Each spring, members of the U.S. House of Representatives sponsor a nation-wide High School art competition, “An Artistic Discovery,” as a way to recognize and encourage artistic talent of our nation’s youth.

Each Congressional district will select an over-all winner and each of the participating districts will have the opportunity to display the art work for one year in the U.S. Capitol. The exhibit in Washington will also include artwork from other contest winners nationwide.

The Congressional Art Competition was established in 1982 as a mechanism 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.

Congressman Harris welcomes High School students from around Maryland’s First District to participate!

General Guidelines

• The competition is open to high school students only. Exceptions may be made for schools that have 7th through 12th grades on one campus.
• Artwork must be two-dimensional. 
• Each piece can be no larger than 28” x 28” x 4” (28 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches deep), including the frame. If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it will be required to be framed and must still adhere to the size guidelines.
• Artwork cannot weigh more than 15 pounds.

Artwork accepted mediums are as follows:

• Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.
• Drawings: colored pencil, pencil, ink, marker, pastels, charcoal (It is recommended that · charcoal and pastel drawings be fixed.)
• 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

Each entry must be original in concept, design, and execution and may not violate any U.S. copyright laws. Any entry that has been copied from an existing photo (not the student’s own), painting, graphic, advertisement, or any other work produced by another person is a violation of the competition rules and will not be accepted. Work entered must be in the original medium (that is, not a scanned reproduction of a painting or drawing).

Artwork will hang in the Capitol for the entire year of the exhibition and cannot be returned to the students earlier. Students should, therefore, submit artwork they will not need for other purposes.

Submissions will be judged by a panel independent of Congressman Harris’s office.

Full guidelines click here.

Student information and release form click here.

Artwork can be either hand delivered or mailed. It must be delivered or post marked by Friday, April 22, 2016 to one of Congressman Harris’s district offices:

Kent Island Office - 100 Olde Point Village, Suite 101 Chester, MD 21619 Phone: 410.643.5425, Hours: M-F 8:30AM-5:30PM

Bel Air Office - 15 Churchville Rd, Suite 102B Bel Air, MD 21014 Phone: 410.588.5670,  Hours: M, T, Th 8:30AM-5:30PM

Salisbury Office - 212 West Main St, Suite 204B Salisbury, MD, Phone: 443-944-8624 Hours: M,T,Th 8:30AM-5:30PM