Art Competition

Each spring, a nation-wide high school arts competition is sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Artistic Discovery Contest is an opportunity to recognize and encourage the artistic talent in the nation, as well as in our congressional district.

The Artistic Discovery Contest is open to all high school students in the District. The over-all winner of our district's competition will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol. The exhibit in Washington will also include artwork from other contest winners nation-wide.

Guidelines for Submission

• Each student must submit their artwork to the nearest regional judging location (students can only submit to one regional judging location).
• Each student is limited to one piece of artwork. 
• 4 regional college art departments will choose 4 pieces of artwork as semi-finalists.
• The sixteen semi-finalist pieces will then be sent to Congressman Rick Berg’s office to compete for North Dakota’s Winner.
• The 1^st place winner’s art will be displayed for one year in the Capitol and the artist will be awarded with two roundtrip tickets from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C., courtesy of Southwest Airlines, to attend the Exhibition Opening Celebration. 

The 1^st runner-up’s art will hang in the Congressman Berg’s Washington, D.C. office and 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th places will hang in Congressman Berg’s Washington D.C. office and his Fargo, Bismarck and Minot district offices. Those students dropping their artwork off at NDSU must do so on April 10^th & 11^th.

Important Dates: 

1.      Deliverartwork to regional college byWednesday, April 11^nd, 2012.  Artwork must be delivered to your regional university between the hours of 8:00am and no later than5:00 pm.  Please submit to only one location.

2.      You will be notified by phone if your artwork was or was not chosen as a semi-finalist by 5pm,

Wednesday, April 18^th, 2012.   If your artwork is not chosen as a semi-finalist, it will need to be picked-up by Friday, April 20^th, 2012.  If artwork is not picked up by that date, it will be donated to a suitable location.

3.      First Place Winner Announced: May 7, 2012

Regional College to drop-off artwork (please choose location nearest you):

Region 1:

Bismarck State College

Werner Hall, Room 201

1500 Edwards Ave.

Bismarck, ND 58506

(701) 224-5520

Region 2:        

Minot State University

Hartnett Hall/Humanities Division Office

500 University Ave. W

Minot, ND 58707

(701) 858-3108

Region 3:        

University of North Dakota

Hughes Fine Arts Complex

2250 Campus Road Stop

Grand Forks, ND 58203

(701) 777-2906

Region 4:        

North Dakota State University*

Renaissance Hall

650 NP Ave

Fargo, ND 58103

(701) 231-8818

*Those students dropping their artwork off at NDSU must do so on April 10^th & 11^th.

Judges:

A special thank you to semi-finalist judges:

• Michelle Lindblom, Chair of Art Department at Bismarck State College
• Bill Harbort, Chair of Art Department at Minot State University
• Kim Fink, Chair of Art and Design at University of North Dakota
• Michael Strand, Chair of Art Department at North Dakota State University

If you have any questions about the Congressional Art Competition please contact Trina Montplaisir at: Trina.Montplaisir@mail.house.govor (701) 235-9760.

About the Congressional Art Competition

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 nationwide competition.

If you would like more information on the annual Congressional District Art Competition - including this year's deadlines - please contact my office.