will participate.

PRAYERS FOR ALL THAT LIVES! ANIMALS, EARTH, GOD.

We have asked before: Why do animals matter? This year’s theme invites creativity and critical thinking about the ways humans can, or could pray for the whole cosmos, for every animal, for the Earth we share in all its vulnerable splendour. Use of religious story, texts and ideas is strongly encouraged! Religions and ethical belief systems promote kindness and compassion and call upon people to actively avoid doing harm… the Golden Rule demands: Treat others how you want to be treated. Can it apply to animals too? We encourage a search for wisdom in texts, stories, traditions and practices from the world’s religions and philosophies. Write a prayer – maybe a very short one – and illustrate the text with beautiful art or tell us in your art why taking action is better than praying. Older students may grapple with diverse opinions on animal welfare and rights. The best work in this theme will be engaged with both religion, faith and prayer and issues about care for every animal.

The competition closes on 31 July 2026.

RE Today’s resources on ethical veganism as a religious and non-religious worldview support engagement with this theme and can be found here.

Winning work will…

Show originality and flare coming from deep consideration of the issues.
Reference specific religious or non-religious worldviews, perhaps referring to specific texts, stories or traditions.
Go beyond simply portraying animals—beautiful as they are—and encourage thoughtful reflection on issues relating to animals, as well as human attitudes and actions toward them.

NATRE welcomes entries in any art form, including:

Art (painting, drawing, sketching etc)
Poetry
Photography
Dance
Music
Drama
Sculpture

The competition runs for the academic year ending 31st July 2026.

Full details on the competition can be found on NATRE’s website here.

2025 Competition

“All God’s Creatures?”

For the third year running, VinE (Veganism in Education) and the Animal Interfaith Alliance (AIA) have proudly sponsored an Animal Theme in the Spirited Arts Competition, run by NATRE in partnership with RE Today.

Following the incredible success of previous years, this year’s entries have once again demonstrated exceptional creativity and insight, showcasing the imagination, empathy, and thoughtfulness of children from across the globe.

Full information here:

Spirited Arts Competition 2025 Gallery – Veganism in Education

2024 Competition

“Why do Animals Matter?“

NATRE Celebrates World Vegan Day with Announcement of
Animal-Themed Competition Winners

‘Ethical Dilemma’ by Sian Hughes, age 13, joint winner of the 12-13 age group.

This year’s entries to the NATRE international Spirited Arts competition on the theme “Why Do Animals Matter?” were truly spectacular! It is the second year that Animal Interfaith Alliance (AIA) and Veganism in Education (VinE) have sponsored a theme that enables children and young people to explore human-animal relations and to think deeply about the moral and spiritual aspects of all living beings. Once again, we were blown away by the children’s extraordinary artistic creations and deeply reflective narratives. Each piece not only showcased remarkable talent but also conveyed profound insights into the significance of animals in our lives, offering thought-provoking perspectives on empathy and compassion through the unique lens of religious education.

View the Winners & Runners up here

This year’s judging held an extra special touch, as the founders of AIA and VinE travelled alongside our President, the esteemed academic Dr Richard Ryder, to RE Today’s headquarters in Birmingham. There, we had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful RE Today team and Angela Hill, the visionary behind RE Today’s pioneering resources on ethical veganism as a worldview. These resources were commissioned by VinE with input from AIA and have been freely available to teachers and schools since January 2023. Angela’s work inspired the animal theme and supported school engagement, enriching the children’s interpretations and bringing thoughtful, compassionate approaches to their artwork.

Selecting winners from thousands of entries proved immensely challenging, as each submission showcased exceptional creativity and insight worthy of recognition. We are especially grateful to our President, Dr Richard Ryder, for undertaking the difficult task of selecting the theme’s winners and runners-up.

Dr Ryder said: “I have very much enjoyed helping in the judging of the Spirited Arts competition, and I thought the children showed high levels of creativity and concern for the animals. I am proud also as AIA’s and VinE’s President that so many children showed a clear ethical concern.

“I believe, as a psychologist, that most children are concerned and interested in members of other species. This is not just a children’s interest, but one that can and should last throughout life. In my childhood, however, adults too often tried to stop this interest as being “sissy”. Far from it: such interests and compassion are the foundation for a moral community of all painient beings”.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved – teachers, students, NATRE and the RE Today team – for making this year’s theme a resounding success! We can’t wait to judge the entries to next year’s animal theme!

You can access the FREE ethical veganism as a worldview resources from RE Today & VinE here: Classroom Resources for RE (RE Today) – Veganism in Education

If you could help us with sponsorship, please donate here:

2023 Competition

“All God’s Creatures?“

This year AIA and VinE jointly sponsored the theme “All God’s Creatures?” to highlight the importance of animals. The competition closed on 31st July 2023 and over 4,000 entries were received. Judging was undertaken by NATRE, AIA and VinE and also our patron Peter Egan. The standard of the entries were amazing and judging proved to be extremely difficult.

View the Gallery here

AIA’s Barbara Gardner said: “The entries were so impressive – not just for their artistic merit and demonstration of knowledge of scriptures from a wide variety of faiths, but also because of the thought and understanding of deep ethical and philosophical questions and concern for the kind treatment of animals.”

To enter the competition, children were asked to consider the following:

Do animals belong to God? Are they part of a divine plan? Do animals have souls? The beauty and sheer awesomeness of non-human animals with whom we share planet Earth is celebrated in many of the world’s religions. Some worldviews see all living beings as interconnected, yet others emphasise the separateness and superiority of humans over other animals. Animals play a huge part in all our lives, whether we realise or not. How humans interact with other animals and the natural world impacts on all living beings and the planet. This theme invites exploration of ideas and beliefs about non-human animals. Great work will show originality and flare coming from deep consideration of the issues. Challenge learners to engage thoughtfully with scripture, philosophy, and scientific enquiry to write an inspiring passage to accompany stunning images. We are delighted to partner with the Animals Interfaith Alliance (AIA) and Veganism in Education (VinE) to bring you this theme.

NATRE welcomes entries in (almost!) any art form, including: