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2025 Creative Native Competition Rules.docx
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Creative Native Call for Art Rules & Guidelines  

By submitting an entry to the 2025 Creative Native Call for Art, the artist accepts the following Rules & Guidelines. If an artist is under the age of 18, the artist's parent/guardian or legal representative must also agree to these Rules & Guidelines.

 

Submissions

  1. The 2025 Creative Native Call for Art is sponsored by the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) at the Aspen Institute.  

  1. The Call for Art is open to artists who:
  1. Self-identify as Native American or Indigenous;
  2. Will be between the ages of 5 and 24 years old on November 30, 2025; and
  1. Currently resides in the United States.  

  1. CNAY is looking for art submissions to respond to and be inspired by the following prompt:

What is sacred to you?

What is important to you and your community? Is it a place, person, a

tradition, a story, the young people of your community? Is it a smell, a

sound or a language?

  1. Artists must electronically submit a high-resolution photo of their art submission using the 2025 Creative Native Call for Art Entry Form.    

  1. Each artist may submit one (1) artwork/piece for the contest with a description of up to 100 words.

  1. Artists can submit up to three (3) images for each entry to showcase different angles of the piece.  

  1. Artwork must be the artist's own, original work and not a duplicate of any work found in books, magazines or other published works, including the internet. Non-original computer generated images and traced images will not be judged. If any element of a submitted artwork infringes on the rights of another person, the entry will be disqualified.  

  1. Examples of art submissions include, but are not limited to, images of artwork in the following mediums: painting, drawing, pottery, photography, sculpture and traditional works such as beadwork, jewelry, regalia, silversmithing, carving, etc.  

  1. Entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 30, 2025

  1. By submitting artwork to the contest, the artist and/or artist’s parent, guardian, or legal representative agrees that the Aspen Institute will possess the right to display, reproduce or use submitted artwork at any time in the future in any media, including online, without the prior approval of, or compensation of the artist or the artist’s parent, guardian or legal representative. Formally, this means that the artist grants to the Aspen Institute a license to use, copy, change, publish, publicly perform, distribute, or exhibit the artist’s artwork. This license is perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, and non-exclusive (with the right to sublicense).   

  1. All qualifying entries will be displayed virtually in the Creative Native Gallery on cnay.org.  

Selection  

  1. Judges will select one winner from each of the following age categories: 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-24 and one grand prize winner (ages 15-24).
  2. Judges will use the following criteria in selection of winners:
  1. Judges come from a variety of tribes and ethnicities and have a passion for Indigenous art.
  2. Judging will be done blindly.
  3. The winners will be notified in December 2025.

Guardian Consent

Artists under the age of 18 must have a parent, guardian or legal representative provide their electronic signature on the 2025 Creative Native Call for Art Entry Form to indicate agreement with these Contest Rules & Guidelines.

The Prizes 

  1. The winner from each age category will be awarded $300.00.  
  1. The grand prize winner will be selected from the 15-19 or 20-24 age category and will be awarded $1,000.00 and receive a social media feature.