Competitions & Exhibitions

About

Arts at Michigan believes there is an artist inside each of us. These competitions are your opportunity to share your artistic genius, exhibit your work for the University community and win some prizes! Competitions will be held periodically throughout the year, with calls for art using different themes and mediums. Submissions are narrowed down by staff, and then the finalists are voted on by the public in the Unions and by the U-M Community online. Winners get great prizes, so be sure you’re signed up for Arts Info, our weekly email, so you’ll hear about our future contests and opportunities.

Submit to the Pride Month Student Art Competition!

Pride Month is celebrated every June as a tribute to those who were involved in the Stonewall Riots. This year's NYC Pride theme is Strength in Solidarity, and @umicharts, in partnership with Arts at Michigan, is looking for art that reflects this theme and/or your personal experience with the theme.

@umicharts will feature student art on their Instagram page throughout the month of June celebrating Pride. Art of any medium will be accepted — portraiture, drawings or paintings, photography, music, spoken word, or any other chosen form of artistry — as long as it reflects your take on “Strength in Solidarity.” While any submission might be featured on their page, prizes will be offered for the top three submissions! Votes will be cast for prize-winning awardees via @umicharts Instagram poll the week of 5/15.

Deadline to submit is May 12.

Submit here!

Submit to RESPOND/ RESIST/ RETHINK 2023: An Exhibition of Student Art for Change!

In conjunction with the Fall 2023 Theme Semester: Arts & Resistance, Stamps Gallery is partnering with the U‑M Arts Initiative to present the 4th annual Respond/Resist/Rethink student art exhibition. All undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Michigan are invited to apply to this juried exhibition that explores what can be done to create more just and equitable futures in the 21st Century and beyond.

Applications of artwork will be accepted in 2D — including, but not limited to drawing, painting, illustration, poster, photography — and 4D formats such as video, animation, gif, or performance that Respond/Resist/Rethink and/or reimagine the question: “What can we do to create a more just world?” Open to Undergraduate and Graduate students at any of the U‑M campuses (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint) enrolled for Fall 2023 Semester.

Deadline to submit is May 15.

Learn more and submit!

Past Competitions

March 2023: Surreal Photo Competition

The votes have been counted and "chaos" by Anders Lundin came in first place! Thank you to everyone who voted in-person and online!

February 2023: Drawing Competition

The votes have been counted and "Notorious RBG" by Anusha Tekumulla came in first place! Thank you to everyone who voted in-person and online!

December 2022: Dreaming.

The votes have been tabulated and "Dreams, post-diagnosis" by Lillian Pearce came in first place! Thank you to everyone who voted in-person and online!

October 2022: Travels

The votes have been tabulated and "Race to the Sunset" by Phoebe Huang came in first place! Thank you to everyone who voted in-person and online!

April 2022: Dear...

The votes have been tabulated and the finalist "Dear Body" by Allison Wei came in first place!

February 2022: Connection

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photo Competition and Janet Azar's submission, "Seasons Meet" came in First Place!

December 2021: Monologue

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Monologue Competition and Nayiri Sagherian's submission, "Unchecked Boxes" came in First Place!

December 2021: Drawing

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Drawing Competition and Bryan Wilson's submission, "1derful Beauty" came in First Place!

October 2021: Sky

The votes have been tabulated and the finalist entry, "Nights at Bryce," by Emilia Schneider came in first place!

April 2021: Monologue

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Monologue Competition, and we’re proud to announce the winners! The winners of this competition and their prizes are listed below, congratulations!

February 2021: Drawing

The votes have been tabulated and the finalist entry, "Manus Dimini Dei," by Marina Elia came in first place!

December 2020: Color

The votes have been tabulated and the finalist photo, "ColorShock" by Anders Lundin came in first place!

October 2020: Literary

The votes have been tabulated and the finalist entry, "The Year That Never Was" by Evan Dempsey came in first place!

March 2020: Sound

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photo Competition, and Anders Lundin's photo entitled "Blossom" came in first place!

February 2020: Drawing

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Drawing Competition and Hadia Bokhari's piece "Bon Appetit" won 1st place!

October 2019: Sources of Strength

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Literary Competition, and Madison Krumin's piece "My Sources of Strength" won first place!

October 2019: Night and Day

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Tim Azzolini's photo entitled "Out of Water" came in first place!

Winter 2019: Contrast

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Bailey Yonkman's photo "The Grand Canyon, came in first place!

Winter 2019: Drawing

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Drawing Competition, and Kaylee Yang's drawing entitled "Mother" came in first place!

October 2018: Literary

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Literary Competition, and Minna Wybrecht's piece "Today and Four Years Ago" won first place!

October 2018: Pattern

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Noah Finer's photograph entitled "Dots" came in first place!

March 2018: Happiness

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photo Competition, and Ben Hsu's photo entitled "A nice moment" came in first place!

January 2018: Campus Architecture

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photo Competition, and Miguel Ochoa's drawing entitled "Como veo la hora (How I see the time)" came in first place!

November 2017: Drawing

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Drawing Competition, and Kaylee Yang's drawing entitled "Pride" came in first place!

October 2017: 200 Words

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Literary Competition on the theme 'Michigan in 200 Words!' Students wrote to tell us about their Michigan Experiences, and Ana Lucena's entry, "Blossoming Wile Growing My Thorns" came in first place!

October 2017: Black and White Photography

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Monicka Chang's photograph entitled "Double Helix" came in first place!

Summer 2017

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Summer 2017 "Second Chance" Competition, and Peiyuan Li's entry entitled "Dancing Lights" came in first place!

March 2017: Motion

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It MOTION-themed Competition, and Kathleen Guytingco's entry entitled "Momentum" came in first place!

November 2016: Drawing

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Drawing Competition, and Paola Fortes Fernández's drawing entitled "Venado" came in first place!

October 2016: Portraits

The votes have been tabulated for the PORTRAIT- themed As I See It Photography Competition, and Kathleen Guytingco's photograph entitled "Threads of Identity" came in first place!

Summer 2016

The votes have been tabulated for our SUMMER 2016 As I See It Photography Competition, and Olivia Raxter's photograph entitled "The Golden Hour" came in first place!

March 2016: Drawing

The votes have been tabulated for our DRAWING themed As I See It Competition, and Maeve Pascoe's drawing entitled "Just Keep Swimming" came in first place!

January 2016: Animals

The votes have been tabulated for our ANIMALS themed As I See It Photography Competition, and Peiyuan Li's photograph entitled "Taking off" came in first place!

October 2015: Light

The votes have been tabulated for the LIGHT- themed As I See It Photography Competition, and Brady Stonesifer's photograph entitled "Atlantic Clouds" came in first place!

March 2015: Friendship

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Sophia Hoffman's photograph entitled "Through the Years" came in first place!

January 2015: Winter

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Corinne Wong's photograph entitled "Across the Frozen Path" came in first place!

November 2014: Sports

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Ben Schechter's photograph entitled "Takes Two to Tango," came in first place!

October 2014: Journeys

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Rami Krispin's photograph entitled "A Sunset Kayaking" came in first place!

March 2014: The Arts

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Jacob Gardner's photograph entitled "Graffiti Fire (with Brendon Sassmannshaus)" came in first place!

January 2014: Beginnings

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Rachael Brunk's photograph entitled "Every New Day is a New Beginning" came in first place!

November 2013: Black and White

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Olivia Raxter's photograph entitled "The Student" came in first place!

September 2013: Life At Michigan

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Nikki Page's photograph entitled "Football Saturdays" came in first place!

March 2013: Music

The votes have been tabulated for the As I See It Photography Competition, and Sam Kapor's photograph entitled "A Child's Dance" came in first place!

February 2013: Color

The votes have been tabulated for the February 2013 As I See It Photography Competition, and Justin Teng's photograph entitled "Sunset Over Tahoe" came in first place!

November 2012: Weather

The votes have been tabulated for the November 2012 As I See It Photography Competition, and Aimee Xia's photograph entitled "Pause" came in first place! Aimee is our first two-time First Place Winner!

September 2012: Movement

The votes have been tabulated for the September 2012 As I See It Photography Competition, and Aimee Xia's photograph entitled "Jump" came in first place! We received hundreds of votes, both online and through ballots in the Unions.

Summer 2012

Over the summer, we had a "Second Chance" photo competition, with finalists from 2011-2012 that weren't selected before as finalists. First Place was a photo by Shu Lin, Computer Science Student in the School of Engineering. "Smell of Salty Wind", was taken in Daytona Beach, Florida.

March 2012: Travel

The votes have been tabulated for the March 2012 As I See It Photography Competition, and Rebecca Steiner's photograph entitled "Journey Crossed" came in first place!

February 2012: Family

The votes have been tabulated for the February 2012 As I See It Photography Competition, and Josh Simon's photograph entitled "The Bond of Constancy" came in first place!

November 2011: Architecture

The votes have been tabulated for the November 2011 As I See It Photography Competition, and Robby Kim's photograph entitled "The Blazin' City" came in first place! Click below to see the other finalists!

September 2011: Welcome to Michigan

The votes have been tabulated for the September 2011 As I See It Photography Competition, and Sheena Shah's photograph entitled "Tranquil Cube" came in first place!Click below to see the other finalists!

Summer 2011

This past summer, we had a “Second Chance” photo competition, with finalists from 2010-2011 that weren’t selected before as finalists. Keen Yee Liau's photograph entitled “HDR Image of Huron River” came in first place! Click below to see the other finalists!

April 2011: Earth

We celebrated Earth Day with our April 2011 Competition and Christopher Taiwan Koh's photograph “Feeding The Earth One Blade At A Time” came in first place! Click below to see the other finalists!

February 2011: Water

The votes have been tabulated for the February 2011 As I See It Photography Competition, and Wajiha Ibrahim's photograph entitled "Water: Trivial for Some, A Luxury for Others" came in first place!

November 2010: Community

The votes have been tabulated, and Mai Truong’s photograph entitled “From One Community To Another” came in first place! Click below to see the other finalists!

October 2010: Peace

We celebrated the Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary with our peace-themed October 2010 Competition and Katie Barrie’s photo Ox-Bow Lagoon came in first place! Click below to see the other finalists!

Summer 2010 Photos of the Week

Each week, we selected a great photo from past competitions to feature in our newsletter. Click below to see these photos!

April 2010: Nature

The votes have been tabulated for the April 2010 As I See It Photography Competition and Nathan Hartmann’s photograph entitled “Sand Dollar on the Sea Shore” came in first place! Click below to see the other finalists!

February 2010: Architecture

The winner for the February 2010 As I See It Photography Competition is Kristin Calder. Her photograph entitled “Boardwalk” came in first place! Click below to see the other finalists!