The ocean awareness contest 2020 was in relation to climate change, acid oceans and more.

Theme | Climate Hope: Transforming Crisis

A CREATIVE CHALLENGE FOR TEENS WORLDWIDE

The global Ocean Awareness Contest is a platform for young people to learn about ocean issues through art-making and creative communication, and where teens can explore their relationship to a changing world and become advocates for environmental action. Students ages 11-18 from are invited to participate.

HEALTHY WHALE, HEALTHY OCEAN
OCEAN AWARENESS CONTEST
CONTEST OVERVIEW
HOW TO ENTER
SUBMIT
FAQS

2019 WINNERS

PAST CONTESTS
PAST WINNERS

CREATIVE ADVOCACY

Contest Overview

Thanks for your interest in the Ocean Awareness Contest! The 2020 Contest is now closed. Stay tuned for the launch of the 2021 Ocean Awareness Contest in early fall.

Sign up to receive updates when the Ocean Awareness Contest submission platform is open!

SIGN UP

2020 Theme | Climate Hope: Transforming Crisis

A CREATIVE CHALLENGE FOR TEENS WORLDWIDE

The global Ocean Awareness Contest is a platform for young people to learn about ocean issues through art-making and creative communication, and where teens can explore their relationship to a changing world and become advocates for environmental action. Students ages 11-18 from are invited to participate.

Your voices, visions, and stories of hope are needed to help transform the world.
The 2020 Ocean Awareness Contest is a call for young artists, conservationists, makers, thinkers, and activists who are concerned about the future of our blue planet. Join thousands of youth around the world in our annual program that raises awareness about the climate crisis and potential solutions, uplifts youth voices for ocean conservation, and inspires hope and action through art, creative media, and storytelling.

Our blue planet is in crisis.

Earth is a blue planet, with oceans covering more than 70% of its surface. Oceans play a central role in regulating Earth’s climate and act as a buffer that protects us from human-caused global warming; but oceans are feeling the heat. Climate change—primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas—is changing water temperature and chemistry, altering marine habitats, and threatening marine life. Rising sea levels and extreme weather events are endangering and displacing millions of people who live on the coast.

Learn more about oceans & climate change >

Climate hope is an invitation for curiosity, imagination, and creativity.

The good news is, there is much cause for hope: individuals, communities and cities, organizations and movements (largely youth-led!) around the globe are already working to slow the climate crisis and drive the transition away from destructive, polluting, and unjust practices to systems that respect, value, and protect the diversity of life on Earth.

From how we get around to how we eat to how we power our lives, transformative solutions to the climate crisis are rooted in imagination and energized by having hope that what we create matters. Explore solutions & read more about climate hope >

WHAT CAN YOU CREATE?

Climate Hope: Transforming Crisis 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
- Film
- Music
- Poetry
- Prose
- Interactive & Multimedia *NEW*


Who May Enter

Students ages 11-18 from around the world are invited to participate in the Ocean Awareness Contest. Enter the division based on your age at the time of entry:

Junior Division: Age 11-14
Senior Division: Age 15-18

Students can participate as an individual or as a club, class, or group of any size.

All students must also provide the contact information for an Adult Sponsor (teacher, parent, mentor, etc.).

Why participate?

Gain knowledge about a critical issue facing your generation: dive into Bow Seat’s NEW Resource Studio to learn more about climate change and our oceans, explore solutions being created all over the world, and find resources for taking action in your community.

Build your portfolio and make art in your preferred medium, or practice a new creative skill! Add to your resume with a global participation certificate.

Develop 21st Century skills in communication, critical thinking, creativity, and advocacy. Use your artwork to raise awareness of the most important issue facing our blue planet.
Join Bow Seat’s global community of 12,000+ young people who care about our ocean and climate action, and be represented in an international digital activation experience. Be inspired by the work of other young creators around the world.

Earn cash awards and scholarships of up to $1,500.

Awards

Cash awards are presented to winners in each of the categories at both the Junior and Senior Division levels. There are no requirements for what you must do with your cash award; we hope that you will use it to further your passion for the environment and your creative talent.

Additional Awards Available in 2020

Hometown Award (Boston, Massachusetts students only)

This award recognizes talented students in Bow Seat’s hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Eligible participants must demonstrate financial need. Up to 3 winners in each age division will each receive a $250 cash scholarship.

More Information >

Bay State Award (Massachusetts students only)

All students who reside in Massachusetts will be automatically considered for the Bay State Award, a special recognition to celebrate the creative young artists, thinkers, and activists in our home state! From the Housatonic River to the Quabbin Reservoir to the Atlantic Ocean, water connects us all and plays a wicked important role in the Commonwealth’s economy, culture, and health of our human and non-human residents.

Up to 3 winners in each age division will each receive a $250 cash scholarship. Participants are encouraged to describe how their submissions portray the impacts of the climate crisis on their communities, habitats, and wildlife, or that highlight local solutions to reduce the impact of climate change.

South Coast, Cape & Islands Award (Massachusetts students only)

Thanks to the generosity of the Island Foundation - which is committed to the conservation of marine and coastal resources in southeastern Massachusetts - we will be offering one $250 cash scholarship in each age division to participants who reside on the South Coast of Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, or Nantucket. Participants are encouraged to describe how their submissions portray the impacts of the climate crisis on their communities, habitats, and wildlife, or that highlight local solutions to reduce the impact of climate change.

More Information >

Making Waves Award

The Making Waves Award will be presented to one submission in each age division that is used to inspire hope and action in participants’ schools or communities. Open to participants worldwide. Eligible participants will be required to describe how their submission was used in a campaign, initiative, or event to creatively raise awareness for ocean conservation and climate action.

Examples include (but are not limited to): Documentary (Film submission) screened at a community event about climate change; op-eds or letters to the editor (Prose submission) published in a town newspaper; poster (Art submission) created for a school or community composting program. Show us how you are making waves in your community, and you may earn a $500 cash prize!

Ocean Matters Award (Florida high school students only)

Bow Seat is partnering with Ocean Matters, a marine science leadership program, to provide a full scholarship ($3,500 value) for one Florida high school student to participate in Ocean Matters’ Florida Marine Ecology Expedition, June 21 – July 1, 2020! Students on this program will earn open water scuba certification, participate in a coral restoration project, learn about manatee, turtle, and dolphin conservation from researchers in the field, and gain skills to make a difference in our changing world.

The deadline to apply for this need-based scholarship passed on March 1, 2020.

The Ocean Matters Award recipient will be notified by April 1, 2020.

More Information >

Publishing, Art Exhibitions, and Special Opportunities

As a winner, you may have a special opportunity to showcase your talents worldwide while raising awareness of ocean issues to a broader community. Bow Seat organizes art exhibitions, pop up art shows, and film screenings; curates anthologies of art and poetry; finds opportunities to publish student writing; and showcases all winning student work in our online gallery. As part of Bow Seat’s student art collection, your creative piece will help to educate and inspire audiences to take action!

Awards for Educators

If you are a teacher or youth program coordinator who uses the 2020 Contest in your classroom, we want to hear from you! Bow Seat grants $750 Educator Innovation Awards to acknowledge the efforts of individuals who are teaching students about ocean issues and empowering them to be creative stewards of our blue planet. Educators can nominate themselves or a colleague.

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://bowseat.org/programs/ocean-awareness-contest/overview/

https://www.youthop.com/competitions/ocean-awareness-art-contest-2019

Please use our A-Z INDEX to navigate this site