NSS 2015 International Student Art Contest

The National Space Society is holding a student space art contest which is free to enter and is open to students aged 13-25 years old world-wide. The theme for this art contest is life in a space settlement. Submissions to the contest are to focus on the daily activities of living and working in a space settlement located somewhere in the solar system. A key rule for art being submitted to the contest is that it has to be a realistic depiction of human activities. That means no aliens, no faster-than-light UFOs, and no other violations of science. The contest is particularly interested in photo-realistic submissions.

The contest's Grand Prize winner will have their artwork published on the cover of Ad Astra magazine as well as receiving a complimentary membership in the National Space Society and complimentary registration to the 2015 International Space Development Conference being held in Toronto, Canada.

In addition to the Grand Prize, First Prizes and Honorable Mentions may also be awarded depending on the artistic merit of the submitted entries. I must point out that the contest does contain a provision that if none of the art submitted adequately meets contest standards, then no prizes shall be awarded – which is reasonable given that unlike most other art contests there is no fee charged to submit art for this contest.

For my part, I will again be serving as one of the art judges for the contest. Here are some tips from me for students submitting art. First, if your artwork is set inside a space settlement then have a window in the scene so that the viewer can identify where in the solar system your settlement is. Second, since the art is to depict settlement life, make sure to have a person somewhere in your artwork. Third, if the subject of your art is an astronaut exploring or working on the surface of the Moon, Mars, or an asteroid, then make sure that you have some sort of habitat somewhere in your scene. For example, an astronaut exploring the surface of an asteroid with a settlement in the distance, either on the surface of the asteroid or in orbit above it. Lastly, be sure to get your science right. In one space art contest I judged, the artist had an astronaut in a spacesuit on the surface of the Moon standing next to a pool of water. No matter how good your art is, if you do something like that your art will not be a winning entry.

Submissions to this art contest are due by March 16. Students who are under age 18 must have their parents permission in order to participate.

Art Contest Reference Links

• 2015 Roadmap to Space Settlement International Student Art Contest (formerly at www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/)
• Art Contest Submission Requirements (formerly at www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/guidelines.html)
• Art Contest Terms and Conditions (formerly at www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/terms.html)
• Milestones to Space Settlement: An NSS Roadmap (formerly at www.nss.org/settlement/roadmap/)
• Art Submitted to the 2014 Student Art Contest (formerly at www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/roadmap/2014/gallery.htm)

The Illustration

To illustrate this post I used some of my own space art. Dustfall on Mars is a piece I was commissioned to create for presentation to Mars Society President Robert Zubrin on his 65th birthday. Unlike much of my art, this piece is a straight forward example of painting digitally. The version shown here has been cropped.

| Return to the Blog Index | This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2015 at 3:27 pm and is filed under Art Contests, Calls for Art, National Space Society, Space Art.