Contest Overview
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.
Download Contest information packet >
Download Contest information packet (Spanish) >
How to EnterCONTEST DEADLINE: JUNE 15, 2020
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
- *NEW* Interactive & Multimedia
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.).
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.
Junior Division | Senior Division | |
|---|---|---|
Gold Award | $1,000 | $1,500 |
Silver Award | $750 | $1,000 |
Bronze Award | $250 | $500 |
Honorable Mention | $100 | $250 |
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.
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.
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.
To be eligible for this need-based scholarship, students must submit to the Ocean Awareness Contest and opt-in to the award on the submission form by March 1, 2020, AND apply separately to Ocean Matters by March 15, 2020.
The Ocean Matters Award recipient will be notified by April 1, 2020.
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!
Upcoming Exhibits