2024 Children’s Art Contest

1st Place Elementary Division 2023, Lila Kalifeh, USA

Grab your crayons! Children ages 18 years old and younger are encouraged to enter their best sea turtle art for the second annual Sea Turtle Week Children’s Art Contest.

This year’s theme is Help Save Sea Turtles. Artwork should be two dimensional (drawing, painting, charcoal, etc.).

One winning entry will be chosen per age category:

Child-Elementary School (4-10 years old)
Middle School (11-14 years old)
High School (15-18 years old).

Deadline to enter is May 17th, 2024.

Prizes

Judges Choice Winners (best overall entry in each age category—elementary, middle, and high school):

Turtle gift pack (coloring sheets, stickers and postcards) and a Sea Turtle hatchling adopted in your honor!

Audience Choice Winners (top artwork voted on by the audience in each age category—elementary, middle, and high school):

Turtle gift pack (coloring sheets, stickers and postcards) and a Sea Turtle hatchling adopted in your honor!

Enter Here

All entries are subject to the rules and regulations outlined below. To change the language, right click on the form, select “Translate” or “Translate to.” Another box will appear in the upper right corner. If the language you want to translate to does not appear, click on the three vertical dots and select “Choose another language.”

Meet Our Judges

Greg Enright

With over 26 years as a junior high school art teacher, Greg Enright knows firsthand how to motivate and inspire students. Greg has worked with EcoTeach since its inception in 1995, helping to create exciting, environmentally responsible, hands-on activities and experiences for group participants. As owner of EcoTeach Greg frequently travels to Costa Rica, working with guides, scouting new venues and working with conservation activities at Estacion las Tortugas.

Dona Boles

Dona is a recycle artist based in St. Croix. Inspired by daily snorkels, she creates public art murals from leftover tiles, paints and wood. Often her public murals contain sea turtles and other marine life native to the island. The children of St. Croix know her for her sea turtle painted car. Her love of sea turtles traces back to her 4 years of volunteer service with the sea turtle project on St. Kitts. Today, Dona volunteers with the sea turtle team at the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge.

Grayson Houston-Henderson

Grayson is the founder of the Sea Turtle Conservation Fund. His passion for sea turtles ignited during a magical event on Topsail Island, NC when he was just 4 years old: the hatching of a sea turtle nest. Grayson has addressed thousands of students worldwide, advocating for environmental conservation and inspiring the next generation to take responsibility for protecting the environment, much like he was inspired years ago.

Stephanie

Serving as our student judge, 8th grader, Stephanie, has shown a passion for sea turtles over the last several months. In partnership with SEE Turtles, she has dedicated her 8th grade action project to promoting awareness about the conservation work SEE Turtles supports. Stephanie has dedicated many hour to sending emails and putting up posters around her school and town. Volunteer work is number one priority, other than her school work of course. Outside of volunteering, she enjoys playing basketball, spending time outside, and staying active in her community.

Rules

Overview:

All artwork must be the entrant’s original and previously unproduced work. If Sea Turtle Week is notified that any element of an entrant’s entry infringes upon the rights of another person, the entry will be disqualified from the contest. Artwork should be created by the child with little to no parental or guardian assistance, except where needed for disabled or special needs children. By acknowledging the online entry form, parents or guardians grant permission for their children’s artwork, age, and first name to be put online or printed in the Sea Turtle Week materials.

What to Enter:

Artwork should be a two dimensional piece (drawing, painting, charcoal, etc.) depicting this year’s theme: Help Save Sea Turtles. A photograph or scan of the artwork should be uploaded to the online entry form. In order to be displayed in our online gallery without being stretched or distorted, photographs and scans must be submitted in .jpeg, .jpg, .png, or .tiff format. We suggest a resolution of 1,000-3,000 pixels or 300 dpi. Winners may be required to supply a higher resolution image upon judges requests. The maximum file size is 100MB. You will only be able to access the entry form once. Additional entry forms may not by accommodated. If multiple submissions are made by the same entrant, only the first images will be reviewed.

Entry deadline:

The contest begins on April 17, 2024. All entries must be received through the entry link above by 11:59 PM on May 17, 2024.

Conditions of Entry:

Entries will not be accepted unless submitted via the official contest channel. Entries not submitted through the proper channel will be deleted. Submissions will not be accepted once the deadline lapses (May 17, 2024 11:59 PM).

By acknowledging the online entry form, parents or guardians grant permission for their children’s artwork, age, and first name to be used for advertising, programming, and social media purposes for Sea Turtle Week in perpetuity.

Entries will be judged by the a panel of independent judges selected by SEE Turtles. All decisions are final. SEE Turtles reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is deemed inappropriate or does not conform to stated contest rules. Audience voting will begin in June once all entries have been reviewed and deemed eligible. Check back here for instructions on audience voting

Prizes must be collected by the winners and are nontransferable. Winners will be contacted via the email address provided during entry. If no response is received after seven business days, a new winner will be selected and the previous winner will forfeit all rights to the prize.

Banner Photo: Hal Brindley