The Congressional Art Competition encourages young people to participate in the arts. It also provides young artists with an opportunity to showcase their work locally and to receive national recognition for their talent and creativity.

The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 to provide an opportunity for members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of their young constituents. Since then, over 650,000 high school students have been involved with the nation-wide competition.

First place winners in each Congressional District competition will have their winning entries displayed as part of the national exhibition in the Cannon Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol. They will also be eligible to compete for a scholarship from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia and be invited to Washington, DC for the exhibition’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, which is scheduled to take place on June 17.


Eligibility
The competition is open to high school students in Michigan's 13th District, which includes Ecorse, the Grosse Pointes, Harper Woods, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, Wyandotte, and more than half of Detroit.

To find your U.S. Representative, visit www.house.gov and enter your zip code.

Artwork
Students must submit an original piece of artwork in one of seven categories:
Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.
Drawing: pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, markers
Collage: must be two-dimensional
Prints: lithographs, silkscreen, block prints
Mixed Media: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
Computer-generated art
Photography

Artwork must be original in concept, design, and execution and must not violate any U.S. copyright laws.

Winning pieces of art will hang in the Capitol for the entire year of the exhibition and cannot be returned to students earlier. Therefore, students should not submit artwork they will need for other purposes.

Deadline
Entries must be received by Friday, April 9, 2010, and should be delivered to the Detroit district office, located at 1274 Library Street, Suite 1B.

Forms
Click here to download the 2010 Student Release Form.

For more information, contact Lynn Bell at (313) 965-9004.