Art Competition
Each spring, a nationwide 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 across the nation, as well as in our congressional district.
The Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students in the First District. The overall winner of our district's competition will be displayed for one year in the United States Capitol. The exhibit in Washington will also include artwork from other districts’ contest winners.
Artwork entered in the contest may be up to 26 inches by 26 inches (including the frame) and may be up to 4 inches in depth. The artwork may be:
- Paintings, including oil, acrylics, and watercolor
- Drawings, including pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, and markers
- Collage (must be two dimensional)
- Prints, including lithographs, silkscreen, and block prints
- Mixed Media using more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
- Computer Generated Art
- Photographs
- All entries must be an original in concept, design and execution
The Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students who reside in Rhode Island’s First Congressional District. Students or teachers interested in participating should register with my office by contacting André Herrera by email at andre.herrera@mail.house.gov or by phone at 401-729-5600.
Submissions should be dropped off at my District Office, which is located at 1070 Main Street, Suite 300 in Pawtucket. My office is open daily from Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 4:30pm. Please call 401-729-5600 prior to your arrival at the office. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 29, 2022.
The first-place winner will have their piece hung in the exhibit in Washington, D.C. for a year. The second-place finisher will have their piece hung in the Congressman’s Washington office for one year, and the third-place winner gets hung in the Congressman’s Pawtucket office for one year.
All entries must be received with a completed Student Information and Release Form attached to the back of the artwork, to be signed by the student, a parent or guardian, and a teacher, which is available for download below or by clicking here.
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. More can be found about the nation-wide competition on their website.
For more information or to register for the Congressional Art Competition, please contact André Herrera in my District Office by email at andre.herrera@mail.house.gov or by phone at 401-729-5600.