SALISBURY — To address the rising concerns surrounding vaping among young individuals, YSUP Rowan, Healthy Rowan, Rowan County Health Department, Center for Prevention Services and Waterworks Visual Arts Center announces the launch of an anti-vaping art contest. This innovative initiative aims to raise awareness about the dangers of vaping while providing a creative outlet for students to express themselves. 

Pa Xiong, project director of Rowan County’s local Youth Substance Use Prevention Coalition (YSUP Rowan), is coordinating this campaign with other community partners for youth.

“We believe that engaging students through art is a powerful way to educate and empower them to make informed choices which will result in healthier lives and futures. The most effective way to communicate this to young people is to have them create the messages,” Xiong said. 

The anti-vaping art contest invites local high school students to showcase their artistic talents by creating thought-provoking pieces on the harmful effects of vaping, ways to avoid vaping, and how to cope with stress and peer pressure. Participating students not only have the opportunity to win exciting prizes, but also contribute to a collective effort in creating a drug-free environment. Winning entries will be reproduced and distributed to schools, businesses and other organizations for display throughout the community. 

Guidelines for the art contest are as follows: The art must be an original 2-D art piece; it can be a drawing, painting, multimedia, etc. Any media (color pencils, paints, crayons, chalk, collage) may be used. Watercolor paper of 140-pound weight is recommended to use for fine arts. If the art piece is digital, students are encouraged to print on or use cardstock paper. The deadline to submit the artwork is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31. Entries may be mailed or delivered to: YSUP Rowan, address 1322 South Fulton Street, Salisbury, NC 28144. 

The first-place winner will receive $250, second-place winner will receive $150 and third-place winner will receive $100. The top 10 entries will be featured in a pop-up gallery in Waterworks Visual Arts Center from Jan. 8-27, 2024. A reception to recognize the winners will be held on Jan. 18, 2024.

Artwork will be judged by local youth such as YSUP Youth Council, Crosby Scholars, Salisbury Youth Council, local artists and community leaders who will evaluate entries based on creativity, originality and effectiveness of the anti-vaping message.

For more information, including guidelines and how to get involved, contact Pa Xiong at Pa@ysuprowan.org.