Each spring, a nation-wide high school arts competition is sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. 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.
The submission period for artwork will be held from Monday, February 29 to Friday, March 25. A photo of the submitted piece and the Student Information and Release Form should be e-mailed to FL06ART@mail.house.gov. Facebook judging will take place Monday, March 28, until Friday, April 1 and the final ten submissions will be presented to the community judges at an event on Sunday, April 10. The winning artwork is displayed in the Capitol for one year and the winning student plus one guest will receive complimentary airfare to Washington, DC for a reception in June.
In order to choose the winning piece of artwork, we will utilize both social media and the local Florida art community. Submissions will be posted on the
official Facebook page where they will be voted on via the “like” button. At the end of voting period, the ten submissions with the most “likes” will be presented to a panel of local judges from the 6th district of Florida and they will determine a winner.
Please see below for the submission guidelines provided to our office by the Congressional Institute as well as the Student Information and Release Form that needs to be submitted with each piece of artwork.
If you would like more information on the annual Congressional District Art Competition, please call our Washington, D.C. office at 202-225-2706.
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.
Important Forms
