Noel Wien Library holds art contest for Fairbanks youth

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - The Noel Wien Public Library is holding an art contest for grades K-12 in the Interior.

Divided into three brackets by grade level, the competition is asking participants to create visual art inspired by their favorite book.

One category will cover children from Kindergarten through 2nd Grade, while another will include grades 3 through 6.

Finally, grades 7 through 12 will fall into the oldest category.

Art must be flat and no larger than 12 inches by 12 inches. All creations must be submitted by November 30 at 5:00 p.m. and can be turned in at either Noel Wien or at the North Pole Branch Library.

Each participant can only submit one piece.

The contest is designed to encourage art and literacy in Fairbanks youth. Melissa Harter, Library Director at Noel Wien, explained, “We have amazing artists in our community, you know? Why not start young, and inspire them to gain the confidence to share with everyone what they can do?”

“If we can inspire them to have favorite books and get a few more, that’s great too,” she added.

Winning selections will be put on display at the Noel Wien during the whole month of December.

However, all of the art submitted will be viewable by the public at the library’s Winter Open House on December 2. The open house event is also expected to include music performed by the West Valley Jazz Band, children’s crafts, a festival of trees and a book sale.

Attendees are invited to try to “Stump the Librarian” in a trivia game to see if there’s a question to which the librarian can’t find the answer. “The Friends of North Pole will be here,” Harter said. “The Fairbanks Library Foundation will be here, in particular sharing news about our renovation that’s upcoming next year, super exciting. We’ll have hot cider, and we have amazing art in this building, all along here you can see, and we have brochures that people can follow and go around and see the art, as well as the art that the children are going to produce.”

Artists are reminded to include their name, grade and contact information on the back of their submission.

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