For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrea Fountain, bhpf@blackhillsparks.org
Black Hills Parks & Forests Association (BHPFA) launched their annual youth art contest Water is Everywhere on Monday, January 9, 2023. Through art and science, BHPFA is encouraging students from Kindergarten to Eighth grade to learn about how water affects their lives and where they live.
The art contest includes suggested topics that align with South Dakota and Nebraska grade-level science standards to help educators utilize it as an activity in their classroom. This spring BHPFA will also offer water education lessons based on local natural history and resource data from their National Park Service and USDA Forest Service partners to help enhance the educational value of the art contest.
Entries must be postmarked by May 5, 2023. There will be honorable mention winners from each grade group and one overall winner. Honorable mention winners and the overall winner will receive a gift from BHPFA, and their art will become part of a traveling art display. The overall winner’s artwork will be made into a free postcard to be given away with the traveling display and at other events. For information about how to participate please visit blackhillsparks.org.
BHPFA is an official non-profit partner of Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Black Hills National Forest, Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands and the National Grasslands Visitor Center. BHPFA operates 16 retail stores for these seven agencies. This year, BHPFA is providing $83,000 to these partners for educational materials and programs.