2026 Ohio Wildlife Youth Art Contest

Erie MetroParks is excited to partner with Firelands Audubon Society in offering the fifth annual Ohio Wildlife Youth Art Contest. We see and are inspired by nature every day when we visit our local parks and get outside to explore! Art is a fantastic way to bring awareness to our local species, express ourselves creatively, and share the wonder of Ohio’s wildlife with others.

We encourage you to participate and we are so excited to see the art from our Erie and Huron County youth. Please click on the links below to view the CONTEST RULES and to print out the ENTRY FORM. We will start accepting submissions December 16, 2025. Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Good luck and have fun!

Have questions? Please contact, Hannah Mahr, hmahr@eriemetroparks.org, 419-625-7783 ext. 223

Thank you to everyone that entered the Ohio Wildlife Youth Art Contest, and thank you to all who attended the art show during our Earth day Extravaganza!

We had over 200 pieces of art from 22 schools in addition to homeschool entries. We had 15 award winners across all 5 age categories, all of which are pictured below.

Best of Show
Nathan Porterfield

Grades 9–12
1st Place: Nathan Porterfield
2nd Place: Brianna Farr
3rd Place: Joseph Cencer

Grades 6–8
1st Place: Veronica Gilbert
2nd Place: Tony Truong
3rd Place: Audrey Delaguna

Grades 3–5
1st Place: Lorenzo Rice
2nd Place: Lyric Fiske
3rd Place: Maclin Baumgartner

Grades K–2
1st Place: Evellan Pieta
2nd Place: Aniyah Beverly
3rd Place: Dresden Varason

Pre-K
1st Place: Emelia Boehk
2nd Place: Eliza Schafer
3rd Place: Einar Varason

Congratulations to all participants!