Saskyn Students Win National Medals in SAKUstars Preliminaries

Saskyn announced that its students earned multiple medals and nine honourable mentions in the national SAKUstars 2026 preliminary rounds, across graphic arts, sculpture, painting, crafts, comics and computer graphics. In total, Saskyn students collected two gold medals, three silver medals, three bronze medals, and nine honourable mentions in the qualifiers.

Details by discipline show broad success across Saskyn Ikaalisten Handicraft and Design School programs, with numerous placements and recognitions across categories including Graphics, Sculpture, Paintings, Arts and Crafts, Comics and Computer Graphics. The results include two silvers and a bronze in Graphics, a second place in Sculpture, a first place in Paintings, a first place in Arts and Crafts, a third place in Comics, and an honourable mention in Computer Graphics, among others. The full list highlights the strong showing of Saskyn students across the national competition.

SAKUstars is a national cultural competition for vocational students, intended to encourage cultural involvement and showcase skills not always visible in everyday studies. The event has existed since 1953 and has carried the SAKUstars name since 2008, organized by a SAKU ry member association. For 2026, Tampere-based Tredu will host the live rounds from April 14 to 16, featuring categories such as music, dance, theatre and visual arts, with additional information available on the SAKUstars 2026 event pages and Riina Sunila of Saskyn identified as the competition’s organizer contact.

According to ePressi, the SAKUstars preliminaries winners include the following by-name breakdown across six disciplines: Graphic Arts — Suvi Yliheljo (2nd), Venla Puronkari (3rd), Nina Kivimäki (honorable mention); Sculpture — Noora Liikala (2nd), Ruut Kyrö (honorable mention); Paintings — Pauli Lindfors (1st), Veera Laurila (honorable mention); Arts and Crafts — Tiina Takala (1st), Helga Siironen (2nd), Milla Heikkinen (3rd), Elissa Määttänen, Maarit Niemelä and Sara Kujala (honorable mentions); Comics — Sara Järvimäki (3rd), Henna Koskela and Veera Laurila (honorable mentions); Computer Graphics — Saimi-Dina Härmä (honorable mention). All cited entries come from Sasky Ikaalisten käsi- ja taideteollisuusoppilaitos and related Sasky programs.