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Art Competition

Student Artist smiling with paintbrush and paint palette

In an effort to give students of the 8th District a creative outlet while they continue their education from home, we have decided to administer the Congressional Art Competition digitally. Students can send their forms and a jpeg of their art to IL08ArtCompetition@gmail.com by May 15th to submit their application. 

Guidelines to 2020 Art Competition:

  1. Create an original piece of art that meets all of the qualifications listed on the enclosed 2020 Competition Guidelines. 
    1. IMPORTANT NOTES:
  • The piece of art must be 2-dimensional and no larger than 26x26x4 when framed
  •  There is a limit of ONE submission per student. There is NO limit on the number of submissions from each school
  1. Complete the enclosed 2020 Student Information/Release Form
    1. NOTE: We recognize that many students may not be able to have their teacher sign the student release form due to school closures. If they are unable to do so, they may indicate their teacher's support another way. For instance, when submitting the form, the student may attach an email from an art teacher certifying the artwork's originality.
  • We will be as accommodating and lenient as possible to ensure a student’s submission is accepted
  1. Send completed Student Information/Release Form and Email a high-resolution, up-close jpeg attachment that clearly shows the artwork to: IL08ArtCompetition@gmail.com.
  2. Ensure student’s full name, name of school, title of piece and phone number (for contact purposes), along with the attached picture of artwork, are included in the email
  3. BOTH the mailed Information/Release Form AND the email with attached picture of artwork must be received by May 15th for the registration to be complete and valid
  4. The piece chosen by the public will hang in the tunnel leading to the U.S. Capitol for one year
  5. The Congressional Art Competition Reception in Washington, DC, will now take place on July 22, 2020.

Competition Rules

The 2020 Rules and Regulations are available here. The Rules for Students and Teachers must be followed to assure acceptance into the Exhibition.

The following is a summary of the Congressional Art 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).