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Art Competition

Each spring, The Congressional Art Competition celebrates, recognizes and encourages the artistic talent of our high school students around the country. The Congressional Art Competition welcomes high school students to compete for a chance to have their artwork in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol for one year.

The Congressional Art Competition, first held in 1982, is a nationwide high school arts competition sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives. One winning piece of artwork will be selected to be displayed in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington for the next year. The winner of the competition will also win two airline tickets to Washington, D.C. Any high school student from Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District is eligible to submit their original artwork for consideration.

To see the current CT-01 winner of the Art Competition, click here.

COMPETITION RULES

Artwork entered in the contest may be no larger than 26 inches high, 26 inches wide, and 4 inches in depth and not weigh more than 15 pounds (even when framed). If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it must arrive framed and must still measure no larger than the above maximum dimensions. 

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.)
  • Prints: lithographs, silk screen, block prints
  • Mixed Media: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
  • Collages (must be two dimensional)
  • Computer-generated art
  • Photographs

Entries 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 or image (including a painting, graphic, or advertisement) that was created by someone other than the student 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).

For a full list of the Art Competition's rules, click here

 

TO APPLY

Entries for the 2022 Congressional Art Competition are closed. No entry will be considered submitted without a completed Student Information & Release Form. We will only accept one entry per student. All entries must be an original in concept, design and execution. Students can email a picture of their artwork and release forms to Collin.Duran@mail.house.gov. Students can also mail their artwork to 361 Main Street, 3rd Floor, East Hartford, CT 06118.

Click here for the Art Competition application form.

 

AWARD NOTIFICATION

The winning submission from the 1st District will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol Building for one year alongside artwork from every Congressional District across the Nation. If you would like more information on the Congressional Art Competition, please contact Collin Duran at Collin.Duran@mail.house.gov or 860-278-8888."