Art Contests

Student Art Contests

Science.  Nature.  Art.   Did your mind just explode?  I think mine did with all of the excitement from those three topics in combination!  What more could you ask for, really?

As an art teacher, I get emails about art contests constantly; some for health awareness purposes, some for businesses, the list goes on and on.  I know a lot of art teachers that incorporate some of the contests into their lesson planning but I like to offer them as side projects.  If I see students with free time (a lot of students finish their homework during class work time so they wind up with idle hands in study hall) or if I know someone with a general interest in art making would like something to work on at home, I suggest that students submit some artwork for one of the contests going on. 

Lately I had a lot of interest in one contest being put on by the Space Foundation and Artsonia.com, where I upload my 6th graders' artwork. The kids (and myself included) are drawn to this one mainly because, as one of my students put it, "Space is awesome." And I'm sure my friend, Emilee who works at the Des Moines Science Center would agree whole heartedly. The contest is drawing to a close and I've had a lot of students submit artwork for it so I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight what they have been doing in their free time and how great of a job they can do one their own! To find out more about this contest go to www.artsonia.com/space/express and as an added bonus to this contest, you get to submit the students' work electronically!

 

 



Another contest I had been promoting to my students is the Take It Outside Art Contest. It is put on by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. And if there is one thing I am passionate about besides teaching and art, it's being outside! And since I gave my friend Emilee a shout out, this is my chance to brag about my friend, Molly the Naturalist! Now back to the topic at hand...this contest asks the kids to show themselves doing something they love outdoors (I'm a little jealous that I can't participate in this one!). It is a great opportunity for the kids to show off their interests while promoting being active and spending time outside. I even got to learn about their interests and was surprised by how many hikers and fishers I had in class!