2016 Congressional Art Competition

Congressman Yoder pictured with 2015 Art Competition winner "Ominous Tranquility" by Blue Valley North's Jennifer Fu and Third District Judge Marilyn Lyons.

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.

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 3rd 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.

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 framed artwork can be no larger than 28” x 28” x 4” (28 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches deep). If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it must arrive framed and must still measure no larger than the above maximum dimensions. No framed piece should weigh more than 15 pounds.

Accepted mediums for the two-dimensional artwork 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.)
• Collages: 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.
• Photographs

Each entry must be original in concept, design, and execution and may not violate U.S. copyright laws. 

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.

If you are a student who would like to submit art for the Congressional Art Competition, please print the below forms, fill out the information, and submit with your artwork by no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 8th.

If you’d like more information please contact my District Office at (913) 621-0832.

Click here to print the 2016 Congressional Art Competition Student Information and Release Form.

Click here to print the 2016 Rules and Regulations for Students and Teachers Form.

Click here to print the 2016 Art Submission Checklist.