FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Congressman Peters Announces Congressional Art Competition Panelists

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) announced the five members of the San Diego arts community who will be judging the 52nd District’s Congressional Art Competition. The winner of the art competition will be flown to Washington D.C. to participate in a ceremony in which the winning entries from every Congressional District will be hung in the Capitol building for one year.

“As a former board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and one of the founders of the Murals of La Jolla effort, I know how critical the visual arts are to our environment, and how much they add to public spaces,” Peters said. “I reached out to some local experts to select the piece that will represent the 52nd District at the Capitol, and am grateful they’ve agreed to volunteer.”

Judges for the competition in the 52nd District are: Hugh M. Davies (Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the David C. Copley Director and CEO), Derrick Cartwright (University of San Diego Director of University Galleries), Nora Sargent (Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Trustee and Chair of the Collections Committee), Gail Knox (Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Trustee), and Alessandra Moctezuma (San Diego Mesa College Gallery Director and Professor of Fine Art). 

The Congressional Art Competition is held annually for high school students across the country. It began in 1982 and, since then, over 650,000 high school students have been involved with the nationwide competition. The deadline for artwork submission is Friday, April 19th, 2013 at 4:00 PM. All works must be delivered to Congressman Peters’ San Diego District Office at 4350 Executive Drive, Suite 105, San Diego, CA  92121. High schools in the 52nd District were notified of the competition via a letter from Congressman Peters last month.

Thanks to the support of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), this year’s submissions will all be available for viewing in the Strauss Gallery of the MCASD Downtown’s Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building from Tuesday, April 23rd, through Friday, May 3rd.

“This competition provides an excellent opportunity to highlight the nurturing environment for the arts that we have here in San Diego. Our collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego will allow many students their first opportunity to have their work displayed in a professional facility. It is my hope that this will not only create a lasting memory but also encourage a lifelong love of the arts.”

In addition to the artwork being displayed at the Strauss Museum, where the judges will view and select the winner, all entries will be posted on Congressman Peters’ Facebook Page. The entry that receives the most “Likes” will be awarded the People’s Choice Award.

For details and updates about the 52nd District’s Art Competition, please contact Sarah Czarnecki at Sarah.Czarnecki@mail.house.gov.  Applications and rules can also be found here: https://scottpeters.house.gov/services/art-competition.

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