Art Competition

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

The Artistic Discovery Contest is open to all high school students in our District. Artwork can be submitted directly by a student or by a teacher. 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.

2025 Competition Guidelines

Google form submission AND artwork drop off deadline: Thursday April 3rd (9am-5pm)

In order to participate, students need to submit this google form AND drop off their artwork to our Skokie office (4500 Oakton St.) no later than 5 PM on Thursday, April 3rd. Please carefully consult the rules and guidelines for 2025 and have all artwork framed with a hard copy of the release form (both pages!) taped to the back of the artwork.

Artwork on Display: April 9th-April 23rd

All submitted artwork will be displayed at the Skokie Public Library from Wednesday, April 9th - Wednesday, April 23rd.

Artistic Discovery Reception: Wednesday, April 23rd

We invite all participants and their families and friends to a reception to celebrate their artistic talent on Wednesday, April 23rd at 6pm at the Skokie Public Library.

Winners Announced: Thursday, April 24th

Winners will be notified the day after the reception. In addition to the first place winner, our office will also be recognizing other categories including:
- Best Painting - including oil, acrylics, and watercolor
- Best Drawing - including pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, and markers
- Best Collage - must be two dimensional
- Best Print - including lithographs, silkscreen, and block prints
- Best Mixed Media - use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
- Best Computer-generated art
- Best Photography
- Best Social Justice Piece

Click here for 2025 Rules & Regulations

Click here for 2025 Student Release Form