"Protecting our Watersheds - Youth in Action" Art Competition

Overview:

Clean Water is everyone’s business!  Clean water is extremely important for human life and other organisms. According to “Medical News Today,” it says that around 785 million people do not have basic drinking-water services and they estimate that by 2025, half of the world’s population will live in a water-stressed environment. And healthy watersheds provide things such as clean drinking water, fishing, and outdoor recreation. As the most important water source, the Chesapeake Bay provides vitally important habitats for wildlife, and is an important fishery upon which both people and wildlife depend. The most recent data from the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) estimates that only a third of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers are healthy enough to support essential aquatic species. The use of chemicals in our daily life, such as fertilizing vegetable gardens and lawns, applying pesticide to kill insects and weeds, deicing driveways and roads in winter, among others, contribute to the degraded water quality in the Bay.

We, a student club of the Chinese American Parent Association in Montgomery County (CAPA-MC), are supported by the Montgomery County Watershed Restoration and Outreach Grant program through the Chesapeake Bay Trust to do public outreach on the Chesapeake Bay watershed protection.

Our goal  is to engage 500 or more minority youths, and 500 or more parents in raising the community’s awareness of detrimental impacts of consuming chemicals during our daily life on local watersheds and Chesapeake Bay. We lead by example through practicing eco-friendly planting in the CAPA-MC Growing & Giving Club’s garden plots.

As part of the public outreach program, CAPA-MC “Protecting Our Watersheds – Youth in Action”Art Contest strives to encourage our youth and adults to use their artistic talents to raise our community’s awareness of protecting the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  

Art Contest Basics:

• Completed artwork and online contest entry form are due on: 11:59pm, 12/31/2022  11:59PM, 1/15/2023

• Electronic submissions only. All entries must include both artwork (attachment in JPG or PDF format, Maximum file size 1G) and entry form at time of submission and must be submitted through the Google Form by 11:59 pm, 12/31/2022.

• The Art Contest Winners in each competing category (K-5, 6-12 and adult) will be published for viewing online via the CAPA-MC Gardening Club website.

Art Contest Guidelines:

• Who can submit: Applicants currently enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) for the 2022-2023 school year and their parents. Only one entry per person is allowed.

• What to submit: Original artwork that illustrates the overall theme of watershed protection. Artwork may be drawings, paintings, or digital art and needs to be submitted electronically. Any submitted artwork should come with a paragraph of descriptive caption that captures the artwork’s reflection of the theme of watershed protection (maximum 200 words).

• Art Contest entries will be judged on creativity, style and appeal by a judge board formed by watershed protection experts, art teachers, environmental protection educators, and professional impact evaluators.

• Both artwork and descriptive captions are important for making your artwork appeal to the judges and will be judged equally.

• Prizes will be awarded in the cash equivalent goods that promote watershed protection.

• Art contest winners will be notified by email or phone prior to the Artwork Show.

• All judges’ decisions are final.

Art Contest Prizes:

Prizes for each Elementary (K-5), Middle/High School (6-12), Adult category:

1.       (ONE) First Place $100 equivalent watershed protection goods

2.       (THREE) 2nd Place $50 equivalent watershed protection goods

3.       (SIX) 3rd Place $20 equivalent watershed protection goods

Important Dates:

Competition Announcement: November 15, 2022

Submission Deadline: 11:59 pm, December 31, 2022  *Changed to: 11:58pm, January 15th, 2023

Award Announcement:  January 31, 2023

Artwork Display: February - March 2023

Award Ceremony: March 2023

Google Submission Form:

https://forms.gle/q9s3M2uxe8kvoFos8 (Because of the artwork uploading, Google account signing is needed. Sorry for any inconvenience.)

Any inquiries, please contact:

Capa.gardening@gmail.com