2026 Catholic School Visual Arts Exhibition

“Wondrous Creation: The Beauty of God’s Work in the World”

The Archdiocesan Office for the Mission of Catholic Education is excited to host its third annual Catholic School Visual Arts Exhibition. We invite Archdiocesan Catholic school students in grades 7-12 to share their artistic talents and spread the beauty of our Catholic faith through artwork around the theme, “Wondrous Creation: The Beauty of God’s Work in the World.”

The inspiration for this year’s theme comes from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a 19^th century Jesuit priest, “Pied Beauty”: 

Pied Beauty
By Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

We encourage 7^th-12^th grade Catholic school students to read, reflect and draw inspiration from this poem to depict God’s creation for their 2026 submissions — whether that be creating artwork from a line in the poem, or a visual of the natural beauty that lifts our senses to the sacred. 

We are thrilled to again partner with the University of St. Thomas’ Office for Mission and the university’s interdisciplinary Claritas Initiative, which seeks to reclaim and illuminate beauty, goodness and truth.

---

DETAILS

Professional judges will select finalists and winners. All eligible entries — not just finalists — will be displayed at the National Catholic Educational Association Convention in Minneapolis April 7-9, 2026. Finalists will be invited to participate in the exhibition and reception on May 1, 2026, with Archbishop Bernard Hebda and guests at the Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. A variety of awards will be presented to students, and the finalists’ artwork will serve as the summer exhibit in the Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art.

NEW THIS YEAR: Finalists’ artwork will also be exhibited in the John XXIII Gallery at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis from September to October 2026.

GRADE-LEVEL CATEGORIES

• 7^th-8^th grade students
• 9^th-10^th grade students
• 11^th-12^th grade students

ELIGIBLE ARTWORK CATEGORIES

• Ceramics
• Drawing (pencil, pen and ink, charcoal) 
• Painting (watercolor, acrylic, oil paint)
• Photography
• Sculpture 
• Textile

SUBMISSION RULES

For Schools

• Each school can submit an unlimited number of entries.

For Artists

• Work must be completed by a 7^th-12^th grade student currently enrolled in a Catholic school of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
• Artwork must have been completed within the last 12 months.
• Students may submit one artwork entry.
• Artwork can be completely original or a copy from another work or photograph. If the latter, the student must identify the original piece and artist.
• Artwork must be signed by the artist.
• Artwork must include a label, typed and printed. On 2-dimensional artwork, the label must be securely taped to the back of the piece; on 3-dimensional artwork, the label must be taped to the base of the piece. The following information must be included:
  • Student’s first and last name
  • Student’s grade
  • Student’s school 
  • School city
  • Title
  • Size
  • Medium
• Artwork must be framed with an affixed wire hanger (nailed in) and ready to hang or display.
• For 2-dimensional pieces, artwork must not exceed 36 inches — including the frame — on any side.  For 3-dimensional pieces, artwork must not exceed 36 inches in any dimension and must not exceed 50 pounds.
• 3-dimensional artwork must be self-supporting.
• All artwork must be content appropriate and use the theme “God’s Creation” to be considered.
• Please notify your school art department/art teacher about your participation and artwork submission.
• All students and parents/guardians will need to sign a waiver upon submission.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

March 23, 2026

SUBMISSION DETAILS

The submission form is now closed.

Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us!