STAFF REPORTS
news@allwnynews.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) is inviting local high school students to participate in the annual Congressional Art Competition. All artwork submitted from students in Congressman Higgins’ district will be featured in a public gallery and available for viewing online. The winning piece will be displayed in the tunnel to the U.S. Capitol.
“This is a great opportunity to feature the incredible creativity and talent of high school students here in Western New York.,” said Congressman Higgins. “We encourage local young artists to participate.”
Interested students must submit their original artwork by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, April 25th. Students can submit a maximum of three original pieces of artwork for consideration in the competition. Art pieces can be delivered to Congressman Higgins’ Buffalo Office at 726 Exchange Street, Suite 601.
Submitted artwork must be framed and can be no larger than 26 inches high, 26 inches wide and 4 inches deep. Accepted mediums for the two-dimensional artwork include:
- Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.
- Drawings: colored pencil, pencil, ink, marker, pastels, charcoal
- Collages: 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
- Photographs
Additional guidelines and a student information and release form which must be submitted with the artwork are available on the Congressman’s website: https://higgins.house.gov/services/art-competition.
All submissions will be on display from May 1st through May 13th in a public gallery located on the first floor of the Larkin at Exchange Building at 726 Exchange Street in Buffalo. Beginning on May 2nd the artwork will be featured in a virtual gallery on Congressman Higgins’ website, with additional viewing opportunities through the Congressman’s Facebook page and Twitter feed where the public will be invited to vote for their favorite piece through May 11th. On Saturday, May 13th Congressman Higgins will host a ceremony and reception for teachers, students and their families where the winners will be announced.
One piece from each Congressional district will hang in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC for one year. The winning student is invited to attend a ribbon cutting award ceremony in the Capitol, and Southwest Airlines will provide roundtrip airfare for two. The competition, initiated by Congress in 1982, includes hundreds of thousands of high school students from across the nation.
Students, parents and teachers with additional questions can contact Evelyn Williams in Congressman Higgins’ office at 716-852-3501 or evelyn.williams@mail.house.gov.
