Massachusetts Amazing Emerging Artists Recognitions Exhibit - Massachusetts Art Education Association

Registration is open December 4, 2025 through January 9, 2026!

Piloted in 2018, the Massachusetts Amazing Emerging Artist Recognitions Exhibit is a juried show for grade 9 -12 students of Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA) members. This exhibition has been very successful with participation growing annually. Student entries are submitted digitally and judged (blind process) by a panel of art educators.

The 2026 MAEA RECOGNITIONS exhibit will be virtual, posted on the MAEA website. We see this as a real-life opportunity for students to express what is important to them in a visually powerful way. Presenting the exhibit online opens up the possibility of reaching a larger audience on a digital platform.

To register your students for the Massachusetts Amazing Emerging Artists High School Recognition Exhibit please use the ArtCall link below.

Submission Requirements – to be submitted by art educator

This juried exhibit is open to grade 9-12 students of MAEA members.

Up to 5 student entries per art educator, one entry per student. Teachers should register and submit their student work here, starting December 6.
$5 submission fee per entry.
No size limits to artwork.
Individual student work only, collaborative pieces will not be accepted.
Artwork must be accompanied by an artist statement (400 character limit).
Artwork must not have been previously submitted to the MAEA Recognitions exhibit, including artwork completed during the last school year.
Media categories: Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media, Photography, Digital/Graphic Design, Ceramics, Sculpture, Jewelry, Fashion Printmaking and Animation/Video.

All artwork must be original, created by the student. It must not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any other individual or entity. The Massachusetts Art Education Association maintains the right to determine which works of art are appropriate for this exhibit. Any subject matter that is highly controversial, items, symbols, or themes that may represent racism, prejudice, profanity, or are of a violent or lewd nature are not appropriate for this exhibit.

Participation Fee:

$5.00 Fee per entry.
Please note, teachers can submit a financial hardship waiver to student_recognition@massarted.com if the fee is a financial hardship for the student. The financial hardship form can be downloaded here.
If you need to process the submission fees via a purchase order through your district, please contact Rebecca Kostich at student_recognition@massarted.com and cc our Treasurer Leah Prouty-Muller at treasurer@massarted.com to process that request.

Notification of Acceptance:

Submitted entries are reviewed in a blind jury process. The jury panel has access to the artwork and artist statement only. No other identifying information is provided to jurors.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by January 30, 2026.
A Student Release Form must be completed and returned in order for the artwork to be exhibited. The Student Release Form will accompany the acceptance notification.

Media Category Descriptions:

ANIMATION – Size limit 25 mb.
DRAWING – Mark-making done with manual or mechanical instruments on a 2D surface. (eg. pastels, ink, pencil, charcoal, etc. or any combination of drawing media)
PAINTING – Work created by applying paint/pigment to a 2D surface. (eg. watercolor, acrylic, oil, or any combination of different painting media.
MIXED MEDIA – Work made from more than one medium that incorporates a 3D element (breaks the surface plane). Mixed Media does not include drawings using various drawing media OR paintings using various painting medias. Those should be submitted under those specific categories.
PHOTOGRAPHY – Images created with analog or digital cameras.
DIGITAL/GRAPHIC DESIGN – Digitally produced art. (eg. animations smaller than 25 mb, digital collages, digitally manipulated photos, posters, book covers, business cards)
CERAMICS – Pottery and porcelain objects made of fired clay.
SCULPTURE – 3D work made by a variety of means. (eg. carving, casting, welding, molding, assembling, etc.)
JEWELRY – Decorative objects made for personal adornment. (eg. rings, pings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces)
WEARABLE ART/FASHION – Articles of clothing or accessories. (excluding jewelry)
PRINTMAKING – Artwork created by using various techniques to produce one or multiple copies of an original design from the surface of a template. (eg. etching, woodcut, linocut, silkscreen, collagraph, monoprint, etc.)