Art Competition

Shannon Magnaldi of Fairfield, the winner of the 2013 Congressional Art Competition, with her winning entry in the US Capitol. The photo hangs in a hallway most Members of Congress use to go take votes.

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 congressional districts across the country. Winners are also invited to attend a reception in the Capitol Building, with air transportation to Washington D.C. provided.

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 or mail it to my Bridgeport office attention Michael Dunn. Forms are required to be sent no later than April 20, 2016. Artwork, along with a copy of the student information and release form affixed to the back, should be delivered or shipped to Congressman Himes’s Bridgeport office by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.

Participants should review the rules to make sure their artwork is in compliance with the guidelines set by the organizing committee.

Each year, I host an awards ceremony and reception in district, where all entries are displayed and the winners are announced. This is one of my favorite annual events, and meeting the student artists and their families is something I look forward to each May.