85% of Aralia Students Place in Top Writing Competitions
1. What is Ocean Awareness Contest Bow Seat?
The Ocean Awareness Contest is a free art competition for middle and high schoolers, with chances to win cash prizes and scholarships! The contest focuses on raising awareness of climate change and activism for climate justice. Hosted by Bow Seat since 2011, Ocean Awareness Contest is an excellent opportunity for students to express their knowledge and stance on the climate crisis through artistic, creative communication, learn how climate change impacts your family and community, and become advocates for positive change (Ocean Awareness Contest by Bow Seat).
2. Who is eligible to participate in the Ocean Awareness Contest?
The Ocean Awareness Contest is open to students ages 11 through 18, who are enrolled in a middle or high school (or homeschool equivalent). Students don’t have to submit through their school—they can submit directly to the website. While Bow Seat is based in Boston, MA, students from all over the world are invited to enter in the competition! Unlike many U.S.-based competitions, the Ocean Awareness Contest has no limits on students’ nationality, immigration status, or location.
Participants are separated into two divisions. Depending on your age, you submit your artwork into the Junior or Senior Division and only compete with other students in your age range.
Junior Division: Ages 11-14
Senior Division: Ages 15-18
3. When is Ocean Awareness Contest 2026?
For the 2026 season, the Ocean Awareness Contest submission deadline is June 8, 2026, and winners will be announced in November 2026. Another reminder: this contest is free to enter!
4. How can I enter?
The Ocean Awareness Contest has seven categories based on art mediums. Students can submit up to one piece of artwork per category for seven submissions. Explore the categories below and see which best matches your artistic talents and interests.
Visual Art: Handcrafted
Mediums include Drawing & Illustration, Painting, Sculpture, Land art, Mixed media & collage, Printmaking, Film/Analog photography, Ceramics, Fashion, and Jewelry
Visual Art: Digital
Mediums include Graphic design, Digital illustration, Coding art, GIFs, Digital photography, Data visualization & infographics, 3D modeling, and printing.
View student work in both Visual Art categories.
Creative Writing
Examples include Fictional short stories, Creative nonfiction personal narratives, Blog posts, and Journalistic writing.
View student work in Creative Writing.
Film/Video
Examples include narrative films, live action films, hand-drawn or computer-generated animation, documentaries, and experimental films.
View student work in Film/Video.
Interactive & Multimedia
Mediums include Websites or apps, Social media Campaigns, Games (video games or board games), Installations, Podcasts, TikToks.
View student work in Interactive & Multimedia.
Performing Arts: Music & Dance
Examples include Original compositions, Song parodies, Dance performances
View student work in Performing Arts.
Poetry & Spoken Word
Examples include Free verse, Formal verse, and Spoken word poetry
View student work in Poetry & Spoken Word.
The details for submission requirements are below. After reviewing these important details, contact expert teachers at Aralia for competition preparation.
Unlock Your Writing Potential: Students in Our Writing Competition Preparation Class Are More Likely to Secure Awards
5. What is the Ocean Awareness Contest 2026 theme?
While the goal of the contest is to educate the world on climate change and amplify student voices, the Ocean Awareness Contest has a slightly varying theme each year. The 2026 theme is “Your Story, Our Ocean: How Our Ocean Sustains, Protects, and Inspires Us.” This theme encourages participants to explore their personal connection to the ocean. Participants are also encouraged to reflect on how the ocean sustains, protects, and inspires them, whether through food, climate, culture, or creativity, and express their stories through art, writing, film, performance, or multimedia.
This year’s theme focuses on three main aspects: Sustains – Protects – Inspires.
Sustains
The ocean sustains us with food, materials, oxygen, and even plays a vital role in regulating the climate. If you pay attention, you’ll notice how the ocean quietly maintains life and culture, from family meals to fishing traditions to the beauty of coastal villages. You might write about a memorable personal experience when visiting or traveling to the sea. Share the role of the ocean in your life that others may have never thought about.
Protects
The ocean acts like a shield, reducing the impacts of storms and rising tides, and helping slow global warming. But when the ocean is harmed, this protective capacity weakens. You can explore the balance between being protected by the ocean and our responsibility to safeguard its ecosystems and its blue beauty. Take inspiration from stories about the threats facing the ocean, or highlight solutions you consider important for keeping the ocean clean and healthy for the future.
Inspires
From mythology, music, and art to technology, the sea and the ocean have always been an endless source of human creativity. You can write about how the ocean sparks your imagination, brings emotions, or drives you to create. Let the ocean become the central character in your story or work. Imagine if the ocean could speak, what would it say to us today?
Read more about the 2026 Ocean Awareness Contest Theme or check out past years’ themes. At the end of this blog, we’ll cover ideas and ways to brainstorm your topic!
6. What are the submission requirements?
Students can submit individual or group work, or they can also enter as a class or a club. Submission requirements vary by artistic medium category, but all require a minimum 100-word reflection (also known as an artist statement).
Your reflection should answer the following questions:
- How did you come up with the idea for your piece?
- What inspired your work and creative process?
- How does being creative make you feel?
- Why did you choose the medium (oil paint, charcoal, ballet, film, pop music, etc.) you did? How have you engaged with this medium in the past?
- What have you learned through your exploration of the Contest theme, Your Story, Our Ocean: How Our Ocean Sustains, Protects, and Inspires Us?
- What is your message to viewers of your artwork?
The two Visual Arts categories require a progress photo, a past photo showing your work partially completed, or a photo of you standing next to your art piece. This is not for judgment purposes but rather for anti-plagiarism verification purposes.
If you referenced or took pieces from another artist’s artwork, include a Works Cited.
The use of Artificial Intelligence tools such as ChatGPT is strictly prohibited.
Bow Seat has very specific submission requirements (see example below), so check the fine print for your specific category!
7. Are there scholarships from Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest? Why should I participate?
The competition has various cash awards for winners in all categories. Additionally, winners get to showcase their talents at an exclusive Bow Seat online exhibition.
Main Prizes
These are awarded in all categories for both divisions.
Award | Cash Prize |
Gold | $1,000 |
Silver | $750 |
Bronze | $500 |
Pearl | $250 |
Distinguished Honorable Mention | $100 |
Honorable Mention | $50 |
Special / Additional Awards
These are more specific, either by theme, eligibility, or category type.
Smithsonian Creativity in Resilience Award
- This award honors outstanding creative work that reflects the contest’s sub-theme of Resilience.
- 20 awards of $250 each, 10 in the Junior Division and 10 in the Senior Division.
United by Nature “Author’s Spotlight”
- Feature 15 U.S.-based student works from the contest (any category).
- Selected pieces will be paired with themes from the upcoming United by Nature report, a national effort to assess U.S. lands, waters, wildlife, and the benefits they provide to society.
We All Rise Prize
- Awards for Black, Indigenous, and/or Latine students in the U.S., in efforts to increase the diversity of program participants.
- 10 $500 awards will be offered, 5 to the Junior Division and 5 to the Senior Division.
Voice of the Sea Award
- One $500 award per division for outstanding spoken word poetry submission.
Bay State Award
- For Massachusetts students only; up to 3 winners per division, each gets $100.
Hometown Award
- For Boston, MA students only, eligible only to students needing financial aid.
- Up to 3 winners per division, each receives $100.
Publishing, Art Exhibitions, and Special Opportunities:
In addition to earning cash awards to use towards tuition, your passion, art materials, or anything you choose, winners will also get their artwork exhibited with Bow Seat. This is an excellent opportunity to take your artwork from your drawing table and put it in front of hundreds of viewers!
Check out Upcoming Events & Exhibits and read more information on Bow Seat’s Awards.
8. Ocean Awareness Contest Creative Writing Ideas
Whether you choose fiction or creative nonfiction, your writing should bring a personal voice and fresh perspective to the theme.
One way to begin is by recalling a moment with water that you can’t forget, the sound of waves during a trip, the feeling of swimming under the sun, or even the quiet of a rainy afternoon. Or, imagine the ocean speaking directly to you. What would it say? What would you say back?
Another way to start is with a small object from the ocean and let it tell a bigger story. Maybe it’s a shell you picked up during a beach trip with friends, or a piece of sea glass you’ve kept in your pocket. How is that object connected to you? What memory or meaning does it hold?
9. How do I prepare for the Ocean Awareness Contest?
Before you start your research, make sure you thoroughly go through the Bow Seat Resource Studio to gain a comprehensive understanding of what climate change means and its damaging impacts on our ocean.
Can’t think of an issue you’d like to explore? Reflect on how climate change has left noticeable traces in your own life. What’ve you noticed about the difference in seasons this year compared to last year? For example, something clearly noticeable in Aralia Education’s hometown of Boston, we got much more rain and a lot less snow this past winter 2023-2024. Why might this have happened, and how does that affect agriculture or shipping routes in Massachusetts?
Check out the Ocean Awareness Contest results from Aralia Education’s students!
Further reading:
10. Get personalized support from Aralia’s award-winning teachers
To help students craft powerful and award-winning submissions, Aralia offers a dedicated Ocean Awareness Preparation Class. With guidance from expert teachers, students will explore the contest theme in depth, analyze past winning works, and develop strong writing skills tailored to the competition’s requirements.
Ocean Awareness Contest Preparation
The Ocean Awareness Contest Preparation is designed to guide students through the process of creating a polished creative writing piece to submit to the Ocean Awareness Contest.
