Art Competition

Please note that the 2012 Congressional Art Competition has already taken place; please check back next spring for information on the 2013 competition, including deadlines and contact information.

Each spring the United States House of Representatives sponsors an art competition for high school students. The winning entry from Connecticut's 4th Congressional District is displayed in the United States Capitol alongside artwork from every congressional district across the country.

I encourage all high school students who reside in or attend school in the 4th Congressional District to participate. Submissions must be original and can be in the form of paintings (oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.), drawings (pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, markers), collage (must be two-dimensional), prints (lithographs, silkscreen, block prints), mixed media, computer generated art, or photography. Entries are judged by a panel of local artists and representatives of arts organizations in our district.

Students interested in entering this year’s competition must complete and sign a release form and fax it to my Bridgeport office at (203) 333-6655, attention Peter Yazbak. Forms are required to be sent no later than [TBA]. Participants may find the release form here. Artwork, along with a copy of the student information and release form affixed to the back, should be delivered or shipped to my Bridgeport office by 5:00 p.m. on [TBA].

I will host an awards ceremony and reception, where we will display the entries and announce the winners. This is one of my favorite annual events, and meeting the student artists and their families is something I look forward to each May. The 2012 ceremony was held at Rockwell Art Gallery in Norwalk. Claude Desir of Bassick High School won the competition for his entry, "Self Portrait."