Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest
Scholarship Sponsored by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs
The 2025 Ocean Awareness Contest Connections to Nature: Looking Inside, Going Outside – encourages you to explore the natural world and your place in it. We invite you to think about your unique connection to nature and how being outside makes you feel. There are so many different ways that you can connect to nature, whether that’s exploring the history of the land you live on, volunteering in the fight against climate change, or taking a restorative walk in your local park. Go through the sub-themes and explore the topics that resonate with you. Share your relationship with the natural world through art, writing, performance, film, or multimedia. What is your connection to nature?
A NEW CHALLENGE
Last year, we asked you to tell your climate story your personal experiences, insights, and perceptions about our changing climate reality. Your connection to nature may relate to your climate story, but there’s so much more to nature than climate change! We challenge you to dive into this year’s theme and explore your connection to the natural world through the lenses of:
- Generational Knowledge
- Concrete Jungle
- Resilience
- Healthy Environments, Healthy Humans
We hope that these sub-themes can serve as jumping off points, prompting you toward further exploration! Be sure to check out our past winners and explore our broader Resource Studio for ideas and guidance.
Our Resource Studio is a unique space for creative exploration and a jumping-off point for deep inquiry of climate change, ocean conservation, and using art and creativity as tools in environmental movements.
Who May Enter
Students ages 11-18 from around the world are invited to participate in the Ocean Awareness Contest. Enter the division based on your age at the time of entry:
Junior Division: Age 11-14
Senior Division: Age 15-18
Students can participate as an individual or as a club, class, or group of any size. All students must provide the contact information for an Adult Sponsor (teacher, parent, mentor, etc.) Students who have started college or university are not eligible to participate in the Contest.
Submissions are accepted in:
- Visual Art: Handcrafted
- Visual Art: Digital
- Poetry & Spoken Word
- Creative Writing
- Film
- Performing Arts: Music & Dance
- Interactive & Multimedia