Art-for-ALL Kids’ Juried Art Exhibition

ABOUT ART-FOR-ALL

The purpose of the exhibition is to provide a forum for student artists to display their work and to recognize excellence.  The exhibition is held on the 4th floor of the Kanawha County Public Library in Jacobson Tower and will be free and open to the public. 

SUMMARY OF SCHEDULE & DEADLINES

  • March 16 – May 8:  Work can be submitted starting March 16th via email to artforall@festivallcharleston.com or by using the Google Doc form available on our social media. The deadline for submissions in May 8.
  • May 9- May 11: Jurying of work.
  • May 12: Notifications will go out identifying winners.
  • May 22 – June 8: Exhibit open during hours when the Kanawha County Public Library is open. Additionally, the Capitol Street Art Fair and Children’s Art Fair are held on May 30th between 10am and 6pm and May 31st between 11am and 4pm. These are free events that include make-and-take activities for children, performance stages, and street performances.
  • May 30: Award Ceremony and Closing Reception
  • By the end of June: Return of Art will begin.

ELIGIBILITY

Jurying for Art-for-ALL is open to all children in grades pre-K through 6- grade in Boone, Clay, Fayette, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Raleigh, and Roane Counties. Each child may submit one entry.

ENTRY PROCEDURE

  • Submit work by May 8, 2026, via email to artforall@festivallcharleston.com OR by using the Google Doc below
  • Use a jpeg file no larger than 10 MB (generally any picture taken with a phone will work) in your submission email to show the work of art.  Photographs should be cropped, brightened, easily visible, etc. Keep in mind that the picture you send will be used for the jury to be able to look at all the work for awards as well as to post on Facebook for the Facebook People’s Choice Award.
  • In the application form, you will be asked:
    1. to email an image file of the artwork
    2. the title of the piece
    3. if this was a group or individual project
    4. medium of art
    5. the full name of the child (and any other names in group work)
    6. grade of the child in which they created the artwork
    7. the county the student is submitting from
    8. name of school/program that the child attends or indicate if home-schooled
    9. the name of the parent/guardian or teacher submitting the work
    10. email address
    11. telephone number
    12. postal address (this is the address that any artwork and/or awards would be sent to in the event that the student is absent from the awards ceremony or the ceremony is held virtually)

 (If, for some reason, the Google Form does not work for you, then please send ALL of this above information in an email to artforall@festivallcharleston.com.)

  • Please double check spelling of names!
  • Note that by submitting the work, the child and parent(s) agree to its inclusion in the slide show and the exhibition and to its use in promotional materials.  The name and school of the child will be included unless other arrangements are made with the school/program and/or producer of the art fairs.
  • Work that is accepted for the exhibition will require a printed copy of a permission slip signed by the child and the parent(s) and kept on file by the school or program, unless the parent submits the piece directly.   There is no standard form for this permission slip.  This is for your records only.

SELECTION OF WORK

A jury consisting of the exhibition producer and one artist from each county, where feasible, will meet to select work for the exhibition.  All applicants will be sent an email notifying them if their work is selected.  Directions will be given for delivering pieces of work that are accepted for exhibition to a central collection point at the 4th Floor Reference Desk at the Kanawha County Public Library.  The final deliveries are due May 16.  FestivALL Charleston will arrange to bring the work to the Kanawha County Public Library.

*These are tight time frames, so please submit work ahead of May 16, whenever possible.*

AWARDS

  • 1st Place PreK-2nd Grade (Michael’s Gift Card)
  • 2nd Place PreK-2nd Grade
  • 3rd Place PreK-2nd grade
  • 1st Place 3rd-6th Grade (Michael’s Gift Card)
  • 2nd Place 3rd-6th Grade
  • 3rd Place 3rd-6th Grade
  • Paper Ballot People’s Choice Award (Michael’s Gift Card)

ALL children whose work is exhibited at the Kanawha County Public Library will be recognized with a certificate. In addition, ribbons will be given for excellence and merit at each grade level for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, and two People’s Choice awards will be given at the end of the ceremony based on votes by people who vote on Facebook and by votes placed by paper ballots at the exhibition. A small number of gift cards will be given along with the top awards. Artwork can be taken home after the closing of the exhibition (May 30), but will need to be CHECKED OUT through the Neighborhood Arts Coordinator. 

RETURN OF WORK

Artwork will be taken down following the exhibit,  and parents and artists will be notified when and where to pick it up. Participation certificates and awards will be distributed at this time as well. 

Any artwork not picked up by September 1 may be discarded.

SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR TARGETED AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

As part of the FestivALL Neighborhood Arts Program and the Children’s Art Fair and Children’s Art Sale, FestivALL provides for art teachers to work with selected children in targeted after school programs in Charleston.  Art-for-ALL has invited especially gifted artists who are mentored through this program to exhibit their art, limited to one piece per child.  This work will be accepted into the exhibit outside of the jurying process.  However, the jury will consider it equally with the other submissions for any awards.

WORK PRODUCED THROUGH CLASS ASSIGNMENTS

In past years, Art-for-ALL has juried in similar work by a number of children who were following class assignments that resulted in minimal differences between the pieces. We ask that, in these situations, the teacher select just one piece from that particular type of assignment to submit.  

We still encourage all children to submit a piece, if they are interested.  However, we ask that these pieces represent a variety of assignments and/or the original work of the child outside of a particular assignment.  

The jurors are more interested in seeing the free expressions of each child’s voice and creativity than the application of particular artistic techniques.  Many of the works that have been awarded top honors have been done in this spirit, both in the classroom and outside of the school setting.

QUESTIONS

  • Information on FestivALL Charleston is available at festivallcharleston.com.
  • For questions about Art-for-ALL or other FestivALL events, contact Stephanie Spiker, Art-for-ALL Coordinator, at artforall@festivallcharleston.com.
SUBMISSION FORM