Call for Submissions

In honor of America’s 250th anniversary,

K-12 students across New York State are invited to participate in Tapestry of New York, a statewide art media project celebrating creativity, history, and civic reflection.

Students will submit artwork or media exploring the theme “We the People,” to be featured in the Tapestry of New York online gallery.

Theme: We the People

The preamble of the U.S. Constitution begins with the famous words, “We the People of the United States…” However, ideas about what it means to be an American have changed over the past 250 years, as New Yorkers have advocated for a more expansive definition that includes people of more diverse backgrounds.

Students are invited to create artwork or media that explores one of more of the following questions from their own perspective.

  • What does “We the People” mean to you? 
  • Who is included in your idea of “We the People”?  
  • What makes you feel like you belong to your community or country?  
  • Which historical and/or contemporary figures have fought for a more inclusive idea of “We the People”? 
  • Who is still left out from “We the People”?

See the Educator Toolkit for more detailed background and supporting materials.

Who Can Participate

Tapestry of New York welcomes submissions from K–12 students across New York State, including those in:

  • Public, private, and charter schools
  • Homeschool programs
  • Libraries, museums, and after-school programs
  • Community and youth organizations

Students may participate through a teacher or program leader, who submits work on their behalf. Parents or caregivers may also help students submit work.

Submission Dates

Submissions will be accepted any time from June – December 2026.

What to Submit

Students are encouraged to express their ideas in a range of visual art or media formats, including:

  • Collages
  • Drawings
  • Paintings
  • Photography
  • Digital graphics
  • Video
  • Multimedia artwork

One image (jpg, png, webp – max 4MB) or video file (mp4, mov, webm – max 512MB) per submission will be accepted. If you are submitting a video file, make sure the first frame is what you would like your preview image to look like.

Each submission should be accompanied by a short written statement from the student (max 1,000 characters) describing their work and how it responds to the question: What does “We the People” mean to you? (Note: Please do not include any personally identifying details about yourself, such as your last name or the street you live on.)

How to Submit

  1. A teacher/educator, parent, or guardian registers to participate on behalf of the student(s).
  2. Once approved, they receive a submission code.
  3. Teachers, parents/caregivers, or students (with help from adults) can then upload student submissions through the online submission form.
  4. Each submission includes the student’s work, media file, and a short description written by the student.

Review and Publication

All submissions will be reviewed by project staff. When approved, student work will be published to the public showcase on this website.  

We hope to include as many submissions as possible. Reasons submissions may be declined include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • The content appears to be generated by AI (artificial intelligence.)
  • The work includes vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate material, such as hate speech or threats of violence.
  • The work does not appear to be relevant to the historical themes outlined in this Call for Submissions.
  • The submission is not a work of visual art or media (for example, strictly text-based works or audio-only submissions will not be accepted.)
  • The work or written statement reveals personal details that should not be included for the safety of minors involved.
  • The written statement is not comprehensible (for example, it is made up of nonsensical words or characters.) 
  • The work appears to include copyrighted third-party content without the permission of the copyright holder, such as someone else’s music, photographs, artwork, or commercial products with logos, or include images or audio or video clips of a person who has not agreed to be included. For more information about intellectual property permissions, see FAQs.

Submitters will be notified via email only if their submission is not approved, and will be able to revise and submit their work again.

For More Information

View our For Educators page, which includes our Educator Toolkit, with lessons and supporting resources that integrate art and social studies learning.

Questions? View our Frequently Asked Questions. For further assistance, email us at tapestryofny@wnet.org.