South Dakota Governor’s Student Art Competition 
Coordinated by the South Dakota Arts Council 

Program Details 
Thank you for your interest in the South Dakota Governor’s Student Art Competition. We’re excited to coordinate this annual competition for student artists across our state! Details for the annual competition are announced during National Arts in Education week, the second week in September. Please watch this page for more information. If you have any questions regarding the competition, please email patrick.baker@state.sd.us. 

Competition Details 
Students in grades K-12 are invited to submit one piece of artwork for the competition each year. Submissions are divided among categories determined by grade-level. A jury of professional South Dakota artists serve as judges for the competition. The top ranked pieces from each division will be selected for the annual Governor’s Student Art Exhibition. We ask students selected for exhibition to consider selling their artwork to the state for our state art collection. However, if a student does not want to submit their artwork for purchase, it will be returned to them at the end of the year-long exhibition. Competition divisions are: 

  • Kindergarten-2nd grades 
  • 3rd-5th grades 
  • 6th-8th grades 
  • 9th-12th grades