Students are being encouraged to mix history with art as part of a competition focusing on links between Bermuda and Virginia.

The St. George's Foundation, the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, the Ace Gallery and the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Virginia, will together host the 400th Commemorative International Student Art Showcase.

The basis for the competition is this year's celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Island's settlement. It follows on last summer's collaboration between Masterworks and the St. George's Foundation entitled 'Bringing History to Life with Art'.

Like that earlier programme, the showcase will examine the relationship between history and art, but with particular focus on the Bermuda-Virginia connection.

Students are encouraged to submit their artistic interpretation of the following: any aspect of the Sea Venture including the building of the Patience and Deliverance and their arrival in Jamestown in 1610; early sites in St. George's including St. Peter's Church, the State House, Somers Garden and Fort St. Catherine; sites highlighting the Bermuda-Virginia connection such as Tucker House, the Globe Hotel, Stiles House (now Butterfield Bank) and Shinbone Alley; a re-creation of the Town of St. George such as the model now in the World Heritage Centre.

The Foundation's education director, Leondra Burchall, said she was intrigued by the centuries of historical links between Virginia and Bermuda.

"Whether it's strong familial connections or fruitful trading partnerships or landmark forts or the entwined politics of early settlement, our two communities have longstanding cultural similarities and intriguing differences," she said.

"One of the major reasons for this collaboration is our 400th anniversary here in Bermuda, which comes just two years behind similar celebrations in Virginia.

"We also want students to appreciate, and work with, their peers in Virginia, to understand how our countries and our cultures have mixed and mingled over the years.

"We are pleased to once again have a chance to work productively with Masterworks and we are excited about the prospect of working with the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Virginia.

"I look forward to seeing how the students interpret this artistically."

Submissions must be delivered to Masterworks by February 28. The artwork will be on display during the spring and summer months.

For more information contact Ms Burchall, edofficertsgf@logic.bm, or Masterworks' Carrie Zenti, edumworks@logic.bm or 236-2950.