ESS 2027 Art Contest: U.S. Public and Charter School Students, $500 Gift Cards, Digital Art Accepted
U.S.-ELIGIBILITY-LIMITED JUDGED ART COMPETITION WITH A DIGITAL ART OPTION. The education staffing organization ESS has opened its 2027 Art Contest for eligible elementary, middle and high school pupils. Drawn, painted and digitally created artworks are welcomed in response to a narrative theme. One winner in each of four grade divisions receives a US$500 gift card, and the winning student's school is awarded a further US$500. This is a competitive student art prize, not a paid professional designer job or a volunteer recruitment notice.
Important eligibility limit: citizenship or permanent residency AND specific school type
The official ESS rules require entrants to be U.S. citizens or lawful U.S. permanent residents enrolled in a PUBLIC SCHOOL OR CHARTER SCHOOL in grades K–12 in the continental United States. Private-school pupils, international pupils without permanent residency and students enrolled solely outside the continental U.S. are not included in the described eligible group. The contest is national but not an unrestricted worldwide art competition. Obtain any required teacher or parent permission for underage entrants.
Art theme: a fairy tale happens at school
This year's prompt is: 'Once upon a school day, a fairy tale came to life. What happened next?' Students should create original imagery showing a creative answer to this brief. The organizer explicitly accepts art created digitally as well as traditional drawing and painting. This makes the competition relevant to young illustrators and digital-painting students, even though the age range is K–12 rather than experienced professional design applicants.
Judging, grade divisions and public vote
Works are evaluated by five ESS judges against artistic skill, originality, connection with the theme, distinctive visual ideas, technical ability appropriate to the pupil's grade, and compliance with the rules. The divisions are kindergarten–grade 2, grades 3–5, grades 6–8 and grades 9–12. Finalists progress to a public-voting phase on the organizer's social-media channels. Students must follow the organizer's content restrictions and any school permission rules to avoid invalid entries.
Prizes: four $500 student gift cards plus awards to their schools
The winning pupil in each grade division receives a US$500 gift card; the organizer also advertises a US$500 award for each winner's school. These are competition awards, not salaries or unconditional cash payments to all entrants. The original announcement and accompanying official contest rules should be checked for the final gift-card type, delivery, taxes and privacy conditions. There is no published confirmation of an entry fee in the main summary, so this article does not promise free entry without verification.
Deadline and timeline
Submit using ESS's own online entry form no later than Sunday December 13, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time. Public voting is scheduled for January 25–31, 2027 and winners are due to be announced on February 3, 2027. These are three different dates: work must be received by the December submission deadline even though community voting occurs more than a month later.
Submission and rights cautions
The official page links separate how-to-enter, eligibility, judging, legal rules and teacher-permission documents. Check the accepted file formats and upload-size restrictions there; no file-size number has been inferred here. Use original art with cleared rights to reference images, and verify what the event permits regarding generative AI instead of assuming rules from another art competition. Entrants should know whether their submitted work, name and school may be shown during the finalist voting stage.
Organizer's official application and rules
ESS 2027 contest announcement, entry form and linked rules: https://ess.com/art-contest/
Checked October 30, 2026. This is a summary of a judged school-level competition, not a professional design employment offer; all eligibility and prize conditions are governed by ESS's current full rules.