Congressional Art Competition

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION TO THE CONGRESSIONAL ART COMPETITION

A message from Congressman Eliot L. Engel:

Welcome to the Congressional Art Competition section of my website. I am pleased to announce that New York’s 16th Congressional District will be participating in the Congressional Art Competition; a competition that recognizes the talents of our nation’s youth and promotes learning through creativity and artistic exploration.

If you are a high school student in New York’s 16th District, please read below to learn more about how to submit a piece of artwork for this competition. Please email me at engelartcompetition@mail.house.gov for more information. The Deadline for submission is Thursday, April 19, 2018. The Art Competition will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2018. 

Sincerely,
Eliot L. Engel
Member of Congress

Congressional Art Competition: Information                                    TOP

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 provides an opportunity to recognize the talents of our nation’s youth and to promote learning through artistic creativity and exploration.

The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 as a way 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 selected entry from the 16th District will have the honor of being displayed in United States Capitol. Additionally, the student whose artwork is displayed in the Capitol may become eligible to receive a scholarship to an art and design school, should they apply, be accepted as a student, and meet or exceed admission requirements.

A student release form and a digital photograph of the piece of artwork must be emailed to engelartcompetition@mail.house.gov to be considered in this competition.

Congressional Art Competition: Guidelines                                       TOP

• The competition is open to 9-12th grade students who attend a high school in New York’s 16th district.
• In order to allow the winning artwork to hang in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol, the following restrictions are enforced:
  • The artwork must be framed according to appropriate framing guidelines, listed below.
  • Artwork must conform to the following restrictions:
    • Artwork must be two-dimensional
    • Each piece can be no larger than 26” x26” x4” (26 inches high, 26 inches wide, and 4 inches deep) including the frame. Artwork cannot weigh more than 15 lbs. If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it will be required to be framed and must still adhere to the size guidelines.
    • Each entry must be original in concept, design, and execution and may not violate any U.S. copyright laws. Any entry which has been reproduced 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. Work entered must be in the original medium (that is, not a scanned reproduction of a painting or drawing).
• Artwork categories that are accepted by the Capitol are as follows:
  • 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: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
  • Computer generated art
  • Photography
• The winning 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.
• The final decision regarding the suitability of all artwork for the Congressional Art Competition exhibition in the Capitol will be made by a panel of qualified persons chaired by the Architect of the Capitol. Artwork must adhere to the policy of the House Office Building Commission. In accordance with this policy, exhibits depicting subjects of contemporary political controversy or a sensationalistic or gruesome nature are not allowed. It is necessary that all artwork be reviewed by the panel chaired by the Architect of the Capitol and any portion not in consonance with the Commission’s policy will be omitted from the exhibit.

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