Enter Sun-Times’ Imagination Project student art contest for Chicago area students pre-K-high school

Students from pre-K through high school in Chicago and the suburbs are eligible. You have three weeks to enter. Here’s how.

We’re inviting kids from pre-K through high school in Chicago and the suburbs to tap their best artistic impulses to create and send us a work of art to fit the theme “Spring ahead.”

It’s for the newest Chicago Sun-Times art contest, part of what we call The Imagination Project — which began during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic and has included artwork on the theme of “Brighter Days,” short stories with plots based on heroism, sidewalk and driveway chalk art and snowmen.

Now, we want you to submit a drawing or painting or digital artwork that shows your vision of moving forward into better days than the tough ones we’ve faced during the pandemic — or whatever else fits your vision of springing ahead.

Once you’ve finished your creation, submit a photo of it by the April 24 deadline with your name, age, grade, school and hometown or neighborhood by clicking here, where you’ll also find the complete contest rules.

We’ll choose a series of winners — probably five from elementary school, five from middle school and five from high school — and announce them later this spring.

Beside getting a modest prize, the winners’ work will be published by the Chicago Sun-Times in print and online.

Submissions must be the students’ own artwork. And parents’ permission is needed to take part.

For inspiration, these are some of the “Brighter Days” winners.