Students invited to submit artwork by October 29, 2021

Boulder County, CO — The Keep It Clean Partnership* invites students to participate in the first Boulder St. Vrain Watershed Art Contest. Students who submit their work to this free art contest will have the chance to win art supplies and gift cards. Winning entries will also be featured on the Keep it Clean Partnership's new website launching later this year.

Entries must explore the prompt “How does water connect everyone in the Boulder St. Vrain watershed?”

Submissions must be received by October 29, 2021.

"This art contest invites students to think about how water connects us," said Kevin Peterson, Keep it Clean Partnership Coordinator. "Rain and melting snow feed mountain streams, flowing through our urban centers before joining the South Platte River. Human development, agriculture, and wildfires impact our waterways and wildlife that live in those ecosystems."

"This is an exciting opportunity to encourage classrooms and families to visit and learn about their local waterways," said Cristina Ramirez, Keep it Clean Outreach Specialist. "We want to see students get creative in thinking about how water connects them not just to their neighbors, but also to the people who live upstream and downstream from them. Our actions impact the water that communities downstream from us use to drink and recreate."

• Who can enter? Any student from Kindergarten through 12th grade who lives in Boulder County or attends school in the Boulder Valley School District or St. Vrain Valley School District.
• How to participate: Students are invited to submit one piece of 8.5” x 11” two-dimensional art using the media of their choice: crayons, markers, pencils, paint, pastels, fabric, watercolor, chalk, markers, collage, etc. – are all welcome! Photographs will not be accepted for this contest. Artwork should be inspired by the following prompt: How does water connect everyone in the Boulder St. Vrain watershed?
• How to submit: Artwork must be submitted by 11:59 pm on October 29, 2021. Submissions can be either scanned and submitted using this form, emailed to cramirezbentley@bouldercounty.org, or mailed to Keep it Clean Partnership, PO Box 471, Boulder, CO 80306. All emailed and mailed artwork must include the following information: student’s first and last name, grade level, town or city where they live, school name, school district, parent or guardian name and email. For teachers or other groups who would like to submit several pieces of artwork at once please contact Cristina at cramirezbentley@bouldercounty.org.
• Prizes: One Grand Prize winner and one Honorable Mention will be awarded in each of the following grade divisions: Kindergarten – 2nd grade, 3rd grade – 5th grade, 6th grade – 8th grade, and 9th grade – 12th grade. Grand Prize winners will receive a gift basket of art supplies and an Art Parts gift card. Honorable Mentions will receive a $20 Art Parts gift card.

Winners will be announced by November 19, 2021. For full contest rules, visit www.keepitcleanpartnership.org/art.

For more information about this contest or the Keep it Clean Partnership, please contact Cristina Ramirez at cramirezbentley@bouldercounty.org. For more information about Boulder County's climate action and sustainability mission, please contact Christian Herrmann at cherrmann@bouldercounty.org.

*Background

About the Keep It Clean Partnership:

The Keep it Clean Partnership (KICP) is an organization made up of seven partner communities: the cities of Boulder, Longmont, Louisville, and Lafayette, the towns of Erie and Superior, and Boulder County. While these communities originally came together to collaborate on stormwater management, in recent years the organization’s focus has shifted to also include broader watershed level efforts.

Mission of the Office of Sustainability, Climate Action & Resilience

Our mission is to advance policies and programs that conserve resources, protect the environment, and safeguard our climate in order to build a sustainable, just, and resilient community.