The thoughtful brushstrokes of York Castle High student Kimmeisha Wright produced a first-place finish in the recent TOPS Poster Competition for Secondary Schools in Area Two (St Ann, St Mary and Portland police divisions).

The 17-year-old sixth former’s artistic rendering, which she titled ‘Transformation for Good’, was meant to convey the unification between the police and citizenry.

“I wanted my poster to somehow tie into the concept of the police and the people coming together,” Wright explained of the narrative behind her artwork. “I also knew I wanted it to be kind of comic book-inspired as far as the art style went, mainly because the police fit the role of ‘heroes’ of society, and I thought it would be a nice idea to kind of adapt that into the poster’s visuals.” 

For her talented efforts in the Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA)-organised contest, Wright won herself J$100,000, a tablet, a J$15,000 gift voucher from Progressive Grocers of Jamaica and a limited edition PCOA computer bag.

Meanwhile, her York Castle visual arts educator Shanique Brown Moulton secured J$50,000 and a J$15,000 gift voucher from Progressive Grocers of Jamaica.

Recounting when the announcement news came, the champ who has her sights set on studying architecture at the University of Technology (UTech) this September said, ” I felt proud that the work I would’ve put in paid off, and it was an overall happy experience. I was actually kind of shocked when I heard I had even placed in the top three.”

“The poster I created portrays the police as agents for order and a means of providing power for the people. I interpreted the competition’s theme ‘AForce4Good: A People Driven Transformation‘. as the police not being a body that dominates over those they protect but rather working alongside the community in harmony. For the police to really embody their role, they need to understand the needs of the people and see where their role overlaps with those needs and therefore carry out their duty with their needs in mind,” the Browns Town, St. Ann resident explained of her triumphant showpiece which took a day to execute

Second-place was awarded to St. Mary High upper sixth-form student Ebonique Wauchoupe, along with a J$60,000 cash prize, a tablet as well as a PCOA limited edition computer bag, with her arts teacher Ian Johnson netting J$30,000 and a J$15,000 gift voucher from Progressive Grocers of Jamaica. 

Fifth former Brian Levy of York Castle emerged the third-place winner, claiming J$40,000 for his artwork, and like his fellow awardees, a tablet and limited edition PCOA computer bag. Brown-Moulton proved a repeat victor here, adding another J$20,000 to her competition earnings.

Entries to the competition came from all three divisions in the area, with the majority from the St Ann Police Division.

The impetus to press ahead with a submission went beyond just being an artistic conduit for Wauchoupe.

“It being my last year, I wanted to commemorate it by entering a competition, something I hadn’t done throughout high school,” divulged the 19-year-old part-time artist, eyeing the commencement of a software engineering degree at the University of the West Indies (UWI) later this year.

Candidly admitting to originally feeling disappointment that top honours had eluded her, she conceded, “After that moment, I was overrun with joy and relief that I had placed in the top two.”

“I had decided to enter the TOPS poster competition with my friend after seeing it on my school’s notice board. Being a lover of history, I wanted the poster’s message to be around a historically significant event that a lot of people would know about and it led me to using the Coral Gardens incident in 1963.” 
From concept to finish, “the artwork took two weeks to create,” informed the college-bound Ebonique, the youngest of three daughters for her long-married parents Randel and Eda Wauchope.

“The piece was titled ‘Stronger Together‘, which signifies that a society can only develop when it takes a united stance in changing and growing,” she explained. “This comes with acknowledging and correcting past aggressions made against minority cultures in society in order to build towards a better future. I did this through the Coral Gardens incident, which was a significant turning point in the ongoing feud between the Rastafarians and the police force. The poster depicts a faceless young Rastafarian woman imagining a peaceful relationship between the police force and the Rastafarian community.” 

As to Levy, the competition’s lone male winner, he disclosed his primary reason “To enter the competition was because my visual arts teacher, Mrs Brown-Moulton, encouraged me to do so. I was also interested in the prizes we could win so I decided to give it a shot.”

Upon learning that his entry ‘Resilience‘—which he wanted to visually communicate the “police as a positive force, committed to upholding strong values integral to our nation’s future”—had been shortlisted among the winning trifecta, he raved that, “it gave me a sense of accomplishment and I was especially happy for my teacher when I found out I was in the top three.”

The 16-year-old explained that the visuals of his artwork were based “on the research I did about the Police Civilian Oversight Authority”.

“I wanted the central image to be a smiling, confident policewoman as I read about the CEO of the PCOA Otarah Byfield [Nugent]. I also integrated their core values and wanted to show a sense of nationalism, so I used the Jamaican flag and Vision 2030. There are also surrounding scenes of police positively interacting with the community,” Levy continued.

With his placement a creative shot in the arm, Levy revealed that while the TOPS contest “was the first art competition I’ve ever entered, I do plan on entering more in the future.”

To the poster whisperer behind Levy’s and Wright’s triumphant wins, ten-year-serving York Castle educator Brown-Moulton said the first- and third-place endings was by no means a shocker.

“Kimmeisha and Brian are top-tier artists so there was no doubt they’d make it. Their level of skill and craftsmanship paired with their ability to conduct proper research to aid in their works is quite intriguing,” she remarked.

“It didn’t come as a surprise because I was very confident in what they produced! I was extremely happy though; a win for us as artists, a win for our visual arts department and a big booster to motivate our school visual club members. As part of the prize package, the art department received $50,000 from the JN Bank.

Post-PCOA’s competition announcement ceremony, Moulton was joined by St. Mary High’s art teacher Ian Johnson and the three competition winners along with the parents/ family representative for a recent luncheon hosted by Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake at his Old Hope Road offices where the adolescents elaborated on the creative processes that led to their finished art pieces.

At this sit-down culinary feting, the police force’s top man presented Wright with $50,000; Wauchope with $30,000; and Levy with $20,000 in addition to tumbler cups emblazoned with their winning art work.

Reflecting on his own aborted artistic journey, and that of his son as a child, the commissioner joked: “I suffered a lot with my son on the wall with the markers and the pen, and his mother used to say, ‘Why are you marking up the wall?’ and I would say ‘leave the child, we are making an artist because I know I failed at it, I wanted to give him a chance, I didn’t know the boy was going to become a soldier.” 

The moment resonated with Wauchope.

“The event at the commissioner’s office, to me, was a celebration of art and the young people who make it. Despite there being such a stark difference between their fundamental purposes, it was beautiful to see how the Police Commissioner spoke on his connection with art as a child and his children’s current artistic pursuits. It illustrated art’s ability to touch individuals from different backgrounds,” she reasoned.

Following lunch, the winners were bused downtown Kingston for the Art Walk on Water Lane, which also provided the opportunity to interface with muralists, Michael Elliot and Oliver Buddington, who were incidentally at work on a commissioned art piece. It left a lasting imprint on Levy.

“The art walk was special to me because I’ve never experienced something like that before, an entire alleyway of art. The paintings on the walls were so beautiful I wanted to stop and take pictures of everything,” Levy recalled.

For Byfield, the PCOA’s head honcho, she trumpeted the value proposition of the TOPS Poster competition is that it develops and encourages critical thinking and how to represent the theme, through art.

Furthemore, she added: “It also seeks to bring an awareness and ownership among young people about their role in creating a police/citizen partnership they want to see in the future. The poster competition is an innovative way of starting that dialogue to utilise creative skills of our young people.”

Byfield was suitably impressed by the submitted entries and winners. “They were innovative and dynamic and showed very distinct views about a force for good. I really enjoyed their use of colours, the incorporation of historical events and symbols to convey the spirit and message of partnership.” 

The TOPS poster competition was first held in 2023 in Area 1, which includes the St James, Trelawny, Hanover and Westmoreland police divisions. The competition is held in tandem with the TOPS Competition, which is staged by the PCOA annually in one of five area commands of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).  

Its mandate, according to PCOA, is to allow secondary school youth in the selected JCF Area Command divisions to express how they feel about the police and what their relationships with citizens should be, through art.

This year’s competition will be held in Area Five, comprising St Andrew North, St Thomas, St Catherine North and St Catherine South police divisions.