Creativity on the Trail – Open for Submissions

Creativity on the Trail – Open for Submissions

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Creativity on the Trail

To showcase the intersection of nature and creative expression

For youth who participate in our programs, Creativity on the Trail is an outlet to express experiences in the outdoors in a creative way.

How do you show your creativity? How does nature make you feel? What catches your attention when you spend time outdoors?

We invite youth, ages 12-20, to reflect on these questions and submit their art below. Whether it’s a painting, a poem, a photograph, a video, etc., we would love to share and be inspired by what you have to show.

Art will be showcased at our end-of-season symposium in May 2023.

How to participate:

Categories

Choose 1 of the 5 categories of submission. Depending on your category, you can send us a .jpeg, .png, or .pdf.

Drawing/Digital Art Painting/Collage Photography Dance/Music Writing/Poetry
Digital Art, Sketching, Markers, Ink Acrylic, Oil, Mixed Media Creations, Water Color Digital or Print Photography Song, Interpretive Dance, Choreography Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry

Sample Submissions

Category: Writing/Poetry

Writer: Alegría Gray

Memory
The air is thick and heavy
There is a breeze from a fan and also from outside
It’s moving the sheets just a little
The bodies of my mom and aunts and female cousins stir in the giant bed
I am the only one who actually wakes all the way up out of fog of heat
I crawl out from under the wet sheets
 careful not to wake anyone and gently step on the floor.
Even the floor is warm here and offers no relief from this heat
I can hear my grandfather talking to my great uncle as they fix cars drinking colas to stay cool
the birds never stop singing or maybe a better word talking back and forth
Macaos macoyando en el patyo
Chismiando como tias
Even in this desert
My casita
In a cold winter my heart longs for my other home.
Artist Statement: In the poem, I talk about how birds talk to each other and they’re macoyando (having a conversation). Bird calls are a way of talking to one another like people do. It’s how they communicate like how we communicate with one another. I’ve always thought bird calls are some of the most beautiful sounds. And when we learn how to listen to one another, to the world around us, we can make more space for the people, the places, life, the birds. It’s not just about birds, it’s about my tías, my family and finding the sound and finding my family through sound. Finding a memory through sound.

Category: Painting/Collage

Artist: Josh Heath

Gambel’s Quail by Josh Heath

Artist Statement: For me, painting is a lot about presence and acceptance. I often remind myself to be present and accept my art for what it is rather than how I judge it to be. I also believe that we can learn a lot from nature and how well it demonstrates these traits. When I saw a picture of this quail, I felt the content appreciation of its beautiful environment and I hope to have conveyed its nature in this piece.

Submit Your Creation!

Creativity on the Trail

Creativity on the Trail submissions

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Artistic Examples