Posts in 2026 Finalist
Lucian Iruegas “All the Places You Go” – 2026 Finalist

Mixed media postcard stand installation. Fairfield, NJ. Division II: 19–22 Years Old.

This piece expresses the inescapability of the climate crisis through the aesthetics of tourism. The post itself both resembles a tree and a postcard stand that would be found in a gift shop. The individual postcards depict renditions of real photographs of natural disasters that occurred in popular tourist destinations.

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Emerson Botts “Confluence” – 2026 Finalist

Oil on canvas. Pittsburgh, PA. Division I: 14–18 Years Old.

My piece, “Confluence,” depicts a sweat-covered woman staring at my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Reflected in her sunglasses is a flooded cityscape under stormy skies. Boats drift through rising water, suggesting a future shaped by climate change and a population struggling to adapt.

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Helena Sucero “Pyrocene” – 2026 Finalist

Found box, found napkins, van dyke brown prints, embroidery floss. Milwaukee, WI. Division II: 19–22 Years Old.

Fire severity and frequency rises with changes to our climate. This piece depicts two fires from Southern California; one from 2020 and one from 2024. These images were referenced from news articles, drawn in charcoal and transferred to linen napkins using van dyke brown printing. The images are suspended: isolated events connected to one another by strings.

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Judeleah Reyes “As the World Melts, Babies Are Born” – 2026 Finalist

Acrylic on canvas. Woodbridge, VA. Division I: 14–18 Years Old.

My piece criticizes the lack of care towards our planet’s current climate crisis and its effect on the future of the planet and its organisms. Often, I feel angry when I think of the exploitation of raw materials (usually through unethical labor and by richer nations) but this anger often mellows into a simmer of sorrow and cynicism.

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