CoastFest Art Contest

2026 Art Contest Information for Teachers

About the Contest

Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) CoastFest returns to Mary Ross Waterfront Park in Brunswick from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 21st, 2026.

As part of CoastFest, DNR’s Coastal Resources Division (CRD) is hosting our annual Art Contest for students in Pre-K to 12th grades. The artwork will be displayed at the Brunswick-Glynn County Library, in mid-March.

Theme

The 2026 CoastFest Art Show Theme will be "Stars, Stripes, and Sea Life - Celebrating Our Coast and Country." In 2026, our nation will celebrate its 250th anniversary. Georgia DNR will offer a series of patriotic themed events and programs statewide throughout the year, and we're excited about the opportunity to incorporate that into our 2026 CoastFest event. We encourage you and your students to feature what you love and enjoy about Georgia's coastal habitats and wildlife in your artwork. From our marshes, maritime forest, beach, and Atlantic coastline to local fishes, birds, mammals, reptiles, and more... There's so much to celebrate!

Age Divisions

Students from schools throughout the Golden Isles and coastal Georgia will compete by age groups as follows:

Pre-K to 2nd grade
3rd grade to 5th grade
Middle school
High school

Awards & Prizes

There will be First, Second, and Third place ribbons for each of the four age groups, along with prizes of age-appropriate art supplies for each of those winners. Additionally, superlative awards in the following categories will be given out contest-wide:

Best Use of Humor,
Best Underwater Storyteller,
Best Use of Color,
Outstanding Detail, and
20 other General Honorable Mention awards.

Artwork will be judged the week prior to CoastFest. Judging will be based on creativity, mastery of medium, interpretation of theme, and representation of our coastal environment. In addition to the CRD-sponsored awards, numerous other community groups award prizes.

One Grand Prize winner selected from the overall contest will have his or her artwork featured on the 2027 CoastFest T-Shirt. The selected student will also have the opportunity to choose a pizza party or ice cream social for his or her art class in the weeks following the contest.

CRD will announce the Grand Prize winner in-person at CoastFest. We will notify the teacher and student prior to CoastFest and invite them to join us for the presentation during CoastFest.

The art-supply prizes for First, Second, and Third place winners, along with superlative winners (“best use of”) can be picked up by students at the contest’s exhibit at the Brunswick-Glynn Library during CoastFest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 21st. Prizes not picked up that day will be given to art teachers when they pick up their students' artwork on or after Monday, March 30th at DNR Regional Headquarters.

Artwork Submission Guidelines

All artwork must be delivered to DNR’s Coastal Regional Headquarters by Friday, February 20th. Our office is at One Conservation Way, Brunswick, GA 31520, and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Please follow these guidelines carefully:

Each piece of art must be clearly labeled on the back with the teacher’s name, student’s name, grade, and school. Artwork will be available for pick-up at DNR’s Coastal Regional Headquarters beginning Monday, March 30th.
Artwork must be submitted by art teachers (not parents, unless the student is home-schooled)
Art must hang flat
Maximum size accepted is 12 inches by 18 inches, minimum size is 4 inches by 6 inches; Artwork may also have a one-inch matte border
Artwork can have some three-dimensional texture, but must easily hang when displayed
Artwork should be lightweight
One piece of art per student
Maximum 30 pieces of art per school