NOAA offers several art contests that engage creative minds in Earth science. In honor of Youth Art Month offsite link, here is a gallery that showcases marine species and conservation issues through the eyes of student artists. Feeling inspired? Consider submitting your own creations.
Marine Endangered Species Art Contest
NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region encourages artists in kindergarten through 12th grade to celebrate marine endangered species. While the contest focuses on species native to New England and the Mid-Atlantic, students anywhere are welcome to participate. Winning artwork goes on display in Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and is featured in a calendar. In honor of the International Year of the Salmon in 2019, the contest has a special category for salmon-inspired artwork. Submissions are due Friday, April 12, 2019.
Keep the Sea Free of Debris
NOAA's Marine Debris Program holds this annual art contest to reach kindergarten through eighth-grade students and help raise awareness about marine debris. The winning submissions are featured in a calendar to remind us all that we can be responsible stewards of the ocean every day. The winners for the 2020 calendar will be announced in spring 2019. Submissions for the 2021 calendar are due November 30, 2019.
Marine Art Contest
The Massachusetts Marine Educators offsite link and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary jointly sponsor this art contest. The theme for 2019 is “Revealing the biological diversity of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.” Students are encouraged to submit artwork featuring invertebrates, fishes, birds, and marine mammals using a variety of media, including computer graphics. Submissions are due April 26, 2019.
Washed Up: A Marine Debris Art Contest
In this new contest, Florida Sea Grant offsite link invites artists of all ages to create pieces that are not only inspired by marine debris, but composed of it! Artists will collect human-made marine debris from beaches and shorelines and transform it into sculptures, mosaics, or other pieces. Photographs of the winning designs will be displayed at the Saint Augustine Amphitheater in Florida. Submissions are due March 27, 2019.