38 Arts-related Competitions for Middle & High School Students

Who doesn’t love a contest? If you love creating art, whether you paint, draw, dance, sing, act, play an instrument, or write, you should check out the following contests and consider entering one (or more!). These contests offer cash prizes, scholarships—and bragging rights—plus:

• A platform to showcase and refine your talents.
• Feedback from judges and peers to help you identify areas of opportunity and to grow as an artist.
• A boost to your self-esteem and confidence in your artistic abilities.
• A way to build a portfolio of work—super valuable for applying to colleges, for scholarships, and possible future careers in the arts.
• Potential networking opportunities and connections with other students who share your interests.
• A chance to have your work displayed in exhibitions or published online, increasing your visibility and exposure to wider audiences.

Check them out!

1. All-American High School Film Festival (AAHSFF)
   
   Submit your film to this organization, whose mission is “to provide immersive education with a profound impact, connecting the filmmakers of the future with the rewards, respect, and recognition they deserve.” Go to eligibility guidelines (and deadlines)
2. Annual High School Art Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
   
   This exhibition “celebrates students’ journeys and discoveries from early childhood to young adulthood.”
   
   
3. The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition
   
   This competition “celebrates the outstanding works of art in a variety of art media in five different categories and shines a spotlight on the talents of today’s artists.”
   
   Awards: $500, $1,000, or $2,000 ($17,000 total cash prizes) plus inclusion in the Jan/Feb issue of Artists Magazine.
4. Arts& Writing Awards
   
   The country’s longest-running recognition program for creative teens, offering scholarships of up to $12,500 for national medalists. Scholastic awards open for entries in September, with rolling deadlines starting in December (see calendar).
5. Audio Stories: Our Podcast Contest
   
   Have you created a podcast? Submit your original podcast (5 min or fewer) to the NYTimes. The submission window opens in April 2025.
   
   
6. Bow Seat’s Ocean Awareness Contest
   
   This contest gives kids a chance to “learn about environmental issues through art-making and creative communication, explore their relationship to a changing world, and become advocates for positive change.”
   
   
7. Celebrating Art
   
   This contest is for students in grades K-12 to share their art.
   
   
8. Center for Future Global Leaders (CFGL) Young Artists Contest
   
   “The ability to express oneself boldly is a trait found in many of the world’s most influential people. The Center for Future Global Leaders, in partnership with Elite Educational Institute, seeks to recognize and encourage artistic expression in today’s youth.“
   
   
9. Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Gold Circle Awards
   
   “Gold Circle Awards are offered to recognize superior work by student journalists usually as individuals but sometimes as an entire staff working with either print or online media. Gold Circle Awards recognize individual achievement by students from any CSPA member in four major categories: News; Magazine; Digital Media; and Yearbook."
   
   
10. Coming of Age in 2024: Explore Your Political Identity and Values
    
    “What can you show or tell us to help explain what it’s like to grow up in this political moment?” Read the rules & guidelines. Submission window: October 4, 2024, to November 4, 2024.
11. Congressional Art Competition
    
    Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated.
    
    “Students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of district artists select the winning entries. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, DC. The winning works are displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol.”
12. Cool Science, Founded by the National Science Foundation Awards
    
    This competition challenges students to express learning about science concepts through the visual arts. Winners receive $50, and their work is displayed on public transportation systems in Kansas and Massachusetts.
13. Digital Arts, Film & Television (DAFT) Festival Poster/Program Design Contest
    
    Open to Michigan high school students, this poster design contest awards $200 for first place and $50 for two honorable mentions.
    
    
14. Doodle for Google
    
    This annual art competition for K-12 students encourages them to express their creativity and imagination by designing their own Google Doodle.
    
    
15. DSWF Global Canvas - Children’s Wildlife Art Competition
    
    “Global Canvas children’s art competition is an annual international art contest run by DSWF to encourage creativity from young people and display thought and concern for our planet’s environment and the incredible wildlife that inhabits it.”
    
    
16. FAA High School Competition
    
    This competition accepts submissions in different categories, including Architecture, architectural drawing; Art and design, self-portrait; Dance, choreography; Landscape architecture,design a playscape; Music, performance; Sustainable design, poster; Theatre, acting; Urban planning, ideal city.
17. Hot Works Youth Art CompetitionStudents in grades K-8 or 6-12 can submit original or handmade art while learning about creative entrepreneurship and life as professional artists.
18. How To… An Informational Writing Contest for Teens
    The NYT invites students to explain how to do a task in 400 words or fewer. The contest runs from February 12, 2025, to March 12, 2025.
    
    
19. International Aviation Art Contest
    
    Students between ages 7 and 17 may participate in this contest, hosted by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which challenges them to use art to show the importance of aviation. 2025 theme: Women with Wings.
    
    
20. International Environmental Children’s Drawing Contest
    
    The JQA’s contest theme for 2024 was “Passing on our precious Earth to the future.” Check back in early spring to find out what the 2025 theme will be. Applications are due by May 31, 2025.
21. My Hero Contests (multiple options)There are multiple competitions giving students an opportunity to share their art, poems, films, songs, or stories about a hero within the global community. Cash prizes up to $2,000.
22. National Art Honor Society (NAHS)/National Junior Art High School (NJAHS) Juried Exhibition
    
    This competition showcases the work of students participating in NAHS and NJAHS. Students must be in a chapter registered for the current school year. Submission opens October 15, 2024, and the deadline is February 4, 2025.
    
    
23. National Geographic Student Photo Contest
    
    Win a photography trip with National Geographic. Upload up to five photographs capturing the spirit of exploration. The contest is open to students in grades 7 - 12.
    
    
24. NASA Student Art Contest
    
    From December 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024, students in K-12 can submit their art for this year’s theme, which encourages students to be curious about the world and ask, “What if?”
    
    
25. National YoungArts WeekAward winners of this competition are eligible for $10,000 in financial awards, nomination for the U.S. Presidential Scholars of the Arts, and invited to participate in a weeklong intensive program to collaborate with peers and meet leaders in 10 disciplines.
    
    
26. Never Such Innocence
    
    Never Such Innocence is a charity dedicated to “giving the world’s children and young people a voice on conflict.”
    
    The theme of this year’s contest, which runs from September 20, 2024, through February 28, 2025, is open to students from ages 9 - 18. Students are asked to use poetry, art, speech, and song to answer, “How can we prevent future wars?” What can individuals, communities, or nations do? How can they learn from the past, and what advice can they share with their leaders?
27. Ocean Awareness Student Contest
    
    This organization offers a platform for young people to “learn about environmental issues through art-making and creative communication, explore their relationship to a changing world, and become advocates for positive change.” It’s open to global students from ages 11-18.
    
    The 2025 theme: Connections to Nature: Looking Inside, Going Outside. The contest deadline is June 9, 2025.
28. Open Letters: Our Opinion-Writing Contest 
    
    The NYT’s open letter opinion-writing contest will accept submissions between March 12 and April 16, 2025. Students can write an open letter to a specific audience (or person), calling attention to a problem or issue and prompting reflection on it in 500 words or fewer.
    
    
29. Pentel International Art Competition
    
    This annual art contest and exhibition showcases art from students ages 3 - 15. Submissions are due by October 31, 2024.
    
    
30. PTA ReflectionsThis 50-year-old program accepts artistic submissions from over 300,000 students in grades pre-K through 12th grade in response to the year’s theme. The 2024-25 theme is “Accepting Imperfection.”
    
    
31. Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
    
    The country’s longest-running program for teens in grades 7 - 12, this competition includes 28 categories in art and writing. Deadlines vary depending on the specific contest, but most entries are due between December and January.
    
    
32. Science without Borders
    
    This international competition is open to students between ages 11 and 19; 1st price is $500. Deadline to enter: March 3, 205. The theme this year: Marine Keystone Species.
    
    
33. Songbird Art Contest 
    This annual contest is open to students in grades K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. All submissions must feature one of the chosen species (American Goldfinch, Scarlet Tanager, Cerulean Warbler, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher). The deadline is November 30, 2024.
    
    
34. Sony World Photography Awards Youth Competition
    
    Open to photographers 19 years old and younger; students may submit up to three photographs related to the theme. The contest runs from June 1, 2024, to January 3, 2025. The overall winner will receive new equipment, transportation, lodging for the awards ceremony in London, and more.
    
    
35. Stride-K12 Art Competition
    
    This competition has several categories: 2D physical art, digital, and AI art, and awards $20,000 in prizes to the winners. Check back for the next contest, which should open in January 2025.
    
    
36. Tiny Memoir Contest for Students
    
    The NYT invites students between ages 13 and 19 to write and submit a 100-word memoir. Entries are due by December 4, 2024.
    
    
37. United Nations Competitions
    
    The UN family organizes multiple competitions annually, from essays and poems to photography, artwork, cartoons, and videos. Check the websites for details on specific contests.
38. YoungArtsOpen to visual, literary, and performing artists between ages 15 to 18, the national competition application window opens on July 11, 2024, and closes on October 17, 2024. Winners receive a financial award of $250, and those who win an award with distinction are invited to participate in the National YoungArts Week.