STAFF REPORTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) is issuing a call for art to local high school students interested in participating in the annual Congressional Art Competition.
“Our talented student artists in Western New York present amazing work each year,” said Congressman Higgins. “We are proud to bring the winning piece to Washington, D.C., feature the work locally, and promote the impressive work of high school students from across the 26th Congressional District in our online gallery.”
Interested students must submit their original artwork by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, April 17th. 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 should be framed and can be no larger than 26 inches high, 26 inches, and 4 inches deep and must not exceed 15 lbs. of weight. 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
All submissions will be on display from April 23rd through May 5th in a public gallery located on the first floor of the Larkin at Exchange Building at 726 Exchange Street in Buffalo. Beginning on April 24th 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 2. On Saturday, May 5th 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 to 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.
