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Each spring, Members of Congress host a Congressional Art Competition and select a piece of original artwork created by a student from within their district for display in the United States Capitol Building. Since the competition began in 1982, over 600,000 high school students have participated across the nation.

I am glad to announce the official beginning of this year’s Congressional Art Competition. Once again, the Dayton Art Institute, and other institutions throughout the 10^thdistrict will join me in supporting this worthy project.This is a unique opportunity to recognize and encourage high school juniors and seniors (grades 11-12) throughout the 10^thCongressional District on the importance of arts. Our community is blessed with a number of talented emerging artists whose artwork might not only be displayed in the Capitol one day, but perhaps across museums in the United States.

Students will also be competing for one academic art scholarship paid for and sponsored by the Savannah College of Art and Design. The winning student will also have the opportunity to attend a ceremony in Washington, D.C., this summer, where their work will be showcased in the Cannon House Office Building Tunnel at the United States Capitol for one year. (might be good to say the scholarships aren’t funded by taxpayers, but please double check that.)

The rules for participating are:

• Thecompetition is open to high school juniors and seniors ONLY (grades 11 and 12).
• The student must attend a high school located within the 10thCongressional District.
• Artwork is limited to one (1) entry per student.
• Artwork must be two-dimensional.
• The artwork must be matted and hang-ready (must not exceed framed dimensions of 24”wide x 24”high x 4”deep)
• Size of the artwork must allow for potential framing if chosen as the grand-prize winner.
• All artwork must be delivered/picked up by the teacher only at myCongressionalOffice in Dayton.
• Official rules can be found at Turner.House.Gov

All qualified artwork, which meets guidelines, will be on display at the Dayton Art Institute for viewing from Saturday, April 13 through Sunday, May 5. During this period, I encourage students, families, and friends to visit the Dayton Art Institute to see all of the entries.

On May 5, after all of the submissions have been displayed, an independent panel of judges will select the winners and later announce the grand-prize winner during a reception which all participants are encouraged to attend.

Each year I am impressed by the artistic ability exhibited by our extremely talented youth throughout our community.I encourage all eligible students to submit their creative works for the competition. If you need further information, please contact my office in Dayton or visit my Congressional Art Competition website with the complete information packet including rules and application HERE.