UAEA 2026 Art Contest
UAEA wants to give our members more opportunities to express themselves and show off their talents in 2026. We’re kicking off the first few months of the year with an art contest, where members and their families can show off their design skills.
The 2026 UAEA art competition will have 4 categories of art, “The Work We Do,” “Organized Labor,” “People Who Work” and “Children Under 14.” Winning art will be displayed on our website, in a future edition of our newsletter, and may be printed by UAEA on stickers and distributed at member events.
The categories are designed to be specific to UAEA’s interests but also broad enough that artists can express a variety of unique ideas and perspectives.
“The Work We Do” - This category is meant to showcase what work looks like, whether across Tempe or specific to your workgroup. Many depictions of organized labor show off people pounding pylons or harvesting wheat, but we all know that there’s a far greater variety of work being done across Tempe each day - show the community what work looks like for you as an office staff member, a solid waste driver, a water meter technician, or someone else entirely!
“Organized Labor” - This category is meant to showcase the nature of organized labor. Submissions might involve what it looks like when people come together, historic moments from labor history, something prominent that organized labor created, important labor leaders, or something else entirely!
“People Who Work” - This category is meant to simply showcase the people around Tempe who do the work that keeps the City running. It doesn’t matter if you work in the office or out in the field - we want to see anyone and everyone. Submissions might be art of individual people or a group of workers - completely up to you.
“Children Under 14” - Children can submit anything they’d like for this category as long as it is at least somewhat related to working, labor, or unions.
UAEA likes color! You’re welcome to use a limited palette of colors but we’d love to see some vibrant designs that are visually interesting or engaging.
Please make sure your designs do not contain materials that are copyrighted or could not otherwise be reproduced by UAEA.
All current UAEA members, their spouses or significant others, and their children are eligible to enter art into this competition. Non-members and their families will not be eligible. Art must be produced by the entrant. AI-generated entries will not be allowed - UAEA may disqualify entries if an entrant cannot provide proof they created the art themselves.
Artists may enter up to 5 different pieces of art for consideration. Each entry may be submitted into multiple categories, if relevant.
Children or spouses of UAEA may enter any category, if relevant. Children of UAEA members over the age of 14 may not submit their art in the “Children under 14” category.
Artists are encouraged to use pencils, paint, chalk, digital art tools, collages, or any other artistic medium to create their entry. All entries must be in the form of .jpeg, .jpg, or .png digital files. Additional file types may be accepted, but they must be in a form that judges can open on their computers without need of special programs like Adobe Photoshop or Mac Studio. Please make sure your art is as high-resolution as possible. Photos of your artwork may be submitted but we strongly encourage entrants to scan their entries (if done on paper or canvas) to preserve the quality. Art entries should be 10MB in size or smaller - if an entry is just over that threshold, feel free to upload a placeholder on the entry form and email the real art to president@uaeatempe.com.
Entrants should remember that winning art will be reproduced on round or square stickers that are 2x2’ to 4x4’ in size. Entrants are welcome to make their art as detailed as they would like, but some details may be lost on stickers.
Please make sure any entry is as high-quality of a copy as possible. 300 dpi or greater is an ideal size. If you’re not sure, don’t worry about it - we want as many entries as possible!
Art submissions will be anonymized and judged by a panel of no fewer than 3 UAEA board members who will independently review and rate with a pre-determined rubric. The board members judging the art will not know the name of the entrants until the second phase to prevent bias.
The UAEA rubric will evaluate the art based on quality, creativity, and relevance to the chosen themes. Artists may choose to incorporate the word “uaea” into their entry but this will not give greater or lesser consideration to their entry. Art may not be considered if it contains copyrighted materials, profanity, gore, or sexual content. Art with obvious AI usage may be marked down.
Art submitted to the competition will remain the property of the entrant but entrant will allow UAEA to reproduce it in emails, on their website, in newsletters, on UAEA merch, or on stickers, in perpetuity. UAEA agrees that it will not use any entry for profit.
Entrants agree that UAEA may use their name in emails, on social media, or on our website when discussing art entries or announcing results.
Entrants agree that UAEA may modify their original submission for purposes of printing or rendition in publications.
Entries will be accepted between Thursday, February 26th, and Thursday, March 26th, 2026. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered.
The first place winner of each category will receive a $100 Visa gift card (or $100 giftcard of their choice), a certificate of accomplishment, a copy of their work, recognition in future UAEA publications, and copies of their design printed on no fewer than 25 stickers (final amount to be determined). Depending on entry numbers, 2nd and 3rd place winners may also receive reproductions of their artwork.
Photo credit to Detroit Institute of Arts - this is from Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals at the DIA.