SC-Winner. Moon-Donnah, “Oiling the Wounds.”

The city of Santa Clarita, in partnership with Santa Clarita Sister Cities, invites local students to submit original artwork, poetry, essays/creative writing, photographs or music for the 2023 Young Artists and Authors Showcase.

The theme of the contest this year is “Peace by Piece: Food Security in My Community.” Students are encouraged to emphasize various aspects of food security in their entries, including the impact of climate change on food production and food consumption in their community, collaborative efforts between communities, project examples or areas of potential cooperation to address the issue. The top entries from Santa Clarita will be submitted to Sister Cities International in Washington, D.C., to compete with submissions from other Sister Cities organizations around the world for the grand prize of $1,000 in each category.

To qualify, students must be between 13 and 18-years-old on May 1, 2023. Interested teens may submit one entry per category, along with a completed entry form, by visiting SantaClaritaSisterCities.org. Guidelines and criteria for each category are also outlined on the website. Online submissions are due to Santa Clarita Sister Cities by Monday, April 10.

Santa Clarita students have routinely been successful nationally in this contest. In 2022, Audrey Dornidon (Saugus High School) won the Grand Prize in the Essay/Creative Writing category. Jonathan Myung (West Ranch High School) won Second Place in the Original Music category and Ashley Knutson (Valencia High School) won Second Place in the Poetry category.

Santa Clarita Sister Cities is a local organization with a mission to foster international partnerships between the city of Santa Clarita and cities abroad, and to promote mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation through reciprocal youth, cultural, educational, professional, humanitarian and economic programs and exchanges. Santa Clarita is a member of Sisters Cities International, a nonprofit organization created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to advance partnerships among communities around the globe and promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation – one individual, one community at a time. The city of Santa Clarita has two international Sister Cities — Tena, Ecuador and Sariaya, Philippines.

For more information on Santa Clarita Sister Cities and the Young Artists and Authors Showcase and to submit an entry, visit SantaClaritaSisterCities.org. For questions about the showcase, please contact Tess Simgen at (661) 250-3726 or email SisterCities@santa-clarita.com.