Parkland College's Youth Art Contest Returns for Second Year

Celebrate the Arts! Youth Art Competition at Parkland College

Following a successful inaugural year, Parkland College Community Education and Giertz Gallery are once again hosting the Celebrate the Arts! Youth Art Competition.

The contest for District 505 youth ages 7-18 will run until Sunday, February 20, 2022. Students have a chance to win full summer 2022 scholarships for either a College for Kids camp or a Summer Discovery camp. Each of the three age categories will have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placements, with honorable mentions.

"Giertz Gallery and Community Education are thrilled to be able to offer this event to our students for a second year," said Terry Thies, youth program manager for Community Education. "While the pandemic is still present in our lives, we are eager to continue creating spaces for self-expression and creative engagement for the talented students in our community."

Selected works will be featured on Parkland's social media pages, and winners will be announced by Tuesday, March 8 at a Virtual Awards Ceremony.

"Giertz Gallery is honored to co-host this art competition," said Lisa Costello, director of Giertz Gallery. "We see it as an opportunity to encourage budding artists who've been heavily impacted by the pandemic to express and challenge themselves creatively. Our community shows strong support for the arts. Sharing the artwork produced by our youth on our social media platforms is our way of adding to that support and bringing our community closer together."

Entries will be judged by Tanya Scott, curator of education for the University Galleries at Illinois State University, and Matthew Watt, professor of art and design at Parkland College.

A full list of rules can be found at parkland.edu/youthartcompetition. Questions about the contest can be directed to giertzgallery@parkland.edu.