09/17/2026
🎨 WHERE YOUNG ARTISTS GET THEIR OWN GALLERY ❤️
The Brooke Chapman Memorial Young Artist Gallery returns this October, and this is about so much more than hanging children’s artwork on a wall.
We want young artists to experience what it feels like to be part of a real exhibition.
To create something they are proud of. To submit it. To see it displayed in a gallery. To watch people stop and look. To have their work considered by judges. To receive recognition for their individual artistic strengths. And to hear from other artists who can encourage them and help them continue growing.
🌈 FALL 2026 THEME: CREATIVE USE OF COLOR
This fall, we’re asking young artists to explore what color can do.
Color can express emotion. It can transform something familiar. It can be bold, unexpected, quiet, strange, joyful, dramatic, or completely imaginative.
There is no single “right” interpretation. We want to see what happens when young artists are given a theme and the freedom to make it their own.
📅 ARTWORK IS DUE OCTOBER 15
Young artists can drop off their entries at the Elba Public Library anytime before the October 15 deadline.
🏆 FOUR FEATURED YOUNG ARTIST AWARDS
Four works will receive special recognition during the exhibition:
❤️ PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
The community gets a voice! People will be able to vote for their favorite artwork online before the exhibition and in person during Gallery Day.
🎨 CURATOR’S CHOICE AWARD
Selected by the Art on the River curator for a work that stands out through its artistic vision, originality, and overall impression.
🏆 JUDGE’S CHOICE AWARD
Selected by the exhibition judging team based on the overall strength of the artwork.
🌟 MOST MEMORABLE WORK AWARD
Presented to a work that leaves a lasting impression through creativity, personality, storytelling, emotion, originality, or simply that special something that makes you remember it after you walk away.
Each of our four award recipients will receive:
🏆 An official Art on the River award plaque
🎗️ An award ribbon displayed with their artwork
📖 A feature in an upcoming issue of Art on the River Magazine
📱 Art on the River recognition
🎁 An Artist to Artist Prize Pack filled with creative surprises, including art supplies and special items contributed by artists participating in Art on the River
For the magazine feature, parents or guardians will choose how their young artist is represented. Families may choose an artist feature with a photograph of the young artist and their winning artwork, OR an artwork feature showing the winning piece with the young artist credited by name.
No photograph of a young artist will be published without parent or guardian permission.
🏅 EVERY YOUNG ARTIST WILL RECEIVE AN INDIVIDUAL AWARD CERTIFICATE
Every participating young artist will have their artwork viewed by our judges and receive an individual award certificate based on something the judges recognize in THEIR work. ❤️
One artist might be recognized for imaginative use of color. Another for storytelling. Another for composition, originality, expressive technique, attention to detail, texture, or an especially inventive idea.
We don't want every child to go home with the exact same participation certificate.
We want them to go home knowing, “Someone looked at my art, and this is what they saw in me.”
💌 THE ARTIST ENCOURAGEMENT PROJECT
This is another part of the Young Artist Gallery that means a great deal to us.
During Gallery Day, artists from Art on the River will have the opportunity to spend time looking at the young artists’ work and leave something behind for them.
Sometimes that may be a few words of encouragement:
“I love the colors you chose.”
“Your idea made me stop and think.”
“Keep creating.”
But encouragement can also help a young artist grow.
Participating artists may also leave supportive, age appropriate feedback about something the young artist could explore, practice, or develop as they continue creating.
Maybe it is experimenting with light and shadow. Trying a different approach to composition. Developing a particularly strong part of their style. Exploring a medium further. Or simply encouraging them to keep practicing a skill that is already beginning to emerge.
The goal is never to criticize a child’s artwork.
The goal is to let a developing artist hear from other artists:
“Here is what you’re already doing well. And here is something you might try next.”
That kind of feedback can be incredibly valuable to a young person who wants to become a better artist.
So when our young artists take their work home, we hope they leave with more than the artwork they brought in.
They’ll have an individual award certificate recognizing a strength our judges saw in their work, messages and feedback from artists who took the time to study what they created, and hopefully a little more confidence about what they might create next. ❤️
That is the heart of the Artist Encouragement Project.
🖼️ BROOKE CHAPMAN MEMORIAL YOUNG ARTIST GALLERY
📅 Saturday, October 24
⏰ 10 AM–5 PM
📍 Elba Public Library
🎟️ FREE ADMISSION
🌈 Theme: Creative Use of Color
📅 Artwork Deadline: October 15
📍 Drop off entries at Elba Public Library
🏆 Four featured exhibition awards
🏅 Individual judge awarded certificate for every participating artist
📖 Magazine features for all four featured award recipients
🎁 Artist to Artist Prize Packs
💌 Artist Encouragement Project with encouragement and constructive feedback from artists
And just down the street, Art on the River Gallery Day will be underway at the Historic Elba Theatre from 10 AM–5 PM, featuring the Fall 2026 collection from 47 artists.
Parents, grandparents, teachers, homeschool families, art teachers, and community organizations, help us spread the word.
Every great artist starts somewhere.
Let’s give them somewhere to start and something to build on. 🎨❤️
