Each year, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, committed to the greatness of our cultural heritage, join together to recognize the creative spirit of American high school students in a nationwide art competition. This contest, An Artistic Discovery, is implemented by the Members in the Congressional Districts and features painting, drawings, prints, photography and computer-generated art. Each Member brings a winning entry back to Washington, D.C. to be displayed in a corridor of the U.S. Capitol. The creative energies of Americans are virtually boundless. At a time when local arts groups are being forced to tighten their belts, An Artistic Discovery provides Members of Congress and their constituents with the opportunity to recognize this deep reservoir of talent. Launched in 1982, this nationwide event has produced thousands of local competitions, yielding more than 500,000 high school winners. U.S. Congressman Neil Abercrombie is the Honorary Chair of the competition for the First Congressional District in Hawai‘i.

Mahalo for entering your students in the 2008 Congressional Art Competition, “Kaha Ki`i:  An Artistic Discovery” for the First Congressional District.  This is additional information you will need to participate in this competition.

1) School registration. This must be completed by a teacher. Teachers must indentify the number of students participating (7 per teacher) and school by March 3rd 2008. Click here for registration.

2) Student registration. Students must register with website to participate by March 30th 2008.  Click here for registration.

3) Release form. The Artwork Consent and Release form must be signed by all entrants and their parents and must accompany each submitted art piece. Please print clearly; we will use the information on this form for award certificates and identification labels for the exhibited artwork.  Entries cannot be accepted without this form. Release form will be available after registration and login.

4) Short essay. Students are required to write what their artwork means to them and a short statement about themselves on the back of the form and attach to the back of their art piece.  It will assist in sharing information about the students at the Awards Ceremony.

5) Label artwork. Identification of student name, school, teacher, and title must be typed or printed neatly and secured at the back of the art piece in the LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER.

6) Digital image. Teachers, please turn in a CD with digital images of the art pieces being submitted. Please double check to make sure your CD is not BLANK.  Turned in high resolution (2592x1944) digital images of each entry on a CD (jpg format only).  Name your files as follows: nameofnighschool_nameofstudent_nameofpiece_year.jpg. For example:  Farrington_JohnSmith_MonaLisa_2008

All labeled entries, Consent and Release forms, essays, and CDs must be delivered to Oceanit Laboratories Inc at 828 Fort St. Mall, Honolulu, HI 96813 (www.oceanit.com).  Please call 531-3017 to make the necessary arrangements for delivery of artwork.  The absolute deadline for accepting entries is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 4, 2008.  No exceptions will be made.  Artwork that might smudge or flake must be sprayed with a fixative prior to submittal. 

We cannot guarantee your students’ submittal will be judged if they do not meet all the stated guidelines.