When your kid makes a piece of art, they’re also building confidence, processing feelings, and creating connections. That’s what we’re celebrating with the Outschool Visual Arts Showcase—and your kid could win up to $1,000 USD* in prize value, a one-year Outschool Membership and a billboard in Times Square!




*or the equivalent amount in local currency depending on jurisdiction of residence
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These Outschool art teachers are experts in their fields and champions of creativity.




Entries are open to any learner in the U.S., UK, Canada, or Australia aged 6-18 with an active Outschool Membership or current class enrollment. Entrants in the U.S., U.K., and Australia are eligible for the Showcase Favorite Award. Deadline for entry is April 10, 2026, 11:59PM PT.
Enter NowSee Official Rules
Share an image or video of a piece of their artwork that fits the theme “Something That Inspires Me.”

Complete the short submission form, including a brief description of what inspired the piece, in your kid’s own words.

Stay tuned as we announce the finalists on or around 4/20. Then get excited for the 4/25 showcase and winners reveal!


Fill out this form to enter your kid in the Outschool Visual Art Showcase.
Submission Guidelines
No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S., age 18+ (parents or legal guardians of learners ages 6–18) with an active Outschool membership, ESA, scholarship, or charter enrollment. Additional eligibility requirements apply. Ends 11:59 PM PT on 4/10/26. Void where prohibited. Subject to Official Rules.

My name is Mariko, and I love to draw, both physical and digital. I also love music, and I was inspired by this Kpop idol, Wonyoung. She's part of the group, IVE, and seeing her unbelievable talent of singing and dancing makes me feel happy. I just wanted to share my love for music and drawing through this piece.

I am in third grade and I am writing a comic book called Woodland Walkers: Beginning of the Walkers. My drawing has the characters of my book. I love nature and the color purple. I love animals, especially foxes and wolves. My drawing makes me feel excited and calm and it makes me want to call a pack of wolves!

I really love cherry blossoms. I also really love drawing people wearing ruffled clothing or wrinkles. The two just formed together on my paper. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I had considered adding pink, but when I set my pencil down, it just felt finished.

Im Lacey, military child following her dad. Just pulled from the sunshine of Florida to the winter of the Midwest. My piece is inspired by the warm sun that my skin misses so deeply. It makes me feel that Gods masterpiece is worth sharing. We are created to create.

Hi, I'm Kefira! This piece was inspired by my beloved bunny, Miss Baby Bunson (but we just call her Bunson). She passed away recently and I wanted to take this wonderful chance to honor her (rest in peace, Bun-Bun). She was a very sweet, lovable bunny and I feel that this artwork really captures her adorably curious self. I will cherish this piece forever and hang it in my room as soon as I get a frame!

Hi! My name is Keegan. I love to read, write, and draw, and I thought that as a artist it would be fun to submit one of my drawings in this contest. The one I chose is a picture of the main character of a book I'm going to write, Dawn, climbing out of an underground city that was not treating her well. I think it is inspiring of her to do that, instead of just staying there. Thank you for reading about my drawing!

The main two things that inspired my piece are 1. the stars, and 2. my love for Greek art. I wanted to incorporate the process I once learned the Greeks commonly used to properly create "beautiful" women and "handsome" men (typically the Archimedean spiral) as well as the art worthy equations that explain the creations, movements, and positions of nebulas, energy, and matter. In the end, I wanted the piece to feel inspiring, dramatic, and free.

I am six years old and I love to create through drawing, painting and model making. I was inspired by Jim Dine to create this painting for my mother using mixed media like tissue paper, crayon and paints. The painting makes me feel happy as it uses the colors I love and the heart is full of love.

“The Greek God” artwork is a…well an artwork of Eros the Greek god of love, people know him now as Cupid. Plus I am also a fan of Percy Jackson and my love for Greek mythology and Percy Jackson inspired this artwork (I also made this word near Valentine’s Day) I hope my artwork is accepted and appreciated. =)

My name is Aslan. I am 8 years old and I do an art class. This is one of my favorite projects from class and I wanted to put it in the contest. I used watercolor, oil pastels, and a picture of myself to create this piece. I feel happy when I look at this art and I hope you will, too!

I love giant pandas! My family and I visited the Panda Sanctuary in Chengdu, China last year. I loved watching them eating bamboos. My art teacher had an Umbrella Project for us to paint whatever we would like, so I painted pandas climbing and playing in bamboo forest because that is their favorite food and home!



I really love cherry blossoms. I also really love drawing people wearing ruffled clothing or wrinkles. The two just formed together on my paper. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I had considered adding pink, but when I set my pencil down, it just felt finished.

Hi! My name is Wesson, and I am just 8 years old! I love cats, and my cat Bowser is why I sketched this cartoon drawing of him with a mouse toy. He is a big fluff-ball, and it is fun to watch him play. I feel happy and loved by my cat, and I wanted to share him with you.

Hi! My name is Oliver, and recently I've been super fixated on the game Undertale so I decided to draw my favorite character from it, Mettaton! This drawing was my first attempt at doing vibrant/shiny rendering and I am very proud at how I did. Undertale as a game is super comforting to me as the story is so compelling and easy to come back to. The fact my art has now reached the level of being able to portray one of my favorite characters *ever* makes my heart so happy. Thank you for reading 🖤

I love to do art because it allows me to use my hands and helps me to focus. Art helps me to feel better by calming my mind. When I do art, I can be creative in making many characters. I enjoy making faces with lots of details. My art is called Dotty Frost. She is named Dotty Frost because she has on Poki dotted and frosted clothing. I love her shiny hair with one braid on each side. At the end of each braid, she has a claw to hold hearts, and other things. Dotty Frost is a kind character.

Hello, my name is Laila. I never seen space and I want to see it one day. That’s why I made this art piece. I’d like to get into the rocket and fly to the space. My favorite planet is Saturn and the Earth. We live on the Earth and I love our home planet. Thank you.

I love drawing: it’s a way of telling about myself. I got inspired to make this drawing when my art teacher said we will be making a sleeping mythical creature I knew I wanted to make a fox . The fox is sleeping inside the den until the sunset rises. While sleeping, the world is becoming a colourful and peaceful place to live. Like our dreams, sweet dreams…

Hi! My name is Anita and I always get inspired when I go outside to the nature. It calms all my stress away while I sense all the peace coming to me. I see the plants flowing, and I hear the wind gently brush in my ear. In this artwork, I make sure I include everything about what I feel about nature and how it inspires me.

My name is Naree and I am 9 years old. This art piece makes me feel proud of myself for making this. The thing that inspired this piece was my mind. The idea just simply popped into my mind; a mermaid drifting through the sea with fish, holding a bubble.


Hello! I love creating digital art on my iPad. I specifically love drawing people and or animals. What inspired my piece was lotus flowers, which you can find on the outside of the drawing. They're one of my favourite flowers, and I love drawing them. I wanted to create an art piece where I could draw a whole bunch of them! I love how colorful the drawing is; it makes me feel happy. I just love looking at it!

My name is Irene. This drawing was inspired by a photo that was taken of me and my sister when we were little. In this drawing is me and my twin sister playing in the waves. In front are the trunks that we used that we had played with. I chose this drawing because I always admired the ocean’s beauty and calmness. The ocean, when I’m near it, makes me very small and tiny. Whenever I am around the ocean, I feel the waves coming to me and hear nothing but the soft crashing.

Hi, I'm Lianna and I like to dance, play with my friends, go to the beach and I love to draw. My drawing is called "A beautiful world starts with you" because each person has the power and responsibility to make the world a better place. The big green tree symbolizes growth, strength, and a healthy environment. The sun, birds, butterflies, heart, and flowers all represent life, love, peace, and harmony in nature. The heart especially shows that we should care for the Earth with love.

I made this piece based off of a book that I read. In the book, this girl (Willa), has a satchel, and it is full of all these little trinkets as shown on the artwork, including jewelry and bows. This drawing makes me feel proud, because I think that it turned out really well and really captured the feel of the book.

I got into art a few years ago. I tried out different styles, and I found I enjoyed fantasy drawings. My inspiration for this drawing was to make people feel as if they were in a fantasy world. The dragon I drew, the colors I used, and my background all conveyed a world of myths. It made me feel imaginative, creative, and proud of my work. I hope to create more pieces like this.

My name is Matea. I am in 5th grade and live in Minnesota. I am a professional actor and I am bilingual. In addition to acting, I love singing and painting. I think cactuses are a delightful part of nature. We don't have any where I live, so when I get to see them in person, I feel cheerful and terrific.

Hi, I'm Ezra. I drew this because my teacher (go check her out on Outschool- her name is Mary Eckes) prompted me of the upcoming 4th of July which is the 250th birthday of the US. I thought I would do something new so we brainstormed a plan. think you should vote?


This piece invites the viewer to imagine the beauty of coming home after a long day at sea. The warm colours of the sunset and the reflection on the water show the feeling of a job well done. I found it challenging to create the small details, especially the people and the boat. I loved painting this. I hope that when people look at this artwork, they feel at peace and that they are loved.

I hope that people feel happy when they see this drawing. I fed a rainbow lorikeet at the National Aviary, and I wanted to show the beautiful colors and really great feeling to everyone. I made colorful flowers and ants going weeee and jumping around with friends because all of nature is special and my favorite.

I am an avid writer and artist with a passion specifically for animals. This piece was inspired by a book I want to write following the first two leaders of a wolf pack called the Rose Kingdom. Over the course of this drawing I grew even more attached to these two characters and even spent hours meticulously fussing over details just so I could do them justice. Now that the piece is finished, I look at it as one of the best pieces I've ever created and the characters as some of my favorites.

I am the second of five kids and my family is my favorite place to find inspiration. I love to make my younger brother laugh with the cartoons I draw and my older brother and I love to design and build things with Lego. This drawing is of my grandfather. He died a couple of years ago and it left a big hole in my heart, drawing him helps me to feel connected to him and to the heritage of values he passed on to our entire family; being honest and courageous in everything we do.

My piece was inspired by Dr. Seuss "The Lorax" and by the plaque that the Apollo 11 astronauts left on the Moon, declaring that they had come in peace for all mankind. Both inspired the main idea of the piece: everyone and everything is dependent upon everyone and everything else, and together we can do almost anything. Apollo 11 also gave my piece it's theme: space! I feel like I did a good job, especially on the Moon, and that my piece conveys what it's meant to convey.

I’m Harper. I love to read and art. My favorite colors are pink, green, and yellow. I love butterflies and they have never been in the sea before and I wanted to let her explore a new world. The sea creatures welcome her and are kind to her. It makes me feel happy and proud that she is brave enough to explore somewhere new.

The piece is a character sheet of my OC (original character) Taylor, i'm very proud of my art work, and very happy with how far i've come. i've always dreamed of being an artist and making my own anime. but i was never skilled enough. but now I see my dreams coming true every day. i truly hope I win


My English name is Murphy I play baseball and is a big fan of dodgers. Once I watched “Interstellar” I am interested in planets so I create this to show how small humans and civilizations are to the universe. this makes me feel joyful because I love to express my feeling to others this artwork gives me a feeling of awe.


Hi, I am Cindyll, and I am 15. For the last year, I have been studying and drawing faces. I found myself especially drawn to eyes. To me, the eye is an amazing creation of beauty and intricacy: the vibrant colors, the way the light reflects on the iris, and the way that they can express emotion that words can’t. I wanted to capture that in my art. In my piece, there is a window reflected in the eye. The eye is truly the window to the soul. You just have to take the time to look.


The picture is called Spring. It makes me feel calm and happy. I like how the sky looks soft and colorful at the end of the day. I am a child. I love drawing, especially with paints. I like playing with my cat and my friends.


Despite the fact I am usually doing dragon-themed things, the thing that inspires me most is the night sky, the deep colors, and the stunning Northern Lights in this photo. I may not win, however, this piece of art was incredibly fun to draw, as well as it being the first detailed background/scenic picture I've ever done! Thank for you for reading!

This piece was inspired by a nature walk that I took with my family. I used real sticks, tree bark, and leaves that I found in the woods to show how beautiful the forest is. I also showed a lot of animals because I love seeing them in the woods--except the bear! Looking at my art reminds me how peaceful and quiet I feel in the forest. I want to be a conservationist when I grow up so I can help all kids enjoy nature.

This beautiful Scarlet Macaw is listening to the sound of nature and wondering if she should stay or fly away into the canopy of the Amazon. I am inspired by nature. I am 13 years old. Art brings me peace, so when I draw the nature around me, I feel we are one.

I was inspired by the book “Impossible Creatures” by Katherine Rundell. It is one of my favorite books. I think that this piece represents how a lot of people want to “fly” and I wanted to remind people that nothing is impossible. This work is one of my best ones given the amount of time I wanted to complete it in, and viewing it fills me with immense delight.

I have enjoyed drawing since I was young. I became serious about art approximately three years ago. Drawing is my happy place, it is my passion. The Doise is a character from a game called Pizza Tower. He is funny, chaotic, and theatrical in a comical way. My goal is to attend art school after I graduate from high school.


I’m an autistic artist. I draw to better understand the world around me. This is a gouache painting I did during a recent frigid spell here where temps were hitting -40. It calmed me to think of the animals tucked safely away.

Hi my name is Valentina and I love drawing and sewing.I also love bows and bedazzling things so I had to put it in my art piece!! I was inspired by my fashion design class. We did runway fashion this week. It makes me feel happy and joyful!! I hope you love it.🩷🎀

I really devote myself to drawing and really love drawing animals like cats and dogs! I am deeply proud of how far I’ve gotten in art!!! My piece was inspired by cats, because they’re so cool! (obviously.) It makes me feel very proud of how great I’ve gotten at art!!!

Hello, I’m Ella and this piece was inspired by my family’s trip to The San Diego Museum of Art at Balboa Park in San Diego, California. I found myself drawn to the old still life paintings. Oil painting takes so much time, days to even weeks between layers, and something about going through all the effort to preserve this little moment really drew me in. While I’ve taken a few art classes in more modern styles and mediums, after this trip I picked up oil painting completely self taught.

I found two trees at a place, one was in full bloom and it looked really pretty while, the other was completely dead looking. I was then inspired to draw two trees with one that is full of life, and the other dark. I thought the light bulbs in the back looked pretty, because the place I was at, had a string of light bulbs behind the trees.

What inspired me was my main therian mask I made as a human like version. I thought it would be cool to make her a human in a unsettling but cute way. It makes me feel more confident to be weird and who I am and also creative. She honestly IS me but a psycho version.

Hi! I'm Samantha and I have been doing art as long as I can remember, and I have always loved it! My piece is a surprising friendship between a yellow Labrador and a Mallard duck along a pond with a beautiful mountain setting. I love this piece because it reminds me of my favorite animals along with my favorite setting, mountains. My love of the outdoors and animals is also what inspired this piece.


I'm from Canada where there is lots of snow right now. I enjoy going to the zoo and watching the snow leopards. When I look at the snow leopard in my picture, I think about how much I love to go outside and play in the snow. I like to build snow forts, have snow ball fights and go for snowmobile rides. I also like to play with my 2 out door cats who remind me of the snow leopard.
Whether your kid is just starting their creative journey or has a project ready to go, you’ll find classes that meet them where they are and bring out their best.
Learners ages 6 to 18 in the United States, United Kingdom, (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland only), Australia and Canada (excluding Quebec) (see showcase rules for regional participation limits and award eligibility details) can enter if their family has an active Outschool Membership or enrollment. New to Outschool? Become a member today!
Not at all! The Visual Arts Showcase is open to every eligible learner, whether they’re new to creating art or already taking classes. They don’t need to be enrolled in an Outschool art class to participate. What matters most is their creativity, effort, and artistic voice.
Log in to your Outschool account and fill out the form above. Upload a high-resolution image or a 1-minute video of your learner’s artwork (vertical 9x16 preferred; max 150MB) and add the artwork’s title plus a note about why your learner chose it. If you have trouble uploading, check our troubleshooting tips or contact Outschool Support for help.
Make sure to enter using the parent email linked to your Outschool account. If a teacher invited you to the Showcase, add their profile link so we can thank them. Submitting for more than one learner? Fill out a new form for each.
Artwork should connect to the theme, ‘Something That Inspires Me,’ and must be original and created by the learner. If your learner uses any material they did not create themselves, it must be clearly changed into something new and original, not just copied or lightly edited. AI tools may not be used to create any part of the artwork. Learn more about our submission guidelines here.
Our team reviews your learner’s artwork to make sure it meets the showcase rules and submission guidelines. This could take up to a week. You’ll get an email once it’s in the Showcase. Keep an eye on this page for updates. Entries will appear here when ‘Showcase Favorite’ voting begins on or around March 13.
Submissions can’t be edited once they’ve been sent, so be sure to review your upload and entry form carefully before submitting. Each learner can have only one entry in the Showcase, and judges will review only one submission per participant.
Outschool’s teacher judges review entries for creativity and originality. Learners submit their work in one of two categories: Physical Art (e.g., drawing or painting) or Digital Art (e.g., animation or digital illustration). One finalist is chosen in each age group for each category. Showcase Favorite voting happens on the Showcase page and is open to those aged 18 or older. Public voting for Showcase Favorite is open only to individuals who are legal residents of jurisdictions where participation is lawful. Notwithstanding the foregoing, residents of Canada are not eligible to participate in the public voting portion of the Contest.
Finalists are featured in the live virtual event, and the Showcase Favorite winner is decided by public vote. Entries from Canada are eligible for judging and award selection in all categories except for public voting for the Showcase Favorite award.
The live virtual Showcase will be hosted by Outschool on April 25. It’s a free celebration of the finalists and their artwork, featuring judges and moments highlighting each artist’s creative process and inspiration. Families can join to view the artwork, hear directly from the artists, and celebrate their creativity together.
Two Grand Prize winners, one in each category, each receive a $500 USD Outschool Gift Card, a $500 USD Amazon Gift Card, a featured placement on a Times Square digital billboard, and a one-year Outschool Membership at the $70 USD monthly tier. Finalists receive a $250 USD Outschool Gift Card, and the Showcase Favorite winner receives a $250 USD Outschool Gift Card and a $250 USD Amazon Gift Card. Finalists are announced on April 20, and Grand Prize winners will be announced live at the Showcase event on April 25. Prizes are sent by email after the contest concludes. All prizes are stated in US dollars (USD) or the equivalent amount in local currency, depending on the jurisdiction of residence.