OARacle Newsletter

Thank you to all the talented artists who participated in OAR’s 2024 Youth Art Contest. With entries from 125 artists across 24 states and five countries, the response was truly inspiring. Every submission beautifully captured the theme of “growth” in unique and heartfelt ways. What an amazing turnout for our fourth annual contest!

Grand Prize Winner:

• “February’s Flower” by Nicholas C. 

Autistic Youth Category: 

• 8 years old and under: “Monarch” by Charles W. 
• Ages 9-13: “Blossoming” by Justus K. 
• 14 years old and older: “Amelia – A Self Love Portrait” by Layla C. 

Autism Youth Allies Category: 

• 10 years old and under: “Angels of Growth” by Ishee J. 
• Ages 11-18: “The Track to Growth” by Hailey K. 

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2024 Youth Art Contest! To view the winning artworks or sign up for announcements about the 2025 Art Contest, visit our Youth Art Contest page. Throughout Autism Acceptance Month, you can also send donation e-cards featuring the winning artworks to celebrate these young artists and support autism acceptance. 

OAR extends heartfelt gratitude to the judges for their dedication and insight. These six amazing autistic artists had the challenging task of selecting winners from an incredible pool of talent: 

• Tom Coomber is a British artist known for his vivid acrylic landscape paintings of rural, urban, and coastal areas. 
• Caitlin Cropp is a Chicago-area artist whose paintings reflect her deep love for nature, tea, moss, clouds, and cats. 
• Kenny Davis is a self-taught artist whose paintings serve as a unique expression of his thoughts and feelings. 
• Giselle Pritzlaff is an illustrator who uses her digital art to stimulate her creativity and showcase her ideas to the world. 
• D.J. Svoboda is a motivational speaker, author, artist, and creator of imagifriends. 
• John Williams is an artist who creates meticulously crafted portrait and landscapes cut-paper collages. 

OAR thanks all the artists, their families, friends, and our dedicated judges for making this year’s contest a resounding success. We can’t wait to see what next year’s contest holds. If you have any suggestions for next year’s theme or are interested in becoming a judge for the 2025 Youth Art Contest, please contact Rachel Luizza.