Bow Seat’s 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest is now open for submissions. Bow Seat is an award-winning Massachusetts-based nonprofit whose mission is to engage young people in environmental conservation and advocacy through the arts. Please help us amplify this exciting scholarship opportunity by sharing it with your colleagues and students.

Our 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest – Tell Your Climate Story – encourages you to become a climate witness and share your own unique climate story. We are asking you to creatively express your personal experiences, insights, or perceptions about our changing climate reality. Use this opportunity to learn about the climate crisis and how it impacts your family and community, and to examine your individual responses to our evolving world.

Quick Contest Details:

• Free to enter
• Open to students worldwide, ages 11-18
• Submissions accepted in visual art (digital and handcrafted), creative writing, poetry, spoken word, film, music, dance, and multimedia
• Up to $1,000 in cash awards available, including the We All Rise Prize for students in the U.S. who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or Latine
• Students contribute to the largest collection of youth environmental arts in the world

The Contest invites students to learn about the climate crisis and its impact on oceans; discover or imagine solutions at local, national, or global scales; and create work that explores hope in action.

Submissions are accepted in:

• Visual Art
• Creative Writing
• Film
• Interactive & Multimedia
• Performing Arts: Music & Dance
• Poetry & Spoken Word

A written reflection is required to accompany your submission, regardless of category. It is like the introduction to a book or an artist’s statement in a museum. The judges will not lower your score for a poorly written reflection, but writing a thoughtful and personal reflection will certainly help the judges understand you and your work better, and you will likely do better in the Ocean Awareness Contest!

Bow Seat judges are artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and of course, ocean-lovers! Each year, we also invite a cohort of Bow Seat student alumni and emerging artists to participate in Contest judging. Judges consider: • How well submissions address the annual theme of the Contest; • Demonstration of artistic voice, originality, and imagination; • Craftsmanship, including quality, technique, and skill in chosen medium; attention to detail; and accuracy of communicating issues; • If a submission meets category requirements (such as length, file type, etc.). Judging begins immediately after the Contest ends, and we take the time to fairly judge each and every entry to the Contest. We receive thousands of entries, and our team of judges puts in thousands of hours of cumulative work each year reviewing your submissions.

Website: www.bowseat.org/contest

Managing Organization: Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs

Contact:

info@bowseat.org

Eligibility:
This is an international Contest and is open to students ages 11-18 who are enrolled in middle school or high school (or the homeschool equivalent) worldwide. Students who are enrolled in a college or university are not eligible to participate. Proof of age, identity, or eligibility may be required. Students ages 11-14 may enter the Junior Division. Students ages 15-18 may enter the Senior Division. Please enter the age division based on your age at the time of entry. Participants under the age of 13 must have a parent or legal guardian complete a Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Parent/Guardian Consent Form with their submission. Entries may be submitted by an individual or group of unlimited size. If you submit as a group, there must be one group leader who will serve as the contact person for the group. All of the names of the group members must be listed in the submission. Award money will be split evenly among the group members. A student may submit (i.e., have their name included in) only one entry per category. Therefore, a student may have a maximum of six different submissions, one in each category.

Bow Seat’s 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest is now open for submissions. Bow Seat is an award-winning Massachusetts-based nonprofit whose mission is to engage young people in environmental conservation and advocacy through the arts. Please help us amplify this exciting scholarship opportunity by sharing it with your colleagues and students.

Our 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest – Tell Your Climate Story – encourages you to become a climate witness and share your own unique climate story. We are asking you to creatively express your personal experiences, insights, or perceptions about our changing climate reality. Use this opportunity to learn about the climate crisis and how it impacts your family and community, and to examine your individual responses to our evolving world.

Quick Contest Details:

• Free to enter
• Open to students worldwide, ages 11-18
• Submissions accepted in visual art (digital and handcrafted), creative writing, poetry, spoken word, film, music, dance, and multimedia
• Up to $1,000 in cash awards available, including the We All Rise Prize for students in the U.S. who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or Latine
• Students contribute to the largest collection of youth environmental arts in the world

The Contest invites students to learn about the climate crisis and its impact on oceans; discover or imagine solutions at local, national, or global scales; and create work that explores hope in action.

Submissions are accepted in:

• Visual Art
• Creative Writing
• Film
• Interactive & Multimedia
• Performing Arts: Music & Dance
• Poetry & Spoken Word

A written reflection is required to accompany your submission, regardless of category. It is like the introduction to a book or an artist’s statement in a museum. The judges will not lower your score for a poorly written reflection, but writing a thoughtful and personal reflection will certainly help the judges understand you and your work better, and you will likely do better in the Ocean Awareness Contest!

Bow Seat judges are artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and of course, ocean-lovers! Each year, we also invite a cohort of Bow Seat student alumni and emerging artists to participate in Contest judging. Judges consider: • How well submissions address the annual theme of the Contest; • Demonstration of artistic voice, originality, and imagination; • Craftsmanship, including quality, technique, and skill in chosen medium; attention to detail; and accuracy of communicating issues; • If a submission meets category requirements (such as length, file type, etc.). Judging begins immediately after the Contest ends, and we take the time to fairly judge each and every entry to the Contest. We receive thousands of entries, and our team of judges puts in thousands of hours of cumulative work each year reviewing your submissions.

Website: www.bowseat.org/contest

Managing Organization: Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs

Contact:

info@bowseat.org

Eligibility:
This is an international Contest and is open to students ages 11-18 who are enrolled in middle school or high school (or the homeschool equivalent) worldwide. Students who are enrolled in a college or university are not eligible to participate. Proof of age, identity, or eligibility may be required. Students ages 11-14 may enter the Junior Division. Students ages 15-18 may enter the Senior Division. Please enter the age division based on your age at the time of entry. Participants under the age of 13 must have a parent or legal guardian complete a Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Parent/Guardian Consent Form with their submission. Entries may be submitted by an individual or group of unlimited size. If you submit as a group, there must be one group leader who will serve as the contact person for the group. All of the names of the group members must be listed in the submission. Award money will be split evenly among the group members. A student may submit (i.e., have their name included in) only one entry per category. Therefore, a student may have a maximum of six different submissions, one in each category.