2021 Marine Endangered Species Art Contest

Contest During COVID-19:

Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, we are only accepting entries via email. Please send entries as image or pdf files to: edith.carson-supino@noaa.gov.

Endangered Species Day 

Celebrate Endangered Species Day (May 21) by having your classroom participate in the Greater Atlantic Region’s Marine Endangered Species Art Contest. Endangered and threatened species need our help. Students’ artwork will showcase their knowledge and commitment to protecting these animals. We invite Massachusetts schools as well as schools from anywhere in the United States and beyond to submit entries!

See last year's winners!

Subject Matter

Artwork should highlight one or more marine endangered or threatened species from the New England/Mid-Atlantic region. Text highlighting why the animals are important and what people can do to protect them may also be included. Younger students, in grades K-2, who may not understand the threats to endangered species (i.e., pollution, fishing, etc.) are encouraged to portray the animal in its natural habitat instead.

Find more information on each species

Divisions

• Grades K-2: sculpture and 2-D
• Grades 3-5: sculpture and 2-D
• Grades 6-8: sculpture and 2-D
• Grades 9-12: sculpture and 2-D

Entry Requirements

• In addition to school entries, home school, and individual entries are welcome.
• Artwork may be in the form of a painting, drawing, or sculpture (clay, recycled trash, etc.). Painting/drawing may be multi-color, black and white, or a single color; it may be rendered in ink, paint, pastel, crayon, or pencil. Chalk and pastel entries should be sprayed with a fixative to safeguard artwork.
• Two-dimensional artwork may be matted, but might be cropped electronically by NOAA Fisheries staff. The physical size of submitted artwork itself must be 8 1/2” x 11” and less than 1/8” thick (not including matting). Three-dimensional artwork must be no bigger than 24” x 24” x 24”. Please make sure the artwork is dry and secure.
• Image must be of a native marine endangered or threatened species in the New England/Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Entries depicting other species will be disqualified from the contest.

Learn more about endangered and threatened species in the New England/Mid-Atlantic region

• Artistic liberties may be taken as long as the depiction is a recognizable species. Techniques may include but are not limited to scratch-board, airbrush, linoleum printing, paper collage, dry brush, crosshatch, and/or pointillism. No photography, light sketching, or computer-generated art. Computers or other mechanical devices may not be used in creating artwork for this contest.
• Design entries must be entrant’s original, hand-drawn creation and may not be traced or copied from published photographs or other artists’ works. Entrants may rely on photographs or published images as guides. However, especially when references are used for the subject(s), the entry must be the entrant’s own creation and idea.
• Entries should NOT include any brand names (i.e., shopping bags that say “Market Basket” on them). Because we recommend viewing endangered species from afar so that they won’t be disturbed, we kindly ask that NO human swimmers, snorkelers, or scuba divers be drawn in the artwork.

Entry Submission

We can only accept emailed entries this year. Please do not mail them or drop them off at our Gloucester building, because we will not be able to receive them. Each emailed entry must include the name of the student, contact information (if individual entry), teacher, school, state, grade, medium type, and title of the artwork.  The entries can be attached to the email in the form of a picture or scan of the artwork. 

Entries must be emailed by Friday, April 23, 2021. They should be emailed to edith.carson-supino@noaa.gov.

Prizes

Winner and Honorable Mention entries will be displayed in a slideshow on our Facebook page. Students whose artwork is chosen as a Winner or Honorable Mention will receive an electronic certificate through email. Winners from this year’s and last year’s contest will receive a prize in the mail once our staff is able to return to the office.

In addition, the winning and honorable mention entries will be featured in a 2021-2022 electronic calendar (available upon request).

Ownership

Submissions become property of the NOAA Fisheries. Through submission of artwork, entrants and their legal guardians grant non-exclusive reproduction and publication rights to the works. 

Contact Us

Questions? Contact Edith Carson-Supino at edith.carson-supino@noaa.gov or (978) 282-8490.

Learn more about Endangered Species Day