Art competition sees Leonardo and Yeovil College bridge the gap between art and aerospace

Leonardo has announced the winner of this year’s art competition in collaboration with Yeovil College, where students were challenged to create their own interpretations of the company’s latest uncrewed technology Proteus through the lens of sustainability.

Paula Paton, Yeovil College Study Programme Manager for Foundation Art and Design, said: “Working with Leonardo on the Reimagine-Redefine project has been a pleasure. Now in our fourth year celebrating young artists, this partnership supports students’ education by providing professional experiences and networking opportunities. It also encourages learners to engage with the local community and tackle meaningful topics like sustainability through their projects.”

Yeovil College student, Lillia Hallett, was awarded the top prize for her portrait depicting a child looking upward while holding a toy helicopter. The judging panel, comprised of members from Leonardo’s senior management, commended the piece for its apparent simplicity which strikingly conveyed the cross-generational innovation essential for the advancement of sustainable aviation.

Leonardo customer support and training business graduate, Rhys Phillips, who organised the competition this year, said: “Engineering is the ‘how’, but art really helps explain the ‘why’ of the technology. Seeing our technology through the eyes of the students has been a revelation because of the fresh perspective that they bring. There was something about the child’s upward gaze that perfectly mirrors the aspirational nature of aerospace. We are always striving to go beyond what we have done before and Lillia seemed to capture that essence in her picture.”

Lillia was presented with her award of £100 of art materials vouchers at a special celebration for students and parents at iAero in Yeovil this week. Other Yeovil College students’ artworks who were selected for display included Willow Ellis, Vicky Templar, Toby Pailing, Sam Walter, Molly Northcote, Angela Hanwell, Abbey McCarron, George Griffey and Hannah Foster.

Two competition pieces were inspired by the company’s namesake Leonardo da Vinci, reflecting his legacy of blending art and engineering. Da Vinci's work in physics and aerodynamics led to helicopter sketches that impacted modern design. Recent World Economic Forum research shows that integrating the arts with engineering improves students’ creative and problem-solving abilities by at least 20% over traditional methods.

Rhys said: “At Leonardo we often work in cross-disciplinary teams, pooling expertise from different areas of the business, such as commercial, engineering and design. It is really good that the students get early exposure to this mindset by exploring engineering and the results prove that they have a lot to offer in terms of creative thinking.”

Lillia’s portrait will be installed at the Leonardo Training Academy in Yeovil, which greets thousands of international visitors every year. A curated selection of the other highly imaginative entries will be displayed in prominent locations across the site, turning the workplace into a living gallery of local talent.

This initiative reinforces the close collaboration between Leonardo and Yeovil College which spans almost 60 years. The college remains a vital pipeline for the next generation of innovators, with Leonardo apprentices accounting for just over half of the college’s total engineering enrolment.