TOWNSEND — The local VFW is offering students the chance to create art that could lead to prizes at the local, state and national levels.
The VFW Auxiliary to Townsend Post No. 6538 is sponsoring the Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest in conjunction with the VFW Auxiliary Department of Massachusetts and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Auxiliary.
High school students have the opportunity to use their artistic talents to express their patriotism while competing for cash at the state and local levels, as well as potential funds to further their education at the national level.
The two-dimensional art entry must be on canvas or paper using watercolor, pencil, pastel, charcoal, tempera, crayon, acrylic, pen, ink, oil, marker, or other media taught. Canvas entries should be submitted on stretcher frames or canvas board, while other entries, if matted, must be matted in white.
Contest organizers strongly suggest using heavy paper to reinforce the back of all matted entries. Mounted and floating mats may also be used. No entries may be framed. The two-dimensional art should be no smaller than 8X10 inches but no larger than 18X24 inches, not including the mat. Digital art and photography will not be accepted.
A typed explanation (using 250 words or less) of the entry (with completed application) is needed, along with information about the artist, the title of the artwork, the source of the idea for the artwork, the media used. The signatures of the student and his parent or guardian must be submitted with the entry.
The VFW Auxiliary to Townsend Post No. 6538 will award $50 to its first place winner, $30 to its second place finisher, and $20 to its third place finalist.
The Townsend Auxiliary’s winning entry will be entered into the VFW Auxiliary Department of Massachusetts competition where $200 will be awarded to the first place winner and $100 will be given to the second place finisher. The state’s winning Young American Creative Patriotic Art entry will be entered into the national competition where scholarships of $15,000 for first place, $7,500 for second place, $3,500 for third place, $1,500 each for fourth and fifth place, $1,000 each for sixth and seventh place, and $500 each for eighth through nineteenth place will be awarded to the winners. The top nineteen winning national entries along with what the artists said about their entries will be featured on the National VFW Auxiliary website. All the winning state entries which are submitted into the national competition will be displayed at the VFW National Convention and on the VFW Auxiliary website.
The Townsend Auxiliary’s Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest is open to students in grades nine through twelve who are enrolled in a public, private, or parochial school or are home-schooled. Although U.S. Citizenship is not required, students must be lawful U.S. permanent residents or have applied for permanent residence (the application for which has not been denied) and intend to become a U.S. citizen at the earliest opportunity allowed by law.
The students may not be older than 19 years of age at the time of local entry. All eligible young people are encouraged to enter the program.
If the American Flag is used in the entry, it must conform to the Federal Flag Code as far as colors, number of stars and stripes, and other pertinent rules of the code.
The art entry must have been done during the current school year. Each student may submit only one entry into this competition.
Contest applications and information about the program may be obtained from high school art teachers or from Betty Mae Tenney of the VFW Auxiliary to Townsend Post No. 6538.
Each entry will be judged on the originality of concept, presentation, and patriotism expressed; the content of how it relates to patriotism and clarity of ideas; the design technique; and the total impact of work.
All local Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest entries must be submitted to VFW Auxiliary to Townsend Post No. 6538 President Betty Mae Tenney by Sunday, March 31.
Anyone needing to make arrangements to submit a contest entry should contact Miss Tenney by calling her at 978-597-6495 or 978-665-4026.