Call for Entries
What does a healthier New York State look like?
To celebrate Children’s Environmental Health Day on October 9th, 2025 NYSCHECK.org is seeking creative people of all ages to share their visions of what a healthy community looks like.
Environmental health considers pollutants in air, water, food and other consumer products; healthy homes, schools, workplaces and neighborhoods; and social determinants such as poverty and racism.
Create an original artwork that captures your vision in one of two categories:
Healthy Communities
What do homes, neighborhoods and places that are healthy for people look like? Here are some past galleries from 2024 and 2023 for examples.
Fast Fashion
What can you tell us about the problems and solutions for the rapid production and disposal of clothing that contributes to climate change and pollution?
This year we are teaming up with the New York State district of the American Academy of Pediatrics (NYS AAP) and San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air to bring awareness to Fast Fashion.
This theme was part of the 3rd Annual Youth Climate Art Contest earlier this year. Here is info for that contest in California. Their gallery will be posted soon.
Sample fast fashion artwork from the San Diego 3rd Annual Youth Climate Art Contest, by Anabelle Lin
Fast fashion refers to the rapid production of trendy and cheap clothing in large quantities to respond quickly to the latest fashion trends. To learn more about the issues with fast fashion, we recommend watching this short TedTalk by Maxine Bedat: The High Cost of Our Cheap Fashion | Maxine Bédat | TEDxPiscataquaRiver.
This theme was chosen with our partners to highlight the environmental health impacts of fast fashion on New Yorkers. There is currently a bill in the state Legislate, the NY Fashion Act [S.4558 (Hoylman) / A.4631 (Kelles)] that is designed to address this problem in New York. You can learn more about how to support this legislation at thefashionact.org “
Contest Details
Select works will be awarded prizes, published on NYSCHECK.org and social media platforms, and presented at our Children’s Environmental Health Day celebration in October.
Submissions due by September 25, 2025
Eligibility: NYS students of all ages, along with professional studies trainees.
Criteria: Original artworks only, including videos, drawings, paintings, creative writing, photos and mixed media. (Avoid using clip art, stock images, or artificially generated images [AI].) If you are submitting a photo of your artwork, please make sure it is well lit and at least 150 dpi resolution so that the judges can appreciate the quality of the work.
Permission of Use: All submissions to the contest serve as a license to the New York State Children’s Environmental Health Centers (NYSCHECK) for non-exclusive, irrevocable, and royalty-free publishing of the artist’s artwork in NYSCHECK media, outreach/education, and promotional print and digital materials for all lawful uses including artwork print sales in accordance with NYSCHECK’s mission. All published artwork will be credited to the artist.
For any additional questions, please contact us at healthy.nyschild@gmail.com.
How to Submit:
https://forms.gle/pqKSGMMhDrdN97THA
If you have issues or questions, please reach out to healthy.nyschild@gmail.com.
Guidelines for Judging:
- Relation to theme: 50%
- Artistic Skill: 20%
- Did the artist demonstrate skill and effort for their age?
- Does the artwork convey its theme well?
- Creativity: 30%
- Is the artwork conveying a novel or under-appreciated theme?
- Is the artwork presenting its theme in a interesting way?