Art and Writing Contests for High Schoolers: Scholastic, YoungArts

Author: ExtracurricularHub Editorial Team · Reviewed by Parker, Founder — editorial policy

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Article Summary

Scholastic Awards, YoungArts, Poetry Out Loud, the Congressional Art Competition and more: categories, eligibility, fees, waivers and 2026-27 deadlines.

Full Article

Art and writing contests don't work like math or science competitions. There's no single ladder of rounds, and many don't require your school to sign up. You send your best work, a panel of artists or writers judges it, and the strongest pieces win recognition, publication, cash or scholarships. What differs from contest to contest is who can enter, what you submit, what it costs and when it's due.

This guide covers five programs (the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, YoungArts, Poetry Out Loud, the Congressional Art Competition and The Concord Review) plus several smaller contests. On September 26, 2026, we confirmed on the organizers' own pages that each contest is still running, and checked every rule, fee and date there. Rules change between seasons, so confirm before you submit.

The Contests at a Glance

ContestWhat you submitWho can enterCostNext deadline
Scholastic Art & Writing AwardsArt or writing in 20+ categoriesGrades 7-12, age 13+, in the U.S. or Canada (not Quebec)$15 per entry, $40 per portfolio; fee waiversRegional deadlines from December 1, 2026
YoungArtsWork in one of 10 disciplinesGrades 10-12 or ages 15-18 on December 1, 2026$35 per application; fee waiversOctober 6, 2026
Poetry Out LoudA memorized recitation of published poemsGrades 9-12 at a registered school or organizationNo entry fee listedState contests by March 7, 2027
Congressional Art CompetitionOne two-dimensional artworkHigh school students in a participating districtNo entry fee listedSet by your representative (spring)
The Concord ReviewA history research paperWritten before you finish secondary school$70 submission feeNovember 1, 2026, for the Spring issue

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

The Scholastic Awards are presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a nonprofit, with regional partners across the country. You enter through the portal at artandwriting.org, and there's no theme: you can explore any topic.

  • Who: teens in grades 7-12, age 13 and up, living in the United States, U.S. territories or military bases, or Canada (excluding Quebec).
  • Categories: more than twenty. Art categories include architecture and industrial design, ceramics and glass, comic art, digital painting, drawing, fashion, film and animation, painting, photography and sculpture. Writing categories include critical essay, flash fiction, journalism, novel, personal essay and memoir, poetry, screenplays, short story and speculative fiction. Graduating seniors can also enter an art or writing portfolio of six works.
  • Cost: $15 per individual entry and $40 per portfolio. Every region offers fee waivers for teens who can't afford the fee, and you don't have to provide proof of financial need in the portal.
  • AI: AI may help your process, like brainstorming or research, but a work whose final product is AI-generated is ineligible.

How judging works: regional jurors award Gold Keys, Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions. Gold Key works automatically advance to national judging for Gold and Silver Medals. Judges look for originality, skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. The national scholarship committee awards sixteen $12,500 Gold Medal Portfolio scholarships, eight in art and eight in writing, and $2,000 scholarships for Silver Medal Portfolios.

2027 dates: entries open October 1, 2026. Deadlines depend on your region, start December 1, 2026, and run as late as January 4, 2027; use the Scholastic region locator to find yours, since art and writing deadlines can differ. Regional results come out January 27, 2027, and national results March 31. National Awards Week in New York City runs June 8-11, 2027, when Gold Medalists are invited to a ceremony at Carnegie Hall.

If you write poetry and are in grade 10 or 11, the Scholastic Awards are also the way into the National Student Poets Program: teens in those grades who win a Gold Key in poetry may be selected to apply.

YoungArts

YoungArts runs a national competition for artists in ten disciplines: classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. You apply online with recordings, images or documents, following the requirements for your discipline and category, which change each year.

  • Who: students in grades 10-12 or ages 15-18 on December 1, 2026, who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents or legally able to receive taxable income in the U.S. (with a Social Security number or ITIN, for example). Past winners who attended National YoungArts Week can't apply again.
  • Cost: $35 per application, and you can apply in as many disciplines as you like. To waive the fee, upload a short letter from a parent, guardian, teacher, counselor or principal saying you need it waived; it doesn't have to give a reason. If you're 18, you can write it yourself.
  • Awards: every YoungArts Award winner receives $250. Winners with distinction are invited to National YoungArts Week in Miami, with airfare, hotel and meals covered, and are considered for cash awards of up to $10,000. To receive a cash award, winners complete a short financial literacy program.

Deadline: the 2027 application closes Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific). Files can take time to upload, so YoungArts strongly advises not waiting until deadline day. Winners are posted on its website by the end of November.

Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud is a recitation contest, not a writing contest: you memorize and perform poems by published poets. It's a program of the National Endowment for the Arts with state and jurisdictional arts agencies, administered by Mid Atlantic Arts, and it starts with a school or participating organization. Winners can advance to regional and state contests and then the national finals.

  • Who: currently enrolled students in grades 9-12, plus eighth graders in a 9-12 class. Only schools and organizations registered with their state coordinator can take part in the official competition, and you can't advance to the state finals without competing at a lower level first.
  • The poems: all poems must come from the Poetry Out Loud online anthology; the 2026-27 anthology was set on September 1, 2026. At the state and national finals you prepare three poems: one of 25 lines or fewer and one published before 1930 (one poem can meet both).
  • Judging: physical presence, voice and articulation, interpretation, evidence of understanding, overall performance and accuracy.
  • Prizes: each state champion receives $200 and $500 for poetry materials for their school. At the national finals, the champion receives $20,000, second place $10,000 and third place $5,000.

2027 dates: schools run their contests in the fall and early winter. State contests must finish by March 7, 2027, and the national finals are in Washington, DC, April 26-28, 2027. To get involved, ask your English teacher, or contact your state's Poetry Out Loud coordinator.

Congressional Art Competition

Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition. You submit your work to your representative's office, a panel of artists from your district picks the winner, and each district's winning piece hangs for a year in the tunnel leading to the U.S. Capitol. Winners are also honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

House.gov still showed the 2026 rules when we checked, so treat these as a guide until the 2027 rules are posted:

  • The competition is open to high school students; a member of Congress may include seventh and eighth graders at schools with grades 7-12 on one campus. Each member can set extra rules for their district.
  • The artwork must be two-dimensional and original, no larger than 26 inches high, 26 inches wide and 4 inches deep, and no heavier than 15 pounds, including the frame.
  • Accepted media include paintings, drawings, prints, mixed media, collage, computer-generated art and photographs. A work copied from someone else's photo or image isn't accepted.
  • Subjects of contemporary political controversy, or of a sensationalistic or gruesome nature, aren't allowed.

How to enter: contact your representative's office to confirm your district is participating, and check its website for the deadline. You'll complete a student release form signed by you, your teacher and, if you're under 18, a parent or guardian.

The Concord Review

The Concord Review is a quarterly journal that publishes history research papers by secondary school students. Rather than a contest, it's a publication, and it says it publishes about 5% of the papers it receives.

  • What to send: a history paper on any topic, ancient or modern, that you wrote before finishing secondary school and are the sole author of. Papers should be 5,000-10,000 words or more, with Turabian (Chicago) endnotes and a bibliography, counted in the total.
  • Cost: a $70 submission fee, which includes a year of the journal's electronic edition.
  • Deadlines: papers are read on a rolling basis and considered for the next three issues. To be considered for a specific issue, the deadlines are August 1 (Winter), November 1 (Spring), February 1 (Summer) and May 1 (Fall).

More Contests Worth a Look

  • Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest (Hollins University): for young women in their sophomore or junior year who are U.S. citizens. Send one or two unpublished poems by October 31, 2026. First place receives a $350 cash prize and a renewable scholarship of up to $5,000 at Hollins.
  • Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers (The Kenyon Review): for high school sophomores and juniors. The Kenyon Review says submissions open every year from November 1 through November 30 (its page still listed the 2025 window when we checked), and it charges no entry fee. You send one unpublished poem; the winner is published in The Kenyon Review and receives a full scholarship to a Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop.
  • Blue Planet Awareness Contest (Bow Seat, formerly the Ocean Awareness Contest): open to students ages 11-18 around the world, in visual art, poetry and spoken word, creative writing, film, music and dance, and interactive media. The 2027 theme is environmental disinformation. There's no entry fee, cash awards go up to $1,000, and the deadline is June 7, 2027.
  • The Adroit Prizes for Poetry & Prose: open to secondary and undergraduate students. The 2026 window ran April 1 to May 1 (extended to May 12), with a $15 submission fee and a financial assistance form; winners received $200. The 2027 window hadn't been posted when we checked.

How to Plan Your Year

  • Now through October 6: if you're eligible, finish your YoungArts application.
  • October: open your Scholastic Awards account after October 1, find your regional deadline, and send poems to the Nancy Thorp contest by October 31.
  • November: the Patricia Grodd window, and The Concord Review's November 1 deadline if you've finished a research paper.
  • December and January: Scholastic regional deadlines, and Poetry Out Loud contests at participating schools.
  • Spring: the Congressional Art Competition in your district, and the Blue Planet contest by June 7.

Awards help, but the work matters more: the pieces you finish for these contests can become the portfolio you show art schools and writing programs. When you list an award on an application, name the piece and what you were trying to do with it. Our guide to writing activity descriptions shows how.

Where to Go Next

Browse writing programs, poetry, visual arts and essay contests, or read about music and performing arts programs. Save the contests you pick to the Activities Builder so their deadlines stay in front of you.

Sources

Facts in this article were last reviewed against these sources on . Programs change their dates and prices; confirm on the official page before you apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay to enter the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards?

Entry fees are $15 per individual entry and $40 per portfolio, but every region offers fee waivers for teens who can't afford the fee. The Scholastic Awards say you don't have to provide proof of financial need in the entry portal, though some regional affiliates may ask for more information. Your school or teacher can also pay on your behalf.

Can I enter the same piece in more than one contest?

Sometimes. The Scholastic Awards take only a non-exclusive license, so you can enter the same work in other contests, and YoungArts doesn't require exclusivity either. The Adroit Prizes accept simultaneous submissions if you disclose them. But the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest excludes poems under consideration elsewhere, and the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize asks you not to submit your entry anywhere else at the same time. Read each contest's rules before you send.

Can I use AI in my entry?

Check each contest. The Scholastic Awards allow AI to help your process, such as brainstorming or research, but disqualify any work whose final product is AI-generated, and they ask you to disclose how you used it. YoungArts says AI use may be restricted or prohibited depending on the discipline and category. Either way, keep drafts and in-progress photos: they help if a judge ever questions whether the work is yours.

I'm a senior. What's different for me?

Two things. Only seniors can enter a Scholastic Awards portfolio: six works, $40, and the national scholarship committee awards sixteen $12,500 Gold Medal Portfolio scholarships, eight in art and eight in writing. And YoungArts is open to students in grades 10-12 or ages 15-18 on December 1, so this fall may be your last chance to apply; its 2027 deadline is October 6, 2026.

My school doesn't run Poetry Out Loud. Can I still compete?

Contact your state's Poetry Out Loud coordinator. Only schools and organizations registered with the state coordinator can take part in the official competition, and the coordinator can discuss other ways to be included. Homeschooled students can compete at a local school, at the school's discretion, or with other local homeschooled students.

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