Congressional Art Competition

Each spring, a nation-wide high school arts competition is sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Congressional Art Competition is an opportunity to recognize and encourage the artistic talent in the nation, as well as in the 4th District of Washington.

The Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students in the 4th District. The winning artwork of our district’s competition will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol. The exhibit in Washington will include the winning artwork from all participating districts from around the country. The winning artwork is also featured on House.gov’s Congressional Art Competition page.

The following is a summary of the Congressional Art Competition rules:

Artwork entered in the contest may be up to 28 inches by 28 inches, may be up to 4 inches in depth, and not weigh more than 15 pounds. If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it must arrive framed and must still measure no larger than the above maximum dimensions.

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

All entries 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 or image (including a painting, graphic, or advertisement) that was created by someone other than the student 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).

All artwork must be submitted by May 1st to one of the District offices listed below. Please call to schedule a time for artwork to be dropped off.

Richland District Office               

3100 George Washington

Richland, WA 99354

Phone: (509) 713-7374

Yakima District Office              

402 E. Yakima Ave.

Suite 135

Yakima, WA 98901

Phone:  (509) 452-3243

All entries will need to have a release statement filled out by the artist along with the piece of art. The 2nd and 3rd place winners will hang in district offices in Yakima and Richland for the same duration of time as the 1st place winner’s entry. There is no limit to the amount of students from one school that can submit a piece of art, but each student can only submit one entry.  For any further questions please contact Amos Rothstein at (202) 225-5816 or at amos.rothstein@mail.house.gov.