Washington, DC-- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will announce the winners of the Annual Congressional Arts Competition that she is hosting as honorary chair, Saturday, May 31, from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, at the Smithsonian Museum's S. Dillon Ripley Center, located at 1100 Jefferson Drive, SW, Lower Level. Artwork created by the District's first place winner will be displayed for one year inside the U.S. Capitol along with other first place national winners. This year 20 pieces of artwork submitted in the D.C. competition will be selected by jurors to be shown as part of a one month exhibition at the D.C. Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center at the Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The second place winner's work will be displayed for one year in the Kraft Headquarters, Washington, D.C., and the third place winner's artwork will hang for one year in one of Norton's congressional district offices.

"We are grateful that art and music are returning to the D.C. Public Schools," Norton said. We have felt a special responsibility to work with art teachers and DCPS students during their dry years. The quality of the art we have received for this national arts competition is but one piece of evidence of why no important part of a child's basic education should be abandoned".

Student participants will also have the opportunity to receive a $5,000, 4-5 year partial scholarship to Savannah College of Art and Design, a summer scholarship to a prestigious local art college, savings bonds, a computer, tickets to sports and entertainment events, a digital camera, and other portable electronics.

All public and private District of Columbia students, grades 8 through 12, were eligible to participate. The competition received 170 submissions from 153 students representing 18 schools. Competition categories include painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, photography, and computer-generated art. Artwork was judged by a panel of distinguished artists and curators.

Norton said she appreciated the strong and dedicated support of competition sponsors, volunteers who did all the heavy lifting for the benefit of our public and private school students. The committee members were: Jason S. King, Mariana Gerzanych, Robert Rouse, Edward S. Cleveland, Nabil Aitoumeziane, Ben Hindman, Paula Sanderlin, Melinda T. Cooke, and Mohammad Hajjar-Negad.