Art Competition

Congressional Art Competition

2013 Guidelines

For Students and Teachers

The competition is open to high school students only.  An exception will be made for schools that have 7th through 12th grade on one campus.  Students must be residents of the 7th Congressional District, which includes all of Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland, Iron, Burnett, Vilas, Forest, Florence, Oneida, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Clark, Taylor, Price, Sawyer, Rusk, Washburn, Barron, Burnett, Polk, St. Croix counties and parts of Chippewa, Jackson, Monroe, Juneau and Wood counties.

Artwork must be two-dimensional. Each piece can be no larger than 28” x 28” x 4” (28 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 4 inches deep), including the frame. If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it will be required to be framed and must still adhere to the size guidelines.

Artwork cannot weigh more than 15 pounds.

Artwork accepted mediums are as follows:

• Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.
• Drawings: colored pencil, pencil, ink, marker, pastels, charcoal (It is recommended that charcoal and pastel drawings be fixed.)
• Collage: must be two dimensional
• Prints: lithographs, silkscreen, block prints
• Mixed Media: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
• Computer-generated art
• Photography

Each entry must be original in concept, design, and execution and may not violate any U.S. copyright laws. Any entry that has been copied from an existing photo (not the student’s own), painting, graphic, advertisement, or any other work produced by another person is a violation of the competition rules and will not be accepted. Work entered must be in the original medium (that is, not a scanned reproduction of a painting or drawing).

Artwork will hang in the Capitol for the entire year of the exhibition and cannot be returned to the students earlier. Students should, therefore, submit artwork they will not need for other purposes.

As outlined in these guidelines, the final decision regarding the suitability of all artwork for the 2013 Congressional Art Competition exhibition in the Capitol will be made by a panel of qualified persons chaired by the Architect of the Capitol. While it is not the intent to censor any artwork, we do wish to avoid artwork that is potentially inappropriate for display in this highly travelled area leading to the Capitol.

Artwork must adhere to the policy of the House Office Building Commission. In accordance with this policy, exhibits depicting subjects of contemporary political controversy or a sensationalistic or gruesome nature are not allowed. It is necessary that all artwork be reviewed by the panel chaired by the Architect of the Capitol and any portion not in consonance with the Commission’s policy will be omitted from the exhibit. 

Each entrant must submit a Student Information and Release Form. The Student Information and Release Form is available through the office of your Member of Congress.

The information requested on the first page of the form should be provided as thoroughly as possible. Students should list their mailing addresses, if different from their residential addresses. The form requires a description of the artwork, which should be detailed, clearly identifying the major elements of the work. For example, “self-portrait” or “a picture of two people” would be unacceptable, due to the large number of works that would fit that description. “A painting of two people; the one on the left wears a green sweater and khaki pants; the one on the right wears a black shirt and a striped skirt. A dog sits at their feet” is an example of an acceptable description.

The second page of the Student Information and Release Form contains a legal release and a certification that the artwork is original in design and execution. The student, an art teacher, and a parent or guardian must sign where appropriate. Entries without signed originality certifications and artwork releases may not be accepted.

A TYPED copy of the Student Release Form, signed by both the teacher, a parent or guardian, and the student, must be securely attached to the back of the artwork to certify the originality of the piece. Please retain a copy for your office.

Each work must have a label with this typed information securely applied to the back:

Student Name

Address

Phone Number

Title

Medium

Grade/School

Member’s Name

State and District

The deadline to submit artwork is April 19th by 5:00pm.  All artwork must be dropped off or shipped to Congressman Duffy's Wausau office.  Artwork that does not meet all the standards laid out by the competition creators or the Center for Visual Arts will be returned.

Please direct all inquiries to Jocelyn Berkhahn at jocelyn.berkhahn@mail.house.gov.