Opera Omaha & Joslyn Castle’s Youth Art Show invites artists ages 18 or younger to showcase what sparks their creativity! Just like how Opera Omaha’s production of UnShakeable uses the legacy of Shakespeare to craft an original new story, this exhibit explores how the arts themselves inspire us to create art.

Share a piece inspired by your “inner museum:” the collection of art, poetry, literature, or music that has made a lasting impression on you. Show us how art can echo, transform, and become something new through your imagination.

Have you ever looked at a piece of art, listened to a song, or read a poem, and been moved by the work?

What did it inspire you to create?

What memory did it spark or leave behind?

How did it connect you to other people?

What would happen if you stepped inside the artwork?

How would you retell a poem, song, or story in your own visual language?

What artwork, character, or line of text do you keep returning to?

Go to this form to learn more about submitting your art.

Everyone on our roads has a responsibility to help keep each other safe. The annual FMCSA Road Safety Art Contest invites students to use their creativity to raise awareness of how to stay safe on the road, particularly when driving, biking, or walking around large trucks and buses.

Grades K-12

Submissions Due June 5th

Main Information page- https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/OurRoadsArtContest

Entry form-https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/2026-03/ArtContest2026_EntryForm%20%281%29_1.pdf

Each summer, the Nebraska Writing Project helps host multiple writing camps and workshops for the young writers of Nebraska. And registration is now open for all! We encourage your students and family to register and join us for a summer full of writing!

**Young Writers Camp

Grades 8-12

Dates: July 13 – 24, M-F, 10am – 1pm

The Young Writers Camp offers a two-week program (Monday through Friday, 10am-1pm) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We offer workshops in slam poetry, fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, mystery, song-writing, poetry, memoir, and screen writing! Young writers work with professional writers, professors, teachers, and undergraduate interns! For grades 8-12

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER, PLEASE VISIT THIS LINK: https://newp.unl.edu/youth-and-community/young-writers-camp/ 

***I Love to Write Workshop 1

ages 7-11:  June 1-5: 8:30 – 11 AM

***I Love to Write Workshop 2

For ages 12-15:  June 1-5: 12:30 – 3 PM

The I Love to Write/We Love to Write Workshops are a series of summer writing workshops for youth and families to write in a supportive environment. This year’s workshops will focus on a variety of writing styles, strategies, genres and activities. Sessions will meet on the UNL Campus for a week in June. The Celebration of Writers Ceremony is held on the Saturday at the end of the week. These workshops are led by Sandra Peter and Susan Dinsdale, experienced teachers of writing, and the camp is sponsored by the Nebraska Writing Project

***We Love to Write

(students ages 7-15 and their families or special adults)

June 1-5: 4 – 6:30 PM

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK (or visit the Nebraska Writing Project Webpage): https://newp.unl.edu/youth-and-community/i-love-write-we-love-write/

Recycling, composting, and keeping litter in its place are among the many ways we keep Nebraska clean.

The Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment is inviting students to put their talents to good use by submitting a drawing for the 2027 “Nebraska: Don’t Waste It!” calendar.  We’re looking for drawings that demonstrate the importance of good environmental practices and tips on reducing waste, recycling, and protecting Nebraska’s air, land, and water.

Theme-Create a drawing or painting that shows how we can keep Nebraska clean by recycling, composting, properly disposing of household hazardous waste (like old paint and cleaning products), cleaning up litter, and any other activity that will keep our air, land, and water clean.

Who: Students K-12 in Nebraska

Due Date: May 1, 2026

Artwork Info: Submit all artwork on 8 ½” x 11” unlined white paper in a landscape, or horizontal, orientation.  Please use tape (no staples or glue) to attach the label. Each piece of artwork must have a label! Mail your artwork flat—do not fold. Entries become the property of DWEE and will not be returned. Artwork may be used for promotional purposes. Fill out this Entry Label.pdf  and attach to the back of your artwork.

Media

Markers, watercolors, tempera, oils, crayons, chalk, acrylic, or colored pencils (no pen and ink, please) are accepted.

Main Contest Webpage

Additional Guidelines

2026 Winners

If your artwork is chosen for the calendar, you will:

• Have your artwork, name and school’s name featured on a page of the calendar;
• Be invited to an awards presentation at the State Capitol in Lincoln;
• Receive copies of the calendar to share with family and friends; and
• Help educate others about how to protect our environment.

Check out this exciting workshop opportunities for folders of all ages.  The events are held on Saturdays in March and April. Choose one day or multiple days to attend.

Main Event Website-https://origamiusa.org/oriuni2026

• Introductory: March 21, 11:00 am–March 21, 5:00 pm CDT
• Representational: March 28, 11:00 am–March 28, 5:00 pm CDT
• Geometric: April 4, 11:00 am–April 4, 5:00 pm CDT
• STEM: April 11, 11:00 am–April 11, 5:00 pm CDT

• Four full days of instruction on representational, geometric, and STEM applications of origami.
• Live classes with special guests.
• Two-track class format includes model folding, lectures and techniques.
• Meet and fold with well-known and aspiring origami designers.
• Attend an origami and STEM research panel, Q&A session and workshop.

Make an account to register.