Mayor Robert Garcia’s office, Sister Cities of Long Beach, and the Arts Council for Long Beach are partnering on a local competition to identify the best Long Beach student artwork to submit to the Sister Cities International YAAS competition.

We are looking for submissions from students in the categories of art, photography, and film. One winner from each category will be selected from the local competition for submission to the global YAAS competition. All local submissions are due by April 1, 2018.

About the Young Artists & Authors Showcase

Founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International serves as the national membership organization for individual sister cities across the United States. A Sister City partnership is a long-term, cooperative relationship between two cities in different countries through which cultural, educational, business and technical exchanges take place. Long Beach has four sister cities—Yokkaichi, Japan; Qingdao, China; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Mombasa, Kenya—and two less formal friendship city relationships with Venice, Italy, and Rosarito Beach, Mexico.

Sister Cities International holds an annual global competition, the Young Artists & Authors Showcase (YAAS), to encourage young artists to express the values of international friendship and cultural exchange through artwork, literature, film, and photography.

The theme for the 2018 YAAS competition is “The Art of Diplomacy,” emphasizing the importance of people-to-people diplomacy and the various ways that individuals can help achieve international peace.

Artists are encouraged to think beyond the traditional images of diplomacy and peacemaking to draw inspiration from their experiences with international cities, travel, exchange, and culture. For more information, visit www.sistercities.org/YAAS.

How to Submit Artwork

Art

  • Student must be 13-18 years old
  • Art must be 2D, unframed, and no larger than 24 in. x 36 in.
  • Submit electronic photos of the artwork via the Google form
  • Once finalists are selected, they will be required to submit original artwork

Photo

  • Student must be 13-22 years old
  • Submit electronic photos via the Google form
  • Limited to two submissions per person

Film

  • Student must be 13-22 years old
  • Film must be 1-10 minutes in length
  • A link to the film must be submitted on Google form

 

Deadline for Local Submission: April 1, 2018

To submit to the contest, fill out this application form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOIoLiow0lUbolR-5luoAJ1fiyord0NPT4bCPXNpqpEWaAyQ/viewform

For more information, call Arts Council for Long Beach at (562) 435-2787.