Art Competition
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 is until Monday, March 28th. Art work and the Student Information and Release Form should be dropped off to our Newburgh Office located at 123 Grand Street in Newburgh, NY. Entries can be also be accepted via email to Lizette.Hernandez@mail.house.gov, but all arwork must be framed. Please include both a photo of the entry and the Student Information and Release Form.
In order to choose the winning piece of artwork, we will utilize both social media and the local Hudson Valley art community. Submissions will be posted on my official Facebook fan page for a period of two weeks (April 18th to April 29th) where they will be voted on via the “like” button. In early May, all entries will be presented to a panel of local judges from the 18th district of New York at a reception for all participants and they will determine a grand prize winner, winners for each medium and a Facebook Fan Favorite.
The grand prize winning artwork will be 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.
A reception for all participants will be held in May. For any questions, please e-mail Lizette.Hernandez@mail.house.gov or call our Newburgh District Office at 845-561-1259.
Competition 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.
Important Forms