Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest

2022 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest

The Endangered Species Coalition (ESC) is pleased to announce our 2022 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest! The Art Contest is open to K-12 grade students –residing in the U.S. or U.S. Territories-including homeschooled youth or participants in out of school time programs. The contest is an integral part of the 16th annual Endangered Species Day, Friday May 20th, 2022. These are the primary goals of the Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest:

-Encouraging and inspiring youth to creatively express animal and plant diversity;

-Spotlighting the incredible skill and talent of youth artists and providing a space for young people to express the importance of wildlife through visual art;

-Growing awareness of the rich diversity of species in the United States or US Territories, especially species protected or recovered by the Endangered Species Act;

-Supporting ESC’s JEDI Mission Statement by encouraging inclusive participation by youth and judges from a range of backgrounds and experiences;

-Inspiring support and empathy for wildlife and increasing actions for animal and plant conservation.For more background on the contest, including the Missing Species Report integrated art and science lesson plan and other resources, please visit www.endangeredspeciesday.org

Subject Matter

To be eligible for the contest, student artwork must depict an animal or plant species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act; species previously listed under the Act, now delisted; or species proposed for listing. The Endangered Species Youth Art Contest features species living or migrating within the United States and U.S. territories, or within the territorial waters of the U.S. The listed or recovered species include a diverse variety of animals and plants living on land, in freshwater, or in the ocean.

** Please note: every year we receive artworks of species which are non-US species not included in the lists linked to on this page. Those submissions are therefore ineligible, for example, images of pandas, tigers, etc. Please use the helpful lists below to identify eligible plants and animals which are currently listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act, delisted species, .

Eligible species can be found on these pages:

LISTED species living or migrating within the United States and U.S. territories, or within the territorial waters of the U.S.:

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-listings-by-tax-group-totals 

DELISTED species living or migrating within the United States and U.S. territories, or within the territorial waters of the U.S.:

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-delisted

PROPOSED FOR LISTING species living or migrating within the United States and U.S. territories, or within the territorial waters of the U.S.:

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-listings-proposed-listing?statusCategory=Proposed%20for%20Listing

Artwork

• Students’ artwork must be original. Computer-generated images and traced images will not be judged. It is critical that submitted artwork not be overly derivative of images found on the Internet, in print media, or elsewhere. To avoid copyright infringement, works thought to be copies will be disqualified as will work which has been traced. Computer-generated images are currently ineligible.
• Media: We can accept artwork done in crayon, ink, acrylics, oil paint, pastels, water color, colored pencils, scratchboard, color marker, chalk, pastels, charcoal, or paper collage. We cannot accept artwork done using plain black pencil or weak colored pencil.
• No lettering, words, signatures or any other markings may appear on the front of the artwork. This includes labeling the depicted species and writing one’s name or signature. Lettering that is creatively incorporated into the art (such as a posted sign) is allowed. Submissions that include prohibited writing will not be judged.
• To ensure the image submitted best represents the artwork, please provide a high quality representation (scan or photograph) of the work only. Please avoid including distracting backgrounds which detract from the actual artwork, such as a hand holding the art, the room behind the art work or a frame/mat around the work. Please orient the image in the direction the artwork should be viewed (i.e. not upside down, at a 90 degree angle, etc.) Please note: ESC cannot accept physical artworks – online submissions only.
• All artwork becomes the property of the Endangered Species Coalition. Submission of the artwork grants the Endangered Species Coalition a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to publish your student’s/child’s artwork in Endangered Species Coalition’s editorial, educational, and promotional print and digital materials, in our promotional and educational posts to social media, and for all other lawful uses—including artwork print sales—in furtherance of the Coalition’s mission. All published artwork will be credited with a copyright notice in the following form: “© Artist’s Name.”

Submitting Artwork

• The Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest will open for submissions in early 2022. The opening date for submissions will be announced via email and on the ESC website homepage.
• Artwork must be submitted electronically through this page: endangered.org/submit-your-art
• Artwork must be at least 3000 pixels on one side of the image file.
• Follow directions carefully and provide all information requested on the submission form.
• Please double check that your submitted artwork is entered in the correct grade category! Artworks in the wrong grade category cannot be reviewed and will be disqualified.
• Artwork must be submitted by March 1, 2022. Late entries will not be judged.

Judging

Judging takes place in two parts: preliminary review and final review.

The preliminary judges select the top forty semi-finalist artworks. From these forty semifinalists, the six final contest winners are chosen. Two separate judging panels, who are arts professionals, artists, and arts educators from across the U.S., select the semifinalists and finalists. The final six winning categories include: Grand Prize, First Place, and four Grade Level winners. The Grade Level winners include four groups: Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-12.

You can see examples of previous year’s contest winners here.

Prizes

The Endangered Species Coalition is enthusiastic to announce the awards for the 2022 contest! In 2022 ESC will provide a total of six student artist awards. In addition, we’re pleased to offer awards to teachers whose students are awarded one of the final six prizes in 2022. The teacher awards are provided with the intention of increasing student access to high-quality art materials in the classroom, and recognizing teachers for their hard work supporting the contest. The educator who instructed the student in creating the work submitted to the contest will be eligible for the award.

Please see the following for the full breakdown of awards and prize categories:

Grand Prize Winner

Description: The Grand Prize is the top award in the Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest, and recognizes artworks of special storytelling merit, technical quality, imagination, and skill. All eligible artworks K-12 students submit to the art contest are considered for this award.

Award Package for student artist:

– $200.00 Blick gift certificate for art supplies of the student’s choice.

– A virtual art lesson by a professional artist and arts teacher

– $300 in funding toward the purchase of native plants for pollinators, from Endangered Species Coalition’s Pollinator Protectors campaign. Prize winner (along with parent/guardian) will collaborate with ESC’s Creative Engagement Director and other appropriate staff, to identify a planting site/s in the Grand Prize Winner’s  city, state or region. ESC will also provide logistical and ecological information for a successful planting.

–$50 gift certificate toward tickets to the student artist’s favorite museum of art, natural history, science and technology, or culture.

– Recognition on the ESC website and press release recognizing the student as the art contest Grand Prize Winner.

Award for student’s teacher:

$200.00 Blick gift certificate toward the purchase of art supplies for the teacher’s classroom.

First Prize 

Description: The First Place winner is recognized for the outstanding quality of their work across grade categories. All eligible artworks K-12 students submit to the art contest are considered for this award.

Award for student artist: The First Prize Winner will receive a $100.00 Blick gift certificate for the art supplies of their choice.

Award for student’s teacher:

$100.00 Blick gift certificate toward the purchase of art supplies for the teacher’s classroom.

Grade Level Winners:

Description: This award recognizes an outstanding work in each of the grade level categories. The grade level winners are awarded to one student each in the four grade categories K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, for a total of four awards.  All eligible artworks submitted to the art contest are considered for this award, by grade category.

Award for student artist: Each of the four students recognized as grade level winners (one each from K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12) will be awarded with a $50.00 Blick gift certificate for the art supplies of their choice for a total of four awards at $50.00 each.

Award for student’s teacher: Each of the four teachers whose students are recognized as grade level winners (one student each from K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12) will be awarded with a $50.00 Blick gift certificate for the art supplies of their choice, for use in their classrooms. In the event that more than one student from an individual teacher receives a grade level award, that teacher will receive a gift card in honor of each student’s accomplishment.

Semi-Finalists

Description:

40 total semi-finalists, 10 from each of the grade categories  K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, who have submitted eligible work, will be chosen by a jury panel of diverse arts professionals. From this group of artists, the Grand Prize and First Place winners will be selected by a separate panel of nationally recognized arts professionals.

Award for student artists:

– A digital, personalized certificate, recognizing the student artist’s accomplishment and semi-finalist status.

– A yearly planner, featuring the work of the semi-finalists (usually sent out in Dec. of the contest year).

– Recognition on the ESC website, Flickr, and press release as the art contest semi-finalists.

All Contestants 

Description:

All students grades K-12 who submit artworks meeting contest eligibility criteria as described on this page are considered contest entrants.

Award for student artists:

-A downloadable certificate recognizing students for entering the contest and thanking them for their creativity and support for species conservation.

About ESC

Endangered Species Coalition

The Endangered Species Coalition is a national network of hundreds of conservation, scientific, education, religious, sporting, outdoor recreation, humane, business and community groups across the country. Through public education, scientific information and citizen participation, we work to protect our nation’s wildlife and wild places. The Endangered Species Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan coalition working with concerned citizens and decision-makers to protect endangered species and habitat. www.endangered.or