TCEQ’s Take Care of Texas program kicks off its annual Art Contest

Get those colored pencils, crayons, and markers ready because today is the kick-off to The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Take Care of Texas 2023 Art Contest. 

This year's contest theme is water. Students are asked to illustrate how they, along with their friends and family, help conserve water and keep it clean. The contest is open to public, private, or home-schooled students throughout Texas from kindergarten through fifth grade. Prizes for the winning entries in each category (K-1st, 2nd-3rd, and 4th-5th) include laptops or iPads made possible by the contest sponsor, Texas Chemical Council.

TCEQ staff will select two finalists in each category for a total of six statewide winning entries. The grand prize winners and runners-up will be selected by TCEQ commissioners and executive staff, as well as representatives from the Texas Chemical Council. Each grand prize winner will receive a laptop, and each runner will receive an iPad.

Each student must submit artwork demonstrating ways to help conserve water and keep it clean by Feb. 24, 2023. Each entry must contain the slogan “Take Care of Texas. It’s the only one we’ve got.”

Entries can be submitted electronically via the Take Care of Texas website. Students, parents, or teachers can scan the physical entry or take a quality photo and upload the file. Digital entries must abide by the contest rules and must be accompanied by a digital entry form. Entries will still be accepted via mail.

Artwork and entry forms can be mailed to the address below. All mailed entries must be postmarked by Feb. 24, 2023.

• Take Care of Texas: Kids Art Contest, MC 118
• Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
• P.O. Box 13087
• Austin, TX 78711-3087

For more information and official rules, visit the Take Care of Texas website or send an email to educate@tceq.texas.gov.

Winners will be announced on April 5, 2023, and celebrated online through the website and social media channels. The grand prize winners, in each category, will be invited to the annual Texas Environmental Excellence Awards banquet in May of 2023.