All submissions must be made as a high quality digital jpg file. That is, even if it is hand drawn or painted, it must be photographed to be submitted and considered.  

2D images should be scanned whenever possible. If scanning is not possible, a photograph should be taken.  Submissions should be jpg files with max compression rate (12) and at least 1500 x 2100 dpi, 2400 x 3000 preferred.

Examples of three dimensional art: sculpture, multimedia pieces, installations

Up to 3 images per submission

Examples of two dimensional art: drawing, watercolor, calligraphy, digital illustration, photography, painting, graphic design.

One image per submission.

Written submissions must be no more than 250 words. Examples include:

• opinion pieces
• short stories
• emails, tweets, letters
• original quotations
• news articles
• poems – haiku, cinquain, couplet, etc.

Text can be part of the art or freestanding (see examples).

All languages are acceptable. For any language other than English, please provide a translation.

All submissions must be made to the contest website by the submission deadline. There is no fee for submission

All submissions must be appropriate for family audiences.

All content must be original – material violating copyright laws will not be accepted. Copyright for each submission (art and text)  is retained by the creator(s); the creators grant Envision a non-exclusive license to share it and display it.

Submissions may not be made by individual students, they must be made on behalf of an organization by a teacher or other adult. Submitting organizations can include schools, enrichment and support programs, faith-based and community organizations (ex. Boy or Girl Scouts).

For schools, submitting person is most likely a teacher or school staff member; for clubs, the appropriate advisor, etc. The person submitting on behalf of the creative team and organization MUST:

• Be 18 years or older
• Be able to submit on behalf of the organization/club/program
• Obtain copyright releases from ALL participants.
• If someone is depicted in an image, then a model release must be submitted
• Combined releases can be found here.

Thanks to our terrific sponsors!

Bowdenwein Foundation        Pfizer Groton Labs

Southeast CT Cultural Coalition: REGI grant

Questions? Check out our FAQ below or email [email protected]

To view and download the Arts and Letters Contest Poster click here

Kindness shown others

Returns in greater numbers

Enriching the soul

~D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

True altruism stems from empathy, our ability to emotionally connect with other people. This ability to empathise means that we are part of a shared network of consciousness. We feel the impulse to alleviate other people’s suffering because we can sense it as if it were our own (to a greater or lesser degree, since levels of empathy obviously vary from person to person). In the words of the philosopher Schopenhauer, “My own true inner being actually exists in every living creature, as truly and immediately known as my own consciousness in myself…This is the ground of compassion upon which all true, that is to say unselfish, virtue rests, and whose expression is in every good deed.”

In other words, there is no need to make excuses for altruism. Instead, we should celebrate it as a one of the highest—and at the same time most fundamental—aspects of human nature.

-Steve Taylor, Ph.D. and  author, The Calm Center

If you have questions, visit our Arts and Letters FAQ Page.