High school students in the Second Congressional District of Georgia who want to see their artwork exhibited at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., have until April 13 to enter the 37th annual Congressional Art Competition.
 
The district winner will be announced by U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, on Friday, April 27, at a 5 pm reception at the Albany Museum of Art, 311 Meadowlark Drive. All of the submitted artwork from the Second Congressional District will be on display at the Albany Museum of Art beginning April 17. The district winner’s work will be displayed with winning high school artwork from the nation’s participating Congressional Districts in a yearlong exhibition in the heavily traveled Cannon Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol.
 
Congressman Bishop’s office will provide airfare for the winning artist from his district to travel to Washington to attend the June 27 national awards reception with the congressman. The Albany Museum of Art will offer a $250 Purchase Award for the winning piece. The AMA also will provide airfare for a parent to accompany the winning student to the nation’s capital, and two nights’ stay for them at a Washington hotel.
 
“It’s an honor to present this show that includes the artwork of so many talented high school students from this Congressional District,” AMA Executive Director Paula Williams said. “The museum is proud to give a parent the opportunity to accompany their child to Washington for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
 
To enter, a student must have his or her artwork submitted to Congressman Bishop’s District Office, located at 235 W. Roosevelt Ave., Suite 114, in Albany, by Friday, April 13.
 
“This competition is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the considerable artistic talent of Georgia’s Second Congressional District’s high school students, and I am eager to see this year’s entries," Congressman Bishop said.
 
Rules for the Congressional Art Competition state each submission must be the original, two-dimensional work of the student. Dimensions, including frame, cannot exceed 26 inches in height, 26 inches in width and 4 inches in depth, and it cannot weigh more than 15 pounds. The artwork must be submitted in its original medium. Acceptable mediums include painting (oil, acrylic, watercolors, etc.); drawing (pencil, colored pencil, pen and ink, marker, pastels and charcoal – fixing charcoal and pastel drawings is recommended); collages; prints (lithograph, silkscreen, block); mixed media; computer generated images, and photographs. The artwork also must adhere to the policies of the House Office Building Commission, which do not allow exhibitions depicting subjects of contemporary political controversy, or those of a gruesome or sensationalistic nature. An entry may not violate U.S. Copyright law and may not copied from existing photographs or images. The student must complete a release form and agree to allow the winning work to be displayed at the Capitol for the duration of the exhibition.
 
Sponsored each spring by the Congressional Institute, the Congressional Art Competition is a nationwide high school visual art contest designed to both recognize and encourage talented young artists in each of the nation’s 435 Congressional Districts. Since the competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have entered their work.
 
Rules for the competition may be found at:
https://www.house.gov/educators-and-students/congressional-art-competition
 
The student release form may be found at: https://www.house.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/2018StudentReleaseForm.pdf
 
For information from Congressman Bishop’s Albany Office, contact Toni Pickle at [email protected] or call (229) 439-8067.