Each of the 60 works of children’s art on display at Richmond City Hall has a different style, medium and colour scheme, but all carry the same message about the importance of sportsmanship and fair play at the Olympics.

The drawings, paintings and essays created by youth in grades 5 to 12 from around the world, are part of the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad and can be seen upstairs at city hall for the duration of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

All the pieces on display are featured in a book released last month called Culture, Education and Drug-Free Sport at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. The book includes 600 poems, essays and pieces of art submitted by children in 90 countries who have participated in the Culture, Education, Sport and Ethics Program (CESEP). Available at the exhibit to flip through or take home, the book is meant to showcase children’s perceptions on ethics, sportsmanship, fair play and drug-free sport.

CESEP is an international education initiative to get teachers, coaches, parents and students from different countries to talk about healthy sport. It is an outreach program of the Foundation for Global Sports Development. In partnership with the World Anti-Doping Agency, United Nations/UNESCO, Sport Information Research Centre and other educational agencies promoting drug-free sports, the foundation recruits students and teachers to fight against the use of performance-enhancing drugs and illegal substances in athletics.

“We’re trying to be proactive and do prevention at the middle school level and hopefully get kids to make healthy choices and healthy decisions,” said Steven Ungerleider, a foundation director.

Art is one of the best platforms for kids to communicate, he said.

“Kids can talk and say things, but writing and expressing themselves through art over the years has been a wonderful medium to express feelings and emotions, especially if you’re young and can’t articulate certain things,” he said.

“Even little ones can draw little figures that say ‘don’t push me’ or ‘when you’re out there let’s shake hands, let’s play fair, let’s be respectful of each other,’” he adds. “Some of the stuff that comes out is quite elegant.”

One drawing by Hayden K., aged 13 from the U.S., depicts a snowboarder about to descend into the halfpipe with the caption “Practice and you will succeed.”

Benaisha P., another 13-year-old from the U.S., painted a group of swimming turtles. The lead turtle clasps a gold medal and her caption reads “Slow but determined.”

A colourful pencil crayon drawing by Georgiana S., a 12-year-old from Romania, depicts a colourful Olympic medal ceremony.