Congressional Art Competition

Awarded By:

Congressional Institute

Number of Awards & Eligibility: The number of awards varies according to each district. Each district will have one first-place winner, but may also provide additional awards to multiple students.

Description: This award is for U.S. high school students who have an interest in art. Students must apply through their U.S. House Representative; there will be at least one winner per district.

Application requirements for the Congressional Art Competition are:

• Application form
• Art Entry

Additional Information: Each spring, members of the U.S. House of Representatives offer high school students in their districts the opportunity to compete to have their artwork displayed in the Cannon Tunnel, which connects the U.S. Capitol to the Cannon House Office Building. The competition provides opportunity to recognize and encourage the artistic talent in the nation. The competition is open to high school students only. Exceptions may be made for schools that have 7th through 12th grades on one campus. Each entry must adhere to the policy set by the representative. Entries will be judged by an independent panel of volunteer art experts. Art work must be two dimensional and cannot weigh more then 15 pounds. Accepted media for artwork are as follows: paintings (oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.); drawings (pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, markers); collage; prints (lithographs, silkscreen, block prints); mixed media (use of more than two medias such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.); computer-generated art; and photography. Each entry must be original in concept, design, and execution and may not violate any U.S. copyright laws.

Award Amount: The award amount varies according to each district. Please note: Not all districts will provide a monetary scholarship award amount. Award recipients must adhere to the policy set by the representative. Students should contact their disctrict representative for more information. The artwork of the first place winner for each district will hang in the Capitol for a year.  The total dollars awarded for this scholarship is $1,000.