AWE’s 4th Annual Arts & Writing Contest

Submissions will be accepted from January 1 - 31, 2026

Contest guidelines:

• Open to all K-12 students from Brownsville, Crozet, Ivy, Murray, Henley, and WAHS.

• Work will be judged by local professional artists and writers, based on four age categories: Lower Elementary (K-2), Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle, and High School

• All submissions will be made digitally (see tips and guidelines below).

• Winners will be announced on February 17, 2026.

• All participants will be invited to a Arts & Writing Contest reception.

• Winners' work will be featured in the AWE’s annual newspaper (distributed to all Western Albemarle families), honored at a special reception (date TBA), and recognized at ArtsFest (Friday, March 27)!



This year’s judges (Click on links to read judges’ bios):

• Art: Kacie-Linn Engle & Warren Craighead

• Poetry: Suzannah Spaar & Charlotte Matthews

• Writing/Journalism: Jennifer Bryerton & Erin Rittenhouse

• Photography: Kim Powers & Rhonda Roebuck



Rules:

• One original submission per student (not AI-generated!). Each student may only enter one category.

• All art will be submitted digitally. See tips below about photographing artwork.

• Art and Photography will be judged based on: Creativity; Effort; Technique; and Impact. Writing will be judged on: Creativity; Expression; Structure; Language/Style; and Impact.
  

Tips:

• See these helpful tips about photographing your artwork.

• See these helpful tips from Jennifer Bryerton M.A.Ed. about writing.

Judging Rubrics:

• Art Judging Rubric

• Writing Judging Rubric
  

Header image, detail from: “Oriental Dragon” by Jonathan Xu, 2025 Upper Elementary Art Honorable Mention