Washington, January 3, 2012 -

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-9) is sponsoring the annual 9th District Congressional Art Competition.  The competition showcases the artistic talent of high school students in the district.  Work submitted to the competition will be on display from February 13th through March 14th.

This year’s competition, “An Artistic Discovery: The Congressional Art Competition,” is open to all high school students in Georgia’s 9th District and will be held at the Roberts Library at  Dalton State College.  A panel of judges from the Creative Arts Guild and the Dalton State faculty will select three award-winning works of art. The first-place winner will have the honor of having his or her submission displayed in the United States Capitol for one year.

Artwork entered in the contest may be as large as 32 inches by 32 inches (including the frame) and may be up to four inches in depth. The art work may be:

• Paintings, including oil, acrylics and watercolor
• Drawings, including pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink and markers
• Collages
• Prints, including lithographs, silkscreen and block prints
• Mixed media
• Computer generated art
• Photography

All entries must be original in concept, design and execution.

Students may drop off their art work by Wednesday February 1, 2012 to one of the following locations:

Roberts Library of Dalton State College, Dalton, Georgia                      Monday – Friday, 8am - 5pm
Gilmer County Center of Dalton State College, Ellijay, Georgia              Monday – Friday, 8am - 3pm
Rep. Graves’ district office, Gainesville, Georgia                                    Monday – Friday, 9am - 5pm

High school art teachers and students interested in participating can contact Melissa Whitesell at (706) 272-2503, or at mwhitesell@daltonstate.edu for more information.  A reception and awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 from 7:00-8:00pm.

The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 to provide an opportunity for members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of their young constituents. Since then, more than 650,000 high school students have been involved with this nationwide competition.

If you would like general information on the competition, please call Graves’ Dalton office at (706)226-5320.