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.

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!



I am an entrepreneur who enjoys developing marketing materials for businesses. I like to practice making logos, brochures, flyers, and business cards. This is my favorite logo I have created because it is simple but unique. It's an art piece that catches people's attention and makes them want to learn more about the business.

I'm Zuwena, and I really like old cartoons. I made this piece inspired by one of my favorites, Mysterious Mose, because it got into the public domain recently. Also I just wanted to depict how loving and being loved in return chases away all negative and mean things people might say about you.

Hello!! My name is Elyssa, and I’ve been drawing before I can remember, but started getting more into art at about 9 years old. I love both led sketching and drawing with colored pencils, so I figured I’d combine the two! This drawing is a recreation of a drawing that I made a few years back. I love animals, and I really hope this drawing inspires people to take care of and protect the environment, as well as the creatures being affected by litter and deforestation every day. Thank you! :D


This piece came from wanting to create something beautiful and detailed using nature as inspiration. I built up the tree, lantern, and wisteria with clay before painting over it on the Canvas for a 3D effect. It took a lot of time and effort especially when working with details and lighting. This piece pushed me to stay focused and not rush. It reminds me that putting time and effort can turn simple ideas into something unique so I would love to be a finalist or be a fan favourite :)

My name is Emilio and I love drawing because you can tell a story in your own way. I learned about the meteor shower which killed dinosaurs and that inspired me to draw Robo Dino. In this story the meteor shower causes fire and Robo Dino was the only dinosaur to survive. He lost parts of his body but found a robot body that he used to save himself. Now he is happy to start a new life in the city. This drawing makes me feel happy that the dinosaur survived and escaped the fire.


I am Aadvik from Mrs.Roxy class. I love to draw Anime characters. Jujutsu Kaisen is one of my favorite shows. I like Yuji because he is strong and cool :D

Hi I'm Olivia! I'm 10 years old and I love art and have been in Outschool since first grade. I'm the type of person who would either read (Harry Potter or Wings of Fire), draw my pokemon ocs, write Harry Potter fan fiction, or listen to kpop all day. I love to draw digitally and physically. This piece I drew, Ecosystem of Our community, shows our community, the world, and how it works together to form the perfect ecosystem, where plants grow, animals live, and we work together. ( O _ O )

Hello! I was inspired to create this piece because ever since I could remember I've always had a love for sunsets and sunrises they remind me of God's beautiful creation and how every morning and evening he paints the sky with vibrant colors, it fills my heart with joy knowing he creates his masterpieces just for you and me.

I LOVE doing art! I made a picture to inspire others for a more peaceful world. I love animals and nature, so that is what inspired me. This picture makes me feel proud and like I can make the world a better place! I hope you get inspired too! Thank You for taking your time to look at my art and read about it!

In my drawing there is a young girl finding her peace through meditation, by sitting in a serene environment surrounded by nature. This inspires me because whenever I meditate, I feel eternal peace washing over me, and I feel like I can forgive any unkind action that anyone has ever done to me. I think the art of meditation is a beautiful thing that inspires me deeply. The first time I meditated I felt changed completely, and for the better. This drawing resembles how I feel when meditating.

Hi! I'm Sasha. I'm 11 years old. I've never done something like this before, so I'm really excited! This is cover art for a book I'm writing called Enemies and Elements. I designed the cover to look like the four elements - Fire, Earth, Water, Wind. In the middle, I subtly added a fifith element, Darkness. I really hope you like it, and my book should be coming out soon!

This piece is inspired by authenticity and friendship. During the time I made this piece, I met some really amazing and accepting people who I felt happy and safe around. They gave me the courage to be myself, which is something I really needed at the time. The characters featured in this piece are of my own design. They represent the kinship I found with my new friends, and the individuality that I learned to express for myself!

I really enjoy art and think it is very fun and intresting. I enjoyed painting this piece because it reflects a city at dusk. It makes me want to go outside and look at nature. It also gives me the feeling of riding in a car and looking out the window, seeing in the city.

I get really sleepy in math class. To keep myself awake, I often doodle. I started to draw snakes because it just felt natural. After school, I look up some snake pictures - and then, I start drawing. Drawing these snakes is a lot harder than it looks! And then - BOOM! - I drew this snake.

When thought about things that inspire me, one thing stood out- memories! I have many inspiring memories, but the most vivid and meaningful are of small moments. This piece is based on one such memory: of holding my dad’s index finger when my hands were too tiny to hold his hand properly. It makes me feel nostalgic, inspired, and maybe a little wistful. It reminds me to appreciate small things while they’re here, and to cherish the love that made me who I am now, even as memories fade with time

Hi! My name is Rebekah, and this is my art piece entitled "hope." In this drawing, I depict myself as a skeleton, which represents vulnerability and the beauty of originality. The bones are chipped and broken from trauma, betrayal, and hurt. However, despite all the pain from life circumstances and mentality, there is new growth. Flowers bloom from the vines crawling up the body, showing that hope can still be found in the darkest places of life, and there is always something more to live for.

I love digital art and I love the Warrior Cats books, so I drew a Clan walking to the Gathering on the island. A Gathering is where all five Clans meet on the island in peace to report their news and let their warriors socialize. This inspires me because I like seeing the world from a different point of view. Also, seeing different clans come together in peace gives me hope that humans can do the same.

Hi, my name is Charlotte! This is my drawing featuring my OCs named Cameron (bottom) and Hyun (top). They went through a lot together, but Cameron couldn't save Hyun from the things and people hurting him. Cameron now has to live with the possibility that one day he will slowly forget Hyun's face, then his voice, and then him altogether.

Hi, my name is Audrey. I made this drawing of a mother and daughter growing up. It shows them at different stages of life, standing together. I was inspired by this because even though they are both growing and changing, one thing stays the same: they are always together. In my Outschool art classes, I’ve been learning how to make realistic drawings but usually my art style is a bit more cartoon-like. I tried to mix both of my styles in this drawing. I used colored pencils and pen.

As a person who's always adored cats, the Bengal tiger is a feline I have always admired for it's majestic behavior and resplendent striped coat. My love for animals has awakened a passion inside that has driven me to create realistic animal portraits such as these. I hope this simple drawing can emphasize the beauty of the Bengal tiger.

There wasn’t really a clear inspiration for this piece, but I’ll try to give a bit of a walk-through. The character is inspired by WOF -Wings Of Fire, which is a dragon book series and my artist persona. I have always had a love for willow and wisteria trees, and love artworks that showcase things like rivers, oceans and waterfalls. The title is partly inspired by the book The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe. This piece makes me feel at peace with the whole… flowy and mystical feel! :3

Hello, my name is Alex Lynn and I drew Modern Italian. I wanted to challenge myself with shading because I have been deliberately ignoring it for a long time. I knew I was taking a risk with shading but I wanted to improve. I used 2B, 4B, and 6B pencil grades to achieve the dark contrasts that make light shades pop out. I faced many problems such as having trouble with proportions for the pedestal. I hope you consider my art in the final vote and that you were inspired by my image.
I enjoy Lego's, reading, building science kits, gaming, nature, and spending time with my family and friends. I also like baseball, swimming, diving, and taekwondo. My art piece was inspired by my uncle. It is colorful with a splash of teeth added in to make the piece Awsome with a dinosaur twist.

This painting became something I didn't plan. It started as a detailed raven inspired by Death Cab for Cutie, but the more layers I added, the more it became its own thing. The layering reminded me of memory, how you can't pull something back cleanly. It's just there at the edge of what you can see. When I look at it now, I feel something peaceful and uneasy at the same time. Sometimes what something leaves behind tells you more than the thing itself ever could. That's what this is about for me.

I've always loved art as a way to express myself. This picture has different layers and is a bit mysterious. It was inspired by the fact that people, like myself and my friends, are always changing and growing on the inside and out. Growth is not always perfect or beautiful but it matters and it must be embraced. Art is helpful to me as a way to say what I can't put into words.

My name is Luca, and I love Poppy Playtime. Some people think it’s scary, but I think it’s exciting and full of mystery. I like figuring out what will happen next and imagining how I would escape. It feels like an adventure in my brain. It makes me feel curious, brave, and proud when I solve things, even if they’re a little scary.

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 looked at a picture book of different styles of art and wanted to draw something like it, I didn't use the book but loved how different pictures looked. I sat down in my Grandma's kitchen and started drawing. I love my picture because I found I love drawing like this and it makes me happy.
I have been an ongoing Outschool student for 5 years and been improving my animations ever since. What inspired me to make this animation was my love for music, as that is what got me into animation in the first place. I am really proud of how this animation turned out, since it took a whole month to complete all on my own.

Doctor Doom is occasionally a villain, but usually just a nice leader trying to do what's right for his people, and he protects his country from sickness. Iron Man is a billionaire named Tony Stark who was not the best or nicest guy, but turned himself around and became the super hero Iron Man. That is a quick overview of the characters. They inspire me to work hard and be a good person too.


I have always loved art because I can be as creative as I want, so long as I don't care how it looks. I've always liked how the moon looks, and it inspired this piece. I decided I would go for a dark tone to highlight the moon. This is a magical forest scene, looking out from deep within. There are two hidden runes and lots of other mysteries if you look closely. I'll leave those for you to find. This piece makes me feel creative and like there's lots more to discover.

Hi! I'm Eleanor. This piece of art was inspired by my little sisters because they like to be adventurous and I feel like one can be the sunshine and one can be the water in the ocean. It makes me feel happy because I feel like the sun represents hope and love, and the water symbolizes freedom and movement like my little sisters. I hope it makes other people feel happy too because I feel like the art stands for friendship because there's two people hanging out together, and anything is possible.

For my art piece I tried to make a character as creative as possible. I added features like a cool ring eye and I went for a manga style look. I made this piece look unbalanced and gave it quirky details that I liked. Voin is supposed to be a malfunction or a weird human but he ended up being a really awesome soccer player that's really nice (and funny) :)


Hi my name is Vivian! This is a Starry Night inspired painting that I made using palette knives. You might not be able to see in the picture, but the texture is spiked. This painting, and the original, make me feel calm. When painting this I felt a sense of awe for how difficult it would've been for Van Gogh to capture the beautiful scene.

I made this piece in my art class when we were learning about glitch art, taught by Mrs. B. It inspires me because glitch art isn't supposed to look perfect; its messy, creative, it can be whatever you want it to be. Also, Stitch is wild and free, he's expressing himself. And isn't that what art's all about? I made this using markers, white acrylic paint, and a plain graphite pencil.

Hello, my name is Heidi. I made this piece because nature inspires me–it’s one of my biggest inspirations! The girl in the dress is me, being inspired by the beautiful world around us! By my house, poppies bloom on the hills around this time, and it’s beautiful. You can see mountains in the distance that are just a perfect backdrop, especially when there are clouds. I think nothing is more inspiring than nature, and that's why I made this piece showcasing that.

I am a natural Artist. Art flows through my hands. My art is gold. I have a natural talent in painting since a young child. I also create digital art drawing from cartoons I enjoy, i.e. Sprinkles, Rainbow Friends, Smiling Critters, Minecraft and more. My favorite art form is Angelic Art. I paint in all mediums: acrylic, metallic acrylic, oil, fluid art, Impasto (Italian Art), Suminagashi (Japanese Art), tempera, sensorial art, watercolor, glow in the dark artwork, airbrush painting and beyond!

I made this picture because I love drawing happy places with bright colors. My family calls me their rainbow sunshine baby, and I like making cheerful worlds with my imagination. I drew stars, houses, trees, and a snowman to show that winter can be warm and joyful. Art makes me feel free. I like being creative, and this picture makes me feel peaceful and happy inside.

I'm Kiran and I love road and city design. I can spend hours designing elaborate cities in chalk that span the sidewalks of my cul-de-sac. I get so excited looking at my piece because it makes me feel like I'm there. I try to add as many details as I can to make it realistic.

My name is Maia, and I aspire to become a professional artist one day. What inspired this piece was my love and admiration of wolves and their loyalty and fierce protection of their pack, as well as their beauty and grace. This drawing makes me feel free and I feel fierce love of nature and animals alike when I look at it.

I’ve been drawing ever since I was little. I did this because I always think everyone needs freedom in life, having dreams and not giving up, following them. I sometimes give my characters this feeling of freedom because the world can be hard, but still beautiful. Drawing for me is a way to express freedom and beauty.

My name is Misha I am from Tampa Florida. I was inspired by my cat, Hunter, and my dad who is a musician. I am also a musician who is learning to play the piano and the guitar. The reason I picked a cat is because I love cats so much, and I picked a piano because I am learning the piano. I made a digital art using Procreate which I have learned thanks to Outschool and Ms. Uli. I used different gradients and some special brushes to create a lovable character Rock Star Kitty.


My name is Coralie and my family has a bird feeder. We like watching birds and so does our cat, so I asked them for their favourite birds and painted them. ( I didn't ask our cat).



Hi! My name is Pip and I absolutely love drawing! It is my favorite hobby to do in my spare time. This is my piece “Two Birds are Better Than One.” This is one of my favorite pieces because it highlights the teamwork between two birds building a cozy nest together, it also shows that teamwork goes a long way. It makes the title come to life, showing that two birds really are better than just one bird.

I have been drawing since I was 4. Now I am passionate about animals and conservation. This year I started painting, so that my sketches pop with color and display the diverse beauty of the animals and their environments. A documentary of a giant squid inspired me to draw this. I feel overjoyed to be able to capture the beauty of this animal rarely seen while it’s alive. Fun fact: I like painting to the beat of music. I like to let my brush strokes dance with the beat. It makes me smile.
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.