Endangered Species Youth Art Contest
Unleash your creativity and help endangered species! Congratulations to our 2025 winners!
Calling all young artists! Mark your calendars and join us for our 8th annual Endangered Species Youth Art Contest starting February 2025. In celebration of Endangered Species Day (May 16, 2025) Roger Williams Park Zoo is accepting art entries from local K-12 grade students and homeschoolers in the New England area depicting threatened and endangered species. Art can inspire others to make deep connections and empower change. Together we hope to raise awareness about the importance of saving endangered species and their wild habitats. Let your artwork roar with passion and inspire others to join us in protecting these remarkable animals and their habitats.
Entries must be received by Sunday, April 6, 2025. Winners will be notified by email before May 1 with a public announcement made on Endangered Species Day, May 16. See below for complete contest guidelines, past winners, prize packages, and submission instructions.
Special thank you to supporting partner:
Art Contest Guidelines
- All entries are to be submitted electronically.
- Students’ artwork must be original and all art mediums are allowed (Please note: Computer-generated/AI and traced images are not allowed and will NOT be judged.)
- All artwork MUST depict threatened/endangered species.
- Each art entry must also include a short explanation (3-5 sentences) as to why saving your chosen species/subject from extinction is important.
- Students may submit more than one entry.
- Deadline: Entries must be received by Sunday, April 6, 2025. Late entries will not be judged.
Please Note: All artwork becomes the property of Roger Williams Park Zoo. Submission of the artwork grants the Zoo a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish your student’s/child’s artwork in our editorial, educational, and promotional print and digital materials, and on social media. All published artwork will be credited “Artist’s Name.”
Questions? Please contact Corrie Ignagni, Manager of Digital Communications at cignagni@rwpzoo.org. Thank you!
- GRAND PRIZE (Judges Choice)
- One (1) Family RWPZoo membership (a $149 value; or extra year added to current Zoo membership. Renewal based on equal or lesser valued-membership)
- An adopt-an-animal package of your choice
- One (1) $100 gift card to Jerry’s Artarama of Providence
- Artwork custom framed by Jerry’s Artarama of Providence and displayed in the Zoo’s Hasbro’s Our Big Backyard exhibit until May 2026.
- GRADE CATEGORY WINNERS (Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-12) Each grade-winner shall receive:
- Six (6) General daytime admission tickets to RWPZoo
- One (1) $25 gift card to Jerry’s Artarama of Providence
- Artwork custom framed by Jerry’s Artarama of Providence and displayed in the Zoo’s Hasbro’s Our Big Backyard exhibit until May 2026.
- HONORABLE MENTIONS (Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-12) Each grade-honorable mention shall receive:
- Four (4) General daytime admission tickets to RWPZoo
- An award certificate
All winners and honorable mentions artwork will be highlighted on the Zoo’s website and social media pages, and in the Zoo’s summer WILD Magazine issue.
2025 Winners:
Congratulations to the student winners of the 2025 Endangered Species Youth Art Contest! The Zoo’s 8th annual contest received hundreds off art submissions from creative and talented young artists from across New England. Big thanks to the countless teachers who helped their students take part in this year’s contest and for helping us raise awareness of endangered species everywhere. Thank you to our co-partner, Jerry’s Artarama of Providence, for their continual support. See their works in the Zoo’s Big Backyard exhibit through May 2026.
2025 Judges’ Choice Winner:
Mary Koushiappas (Blue whale, 3-5 grade)
Saving Blue Whales is very important because they play a huge part in our ecosystem. To be specific, the Blue Whale is the largest animal living on earth today. Despite their size, they eat tiny krill and shrimp like crustaceans. If the Blue Whale became extinct there would be too many krill and crustaceans which would cause an imbalance in the sea’s delicate ecosystem. A message I would like to emphasize is that man-made pollution in the sea, especially micro plastics, is a major contributor as to why Blue Whales are endangered. Micro plastics come from a lot of household packaging and consumer products. Using paper bags instead of plastic is a start to protecting our oceans. My piece of artwork is made from reused plastic items that can be found in any household. To conclude, I believe that we need to be more careful with the environment and try to protect our oceans, and all its inhabitants, especially the Blue Whale!
9-12 Grade Winner:
Tiffany Weng (Andean bear)
Andean bears are also known as spectacled bears because of the unique markings on their face. They’re the only bear native to South America, they are crucial to as they serve as protection to the other animals that live in their habitat. Andean bears live in the Andes mountains, in rain forests or near them. Sadly, they are endangered due to deforestation caused by humans which forces the bears into smaller habitats. Climate change furthers their habitat loss and alters their food availability leading to more conflicts with humans and Andean bears. Conservation is crucial to saving the Andean bears and their habitat but also the other animals that live around them.
6-8 Grade Winner:
Jacquelyn Shen (Desert rain frog)
I wanted to show that even the desert rain frog has its own lives and families, and endangering them can greatly affect their lives and our ecosystem.
3-5 Grade Winner:
Varun Mohankumar (Bengal tiger)
I feel that tigers should be protected because they are fascinating creatures that have many adaptations. They are not social animals and rarely come face to face with humans. So why hunt them, let us start protecting them!
K-2 Grade Winner:
Ellianna Dolan (Cheetah)
If we don’t save the cheetahs, the circle of life will be disrupted. Cheetahs are the fastest land animals on Earth. I think cheetahs are the most beautiful and graceful big cats and our world would be very sad without them.
2024 Honorable Mentions:
Past Winners:
2024 Judges’ Choice Winner:
Bella Tan (Golden-cheeked warbler, 3-5 grade) Saving the endangered golden-cheeked warbler will help us protect an abundance of plants and animals in the Texas Hill Country.