Competitions · Humanities and writing · Congressional Art Competition
The Congressional Art Competition.
The winning artwork from each congressional district hangs in the United States Capitol for a year. You enter through the office of your own Member of Congress - which is what decides whether you can enter at all.
Read this first
Entry runs through a congressional district.
This is not an eligibility rule buried in the small print - it is how the whole competition is built.
You submit to your own Member of Congress
Students send their artwork to their representative’s office. Each congressional district runs its own separate contest.
A district panel judges it
A panel of artists from that district selects the winning work. There is no central judging.
Which means a US district is required
A student who is not in a United States congressional district has no office to submit to. The source page does not say this, and it decides everything.
Worth knowing before planning around it
For a student at an international school outside the United States, this competition is not available. Our other art competition pages set out what is.
At a glance
What the competition is.
The Congressional Art Competition has been sponsored by the Congressional Institute since 1982, to recognise and encourage artistic talent nationally and in each congressional district. More than 650,000 high school students have taken part since it began.
- Who can enter
- High school students in a United States congressional district
- Grades 7 and 8
- Only if the school has grades 7 to 12 on one campus. Teachers and students should verify eligibility with the Member of Congress’s office
- How you enter
- Submit to the office of your own Member of Congress
- Who judges
- A panel of artists from that congressional district
- Required form
- A Student Information and Release Form, obtained from the Member of Congress’s office
- The artwork description
- Required on the form, and it must be genuinely specific
- If you win
- The work must be framed and delivered to Washington DC
- Where winning work goes
- Displayed in the United States Capitol for a year, and shown on the Congressional Art Competition page on House.gov
- Recognition
- In the student’s own district, and at an annual ceremony in Washington DC
- Afterwards
- The artwork is auctioned for charity
Two rules worth reading twice
What you send, and what happens to it.
Both of these are stated plainly by the organisers and both surprise entrants.
Only submit work you can part with
The organisers ask students to submit only artwork they do not need for any other purpose. Winning work is away for more than a year and is then auctioned for charity.
The description has to be specific
The form asks for a description of the artwork, and the organisers give a worked example. "Self-portrait" or "a picture of two people" is not acceptable, because many works match it.
What a usable description looks like
Their own example: a painting of two people, the one on the left in a green jumper and khaki trousers, the one on the right in a black shirt and a striped skirt, with a dog sitting at their feet.
And framing is at your expense
A winning work must be framed and delivered to Washington DC. That is a real cost and it falls after the win, not before.
What to enter instead
Art competitions open to students anywhere.
If the student makes visual art and is outside the United States, these are the genuinely open routes on this site.
Sony World Photography Awards
Three images free for entrants aged nineteen and under, worldwide, with international exhibition for shortlisted work.
SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest
Free, any age, open all year, and the winning artwork is printed on merchandise that funds conservation.
She Is More
Ages ten to eighteen, any gender, any flat medium, and every entrant is exhibited. The entry donation is waived for anyone who cannot pay it.
Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest
Art, writing, film, performance or multimedia, ages eleven to eighteen, worldwide.
Talk to an advisor
Hanlin does not coach Congressional Art Competition. Ask what it does coach.
The services below are real, but not for this competition. An advisor will say plainly whether there is a route here and what is worth entering instead.
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The Congressional Art Competition, briefly answered.
What students and families ask about this competition.
Can a student outside the United States enter?
No. Entry is made to the office of the student’s own Member of Congress, and each congressional district runs its own contest. A student without a district has no route in.
Who can enter?
High school students in a United States congressional district. Grades 7 and 8 may be eligible if the school has grades 7 to 12 on one campus - verify with the Member of Congress’s office.
How is it judged?
By a panel of artists from the student’s own congressional district. There is no central judging.
What form do I need?
A Student Information and Release Form, obtained from the Member of Congress’s office and submitted with the artwork by the published deadline.
How detailed does the artwork description need to be?
Specific enough to identify that work alone. The organisers state that descriptions like "self-portrait" or "a picture of two people" are not acceptable, and give an example naming what each figure is wearing and what else is in the frame.
What happens to winning artwork?
It must be framed and delivered to Washington DC. It is then displayed in the United States Capitol for a year and shown on the Congressional Art Competition page on House.gov. After the exhibition it is auctioned for charity.
Will I get my artwork back?
No. Winning work is auctioned for charity after the exhibition, which is why the organisers ask students to submit only work they do not need for another purpose.
How are winners recognised?
In their own district and at an annual ceremony in Washington DC.
Who sponsors it?
The Congressional Institute, which has run the competition since 1982. More than 650,000 high school students have taken part.
What should an international student enter instead?
The Sony World Photography Awards, the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest, She Is More or the Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest - all open worldwide.
Related
Art competitions open worldwide.
What to enter instead.
About this page
This page explains the route, not a way in.
The Congressional Art Competition runs district by district inside the United States, so for a student here the useful conversation is about what is genuinely open. Tell us what the student makes and an advisor will point at the competitions that will take it.