An annual statewide art contest is asking participants to focus on something familiar, but with the pandemic, perhaps in a new light.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Illinois State Board of Education come together each year to sponsor this themed student art contest.
Christina Shutt is the executive director of the museum. She said the theme “Home is” pairs with the museum’s new exhibit “Here I Have Lived: Home in Illinois.”
“But also reimagining what does it mean to create and to build home,” she said. “How have our homes been changed? You think about how our homes became not just a place of refuge or a place of rest. They became classrooms, they became offices.”
Shutt said the judges will look at the students’ artistic skills.
“But we're also looking for the stories that students tell," she said. "You know, I think back to some of the just the really impactful ones last year. And they were all telling the story, right? The students were all expressing themselves in a deep and meaningful way.”
The contest is divided by four groups, each based on the students’ grade level.
The first ALPLM student art contest took place in 2015. Four years later, the museum partnered with the Illinois State Board of Education. Submissions for the 2023 Junioir Historian Art contest must be postmarked by Jan.12. Details can be found at presidentlincoln.illinois.gov.
